Sherilyn Fenn talks Twin Peaks: ‘Audrey is strong, even if she is kinda broken’ In its original early ’90s incarnation, Twin Peaks created an odd assortment of characters who would ingrain themselves in pop […]

In its original early ’90s incarnation, Twin Peaks created an odd assortment of characters who would ingrain themselves in pop culture.

None more so than Audrey Horne.

A potent mix of naivety, coquettishness and reckless abandon, the 1950s-styled, plaid-skirt wearing teenager with the hots for ‘Coop’ became something of an icon for a generation of viewers.

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As Twin Peaks: The Return comes to a double-bill conclusion this weekend, Sherilyn Fenn spoke to i about returning to the role after 26 years, the future of the show, that dance – and answered some burning questions from fans.

What an episode for Audrey last week. The show throws up so many questions, and I’m aware you’re not allowed to say anything about the finale. Firstly though, are you watching the show from week to week, like the rest of us?

“I am not.”

So have you seen it all, from start to finish?

“No. At first I didn’t have… what’s it called, Showtime [the US network], and it’s just been a busy summer with my boy who just got back to school, so I just haven’t got through it all yet.”

That’s really surprising. Even the actors haven’t seen the whole thing?

“And never read it, you know. Most of us never read it. Maybe Kyle [MacLachlan] did because he’s in most of it. Leave it to David [Lynch] you know, it’s always unique!”

“David’s always a little ahead of the curve isn’t he? Because now the new show is so different, and amazing and abstract.”

So did you only receive the script for your part?

“In this particular instance, yes. It’s never been that way before, but for this season, yes. We didn’t really know where we fitted in or how that worked out.”

To keep the element of mystery?

“Yeah, and maybe it gives David the power in the editing room to do what he wants, I dunno.”

Audrey was one of the most popular characters in the show in the 90s, and an inspiration for so many teenagers. Were you aware of that at the time?

“No, I mean not when we were doing it. I realised once when I was in New York City and was doing press and people shouted ‘Audrey!’ and that was a moment where I thought ‘wow, something’s going on’. In California you’re in your world and you’re not really out in the public in that way. I didn’t expect any of it. It’s kind of amazing, it’s a beautiful gift really.”

There was no way you could have expected the reaction Twin Peaks would get at the time.

“No, not at all. From the day I read it I told David, ‘well everyone’s sleeping with everyone’ and I wasn’t positive about it, and I don’t know if you know this but Audrey wasn’t in the pilot, and when he met me he decided to write this role of Audrey. So that was a very cool thing. I had no idea, none. I don’t think they knew, I don’t think David had any idea at all.

“Audrey was strong, right, even if she was kinda broken.”

“If people had that recipe [for success] they’d pound it out every day wouldn’t they? It’s just a beautiful thing that you stumble on to something, and I think everyone was so starved for something that was deeper and, I dunno, more romantic and psychological and scary, just deeper in every way, at that point in time.

“Having said that, David’s always a little ahead of the curve isn’t he? Because now the new show is so different, and amazing and abstract. It’s really the realm of David Lynch, you know. I just got to orbit around him!”

What’s your relationship like with the character of Audrey? Do you ever consider what your life would have been like if you hadn’t landed that role? Or is it just so ingrained in who you are now?

“It’s totally ingrained in who I am. The cool thing is that – my agent had to remind me of this because I forget things all the time – I’ve been working since I was 17, I met David when I was 24, I had done ‘Two Moon Junction’, I had done television. But he wrote me a role that changed my life, that was supposed to be this little thing and blossomed into a beautiful rose. He took things I said and put them in. It was just perfect. But no, I never thought, ‘hey this is a big thing’. But it was the biggest thing that happened in my little career. I was shocked, but very happy.

“I’m not the same, I’m 52, I’m not 24, so I just allowed [the dance] to be what it was. I was older and fatter, and people still thought it was OK.”

“But I never thought even then that 25 years later anyone would care. That 18 year olds would walk up and say ‘I love your character’ and I’d be like ‘I could be your momma!’ It’s endearing and it’s amazing, it’s kind of miraculous. I don’t understand it but I’m grateful for it. I hope that whatever it inspires, it’s positive and it’s about being yourself, for young women. Audrey was strong, right, even if she was kinda broken.”

