Why David Lynch agreed to star in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans

The filmmaker agrees with John Ford: “Filming the skyline in the middle is as boring as rain.”

This was one of favorites from the editorial team in this year 2023: The Fabelmans marked moviegoers, particularly for its ending scene. Beware of spoilers : David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive…), who participated in its filming, returned to this experience in Empireexplaining why he had initially refused the offer of Steven Spielberg to embody John Fordbefore accepting.

At the time of the release of The Fabelmans on DVD and Blu-ray, his co-writer Tony Kushner explained to us that Laura Dern, one of David Lynch’s favorite actresses, but also at the heart of Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg, was not for nothing in this adventure.

“Steven told me about meeting John Ford on the first day of filming Munich in Malta, recalls his writing partner. We barely knew each other! We were preparing a night scene and I asked him what made him decide to become a director. He detailed this crazy anecdote to me, but while laughing, it was a funny memory. Like the scene, which is amusing, even if it basically says important things.

I know he told this story to lots of people, it was even in a documentary. It must be said that she is great! (laughs) We both wanted to use it, and he wanted to finish the film with it. The surreal exchange matches what they really said to each other. We struggled a bit with casting, we had ideas, but it didn’t work out exactly as we wanted. I asked him if he would like to have a filmmaker play another filmmaker, and my husband, Mark Harris, slipped in David Lynch’s name while we were prepping. West Side Story. He had just seen an interview with him and it’s true that it fit perfectly. Steven tried to contact him through his agent, got no response, so he called Laura Dern for help! She called him, he agreed, saying he would do the test but if it wasn’t good he would have to replace it.”

How do you write a film with Steven Spielberg? Tony Kushner tells us about the creation of The Fabelmans

Now, David Lynch confirms with our British colleagues that he said no to the filmmaker before reconsidering his choice. “At first, I didn’t want to do it. The reason is that when it comes to acting, I prefer to step back and give actors like Harrison Ford or George Clooney a chance.”he said, before explaining that he finally “really liked the scene” proposed by Spielberg.

“I’m sure John Ford had a lot of advice to give to young directors,” he adds. “Steven chose this example of the skyline. Which he was right about. Filming the skyline at middle, it’s boring like rain.”

David Lynch then laughs at a funny request he made when agreeing to join the set: he wanted a huge pack of Cheetos in his dressing room. “I love these things, he justifies. Whenever I can, I eat it. Well, I know it’s not healthy food, but when I leave the house, I try to find some. In reality, I don’t eat that much, it’s just that when I manage to get my hands on it, it has to be a big packet. Because once you start…you have to have a lot of it before you can slow down and stop eating it. If you choose a small bag, you will think about it for days, you will want to have more. The flavor of this stuff is amazing.”

Tony Kushner did not mention Cheetos when remembering the day of filming this final scene, but he recounted with emotion the meeting between David Lynch and Steven Spielberg in First :

“The day of filming is unforgettable for me. It’s truly once in a lifetime: Steven Spielberg filming David Lynch during a scene where Steven Spielberg meets John Ford, who is played by David Lynch. Wow! It was so weird. I was happy as a kid. It’s really one of the pinnacles of my career as a screenwriter. Already being able to participate in films by Steven Spielberg, whom I followed since the start of his career… I adore Encounters of the Third Kind, and this is partly linked to the fact that he hired François Truffaut to star in his film. Let him do it again years later with another filmmaker, who is so important in American cinema… Not to mention that at the start of his career, he also paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock. He proclaims his love of directors through his films.

Lynch is incredible too! This gesture that he makes with his cigar to make the flames shoot out was not at all planned, it was him who had fun with it, it caught his attention and he literally plays with that. In addition, this fire, this smoke, it adds a little creepy side to the character, and we see that he is easily distracted, we don’t know how he will react.

It’s true that this scene is funny. But it also makes sense, deep down. It shows that we can use art to control our lives, that by becoming a maestro in our field, we learn to no longer let ourselves be overwhelmed by anything that can turn our existence upside down. Except that once you begin to understand the power of art, you also realize that it can take you into dangerous, very dark places. Clearly, John Ford was a genius. However, he was not a very happy man. That’s why he asks this young boy why he is so keen to become a director. When he gives him this advice in relation to the horizon line, he knows that it is a ‘ruler’ stupid, but at the same time it’s the only thing he is able to control. It is a tool that allows him to master his art and therefore his life.

It’s all the more beautiful thanks to the passage just before where Sammy is waiting to meet him without immediately knowing who he has an appointment with. He understands this at the same time as the viewer when seeing the posters for his films. Steven had put on the music of The Prisoner of the Desert on set that day and everyone was amazed by this room with the posters of all these masterpieces. The camera takes its time, film after film: The Fantastic Ride, How Green Was My Valley, The Snitch, The Prisoner of the Desert, The Son of the Desert, The Heroic Charge, The Grapes of Wrath, The Quiet Man, The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance… we understand how important this artist is to Sammy. And from Steven who pays tribute to John Ford, whom he undoubtedly considers to be the greatest filmmaker of all time. I love this scene in particular, I love the way it showcases her talent in such a simple, obvious way.”

Tony Kushner’s other anecdotes about making The Fabelmans are to read here.

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