David Lynch isn’t just reviving Twin Peaks; he’s bringing back much of its cast. So far, 31 actors from the original series have been confirmed to appear on this year’s revival. But what have they been up to in the 27 years since Twin Peaks first aired? Here they are, ranked in ascending order of impressiveness.
31. Julee Cruise (Roadhouse Singer)
Cruise released an ethereal vocal version of the Twin Peaks theme tune and appeared in the pilot as a singer. However, since then she’s only appeared in a short avant-garde musical directed by Lynch, playing The Dreamself of the Heartbroken Woman.
30. Al Strobel (Mike)
Strobel’s Twin Peaks character was colloquially known as One-Armed Man. A decade later, his next biggest role was in 2001’s Ricochet River where he played a character called – yup – One-Armed Man. Hollywood can be cruel sometimes.
29. Phoebe Augustine (Ronette Pulaski)
Arguably best known for roles in short-lived sitcoms such as Frannie’s Turn (where she played Miriam Margolyes’s daughter) and The Elvira Show.
28. Richard Beymer (Benjamin Horne)
Remember the Jessica Alba-starring Flipper series from 1996? Richard Beymer does. He featured in an episode where Flipper fights some sharks.
27. Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs)
Recall Crash? Not the JG Ballard film; the (Oscar-winning) film where everyone was racist and sad. Ashbrook starred in the second series of its TV adaptation. Also, he was in Python 2, which sounds amazing.
26. Wendy Robie (Nadine Hurley)
Wendy Robie could never hope to play another character as iconic as eyepatch-wearing, curtain-obsessed Nadine. And, in Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, she didn’t.
25. Carel Struycken (The Giant)
Stereotyping strikes again. Struycken played The Giant in Twin Peaks, Lurch in the Addams Family films, and was most recently seen playing Tall Monster in Gotham.
24. Catherine E Coulson (The Log Lady)
The Log Lady was always the Log Lady. When she cameoed on Portlandia, she was still the Log Lady. Then she died after filming her Log Lady scenes for the new Twin Peaks series, ensuring that her Log Ladiness will endure for ever.
23. Jan D’Arcy (Sylvia Horne)
Appeared in Alive, and several bad television programmes. Now a speech coach in Washington State.
22. Peggy Lipton (Norma Jennings)
Arguably most famous for being the mother of Rashida Jones, Lipton nevertheless has a role in the new film A Dog’s Purpose, which has been plagued by animal-cruelty accusations.
21. James Marshall (James Hurley)
James Marshall was in A Few Good Men. But he was also in Soccer Dog: The Movie, which is a real film that someone actually made.
20. David Lynch (Gordon Cole)
Little is known of reclusive part-time actor David Lynch, other than that he’s starred in a couple of episodes of Louie and plays a 117-year-old bartender on The Cleveland Show.
19. Mädchen Amick (Shelly Johnson)
Amick has a role on Riverdale, the hot new teen drama you’ve heard lots about. She’s also been in Mad Men, ER, Damages and, oh, Joey.
18. Gary Hershberger (Mike Nelson)
Murder She Wrote! Chicago Hope! The West Wing! The OC! JAG! Grey’s Anatomy! Six Feet Under! That’s about it!
17. Warren Frost (Will Hayward)
Typically for the man who got to utter the immortal line “Hell of a way to kill a tick”, Warren Frost has been in some legendary comedies, such as Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show and Get a Life.
16. Harry Goaz (Andy Brennan)
Goaz has really only appeared in the sitcom Eerie, Indiana since Twin Peaks, but full marks to him for remaining tonally consistent.
15. Everett McGill (Big Ed Hurley)
Lynch cast McGill in 1999’s The Straight Story. Also: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.
14. Walter Olkewicz (Jacques Renault)
Largely dormant since 2003, Olkewicz is best known for his role as Brett Butler’s colleague Dougie in the sitcom Grace Under Fire.
13. Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs)
Although her career arguably peaked before Twin Peaks – she was in Eraserhead and Little House on the Prairie – Stewart has still managed to squeeze out two Tremors films and a surprisingly candid memoir since 1990.
12. Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran)
Robertson focused on voice work after Twin Peaks. She played Samantha “ne pas de boys” Stanky in the classic Simpsons episode Bart’s Friend Falls in Love, so she’s officially a hero.
11. Michael Horse (Tommy “Hawk” Hill)
Has appeared in Roswell, Jackie Chan Adventures, Malcolm in the Middle and Passenger 57.
10. Russ Tamblyn (Lawrence Jacoby)
Tamblyn spent a long time in the wilderness but, thanks to roles in Drive, Django Unchained and The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, he’s now mounting a comeback.
9. Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer)
Most recently seen in Santa Clarita Diet, Zabriskie enjoyed roles in Fried Green Tomatoes and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. She also appeared in something called Psycho Sushi, which I refuse to Google because it’s almost certainly better in my head.
8. Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer)
Laura Palmer herself was in the last Woody Allen movie. Admittedly it wasn’t a very good Woody Allen movie, but it was a Woody Allen movie nonetheless.
7. David Patrick Kelly (Jerry Horne)
Beloved by Spike Lee, David Patrick Kelly has appeared in Malcolm X and Crooklyn. Plus he’s the only actor on this list in both John Wick films.
6. Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey Horne)
Although Fenn’s career was T-boned by her lead role in the disastrous Boxing Helena, she has since come back with appearances in Gilmore Girls, Ray Donovan and the US remake of Shameless.
5. Miguel Ferrer (Albert Rosenfield)
Ferrer was in the bizarre post-Peaks David Lynch sitcom On the Air, the Bionic Woman revival, Desperate Housewives and Adventure Time. He was also a main cast member in NCIS: Los Angeles, before he passed away in January.
4. Alicia Witt (Gersten Hayward)
Witt has kept busy by doing three things: 1) barging into shows such as Nashville, Supernatural and The Walking Dead and making them her own, 2) annually appearing in Hallmark Christmas movies and 3) becoming a respected recording artist. I’m not mentioning the Al Pacino film 88 Minutes on purpose.
3. Ray Wise (Leland Palmer)
Ray Wise has been in the Swamp Thing series, Beverly Hills 90210, Good Night, and Good Luck, How I Met Your Mother, Reaper, Chuck, Mad Men, Agent Carter, Comedy Bang! Bang! and something called Scream at the Sound of the Beep, which I can only imagine is incredible.
2. Kyle MacLachlan (Special Agent Dale Cooper)
As well as Showgirls, MacLachlan has vastly improved Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. He’s also been in The Good Wife and – best of all – Portlandia. Arguably, no Twin Peaks actor has ever done anything quite as Twin Peaksy as when MacLachlan improvised Portland’s anthem on the fly in Portlandia’s second series.
1. David Duchovny (Denise Bryson)
The role of transgender DEA agent Denise Bryson turned David Duchovny into a megastar. He’s since played the lead in The X-Files and Californication and Aquarius. In fact, his career has been so successful that it allowed him to write direct and star in 2004’s House of D, which, as anyone who has seen 2004’s House of D will attest, was a terrible mistake.