How did you find out about The Return, and what was your first reaction?

“I heard from maybe the news or social media that things might be happening, so then I wrote to David and said I’m not going to believe any of this until I hear from you. He said ‘it’s happening, it’s happening’. I got that in a restaurant and screamed, and literally ran out of the restaurant.”

What was it like to work again with David Lynch, and how does he direct you as Audrey?

“Um, David is very interesting, he’s very abstract. In the same way that you can meet a close friend 10 years later and it’s the same, it’s that. Because David saw something in my soul that connected with his soul. I think his daughter said it was like a first crush he had when he was young, or something like that. That’s why David’s work is so memorable. It’s never weird for the sake of it – everything is very deeply soul-based. That’s why it’s as intense as it is. That’s why it evokes big reactions, of love or hate.

“Understanding with David is overrated, don’t try to understand it. There’s no one way to understand it – however you interpret it, he would tell you that’s correct, and mean it.”

“So being back in there, there was a road to get there that we had to walk on. Because it was happening, and then it wasn’t happening, and then it was happening… and I had some frustrations dealing with the whole show, with David, I just had feelings about it. So finally we came to terms with what we were doing, and he wrote this beautiful stuff for Audrey to do, that was upsetting and sad and haunting. It was David again. You go over to David’s pool and you dive in.

“One time I was supposed to do this scene, and I don’t think I was there at all, or I intellectualised it too much. It’s just this short scene where she gets really upset and she gets really lost. We went to shoot that, and we ended the day, and he knew subconsciously it wasn’t right. The next day I was totally lost and he said ‘well that’s the one’. And he didn’t say anything, we just knew. He’s a little maestro, a little magician.

“Understanding with David is overrated, don’t try to understand it. There’s no one way to understand it – however you interpret it, he would tell you that’s correct, and mean it. It’s not about his ego getting one thing across. He’s about all of us being connected on a larger level.”

What we’ve seen of Audrey so far in The Return has been quite isolated, in the scenes with Charlie. But what was it like to reunite with the rest of the cast?

“Because it’s the finale, if I react in any way it would say something. But in broad strokes it’s great to be back with those people. We see each other at festivals, screenings, dinners. It is like a beautiful, dysfunctional family that came together, even if we’ve lost some of them now.”

To keep the fans happy, let’s try some quick-fire questions…

If you could play any other character in Twin Peaks, who would it be?

“Oh, nobody! There’s nobody I’d want to play but my Audrey. Sorry but that’s the truth!”

Did you practice ‘Audrey’s Dance’ in front of the mirror before doing it again in The Return?

“Absolutely not, no way! I did nothing of the sort! I thought about it, I talked to my friend, and I thought ‘I am not going to plan any of it’. It was also around the time Prince died and now I see pictures of it and it’s purple and that makes me so excited. But no, that would have been bad. I didn’t practice it the first time, I didn’t practice it this time. I’m not the same, I’m 52, I’m not 24, so I just allowed it to be what it was. I was older and fatter, and people still thought it was OK. It makes me emotional, it’s very sweet.”

If David Lynch wanted to do another season of Twin Peaks, would you do it?

“Oh yeah. He said if people loved it he would do another one, and the hardest part is just sitting down and writing it. But he had so much fun this time, he really loved it. And he got to do it the way he wanted to. It’s like an 18-hour movie, so he’s happy. Let’s just stay positive. It really turned out the way he wanted it to in his heart.”

What would you tell your younger self if you could speak to Sherilyn Fenn in the ’90s?

“I’d tell her to relax and I’d tell her she’s worth so much more than she realises. What I thought was important then is so not important.”

What would your dream role be in the future?

“Somewhere in the realm of some period piece. Something like ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, like an older woman, like a mother. I don’t get to do much of that, and the fantasy of that is so appealing to me. Dressing up and being on those beautiful sets. I wish I could do something like that once.”

Finally, a question that came via Facebook: “Gotta light“?

“What? Oh, what do I say? You all know more than I do about stuff like that. Fans put stuff together that I’m like ‘that’s really smart’. I’m not in touch with it that much!”