Naomi Watts pays tribute to director David Lynch
'Mulholland Drive' star Naomi Watts has paid tribute to frequent collaborator David Lynch, following news of the director's passing on January 16th.
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Film » Film News
Fri 17 January 2025 9:04, UK
Mulholland Drive star Naomi Watts has become the latest to pay tribute to acclaimed film director David Lynch, who died aged 78 on January 16th.
The actor, who appeared in the lead role as Betty Elms in the 2001 surrealist neo-noir film, worked alongside Lynch on many of his later projects, also appearing in 2006’s Inland Empire as well as the 2017 television series reboot Twin Peaks: The Return.
In a post on Instagram, Watts said: “My heart is broken. My Buddy Dave… The world will not be the same without him.”
Watts continued: “His creative mentorship was truly powerful. He put me on the map. The world I’d been trying to break into for ten plus years, flunking auditions left and right. Finally, I sat in front of a curious man, beaming with light, speaking words from another era, making me laugh and feel at ease. How did he even “see me” when I was so well hidden, and I’d even lost sight of myself?!”
Praising how it wasn’t just his work as an auteur that affected her, but that his “wisdom, humour, and love” impacted her life and career and gave her a sense of self-belief in her acting abilities, she said that his life was “one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of”.
“I just cannot believe that he’s gone,” Watts’ post concluded. “I’m in pieces but forever grateful for our friendship.
I’m yelling from the bullhorn: Godspeed, Buddy Dave! Thank you for your everything.
—Buttercup xox”
Lynch’s passing on January 16th came as a shock to the world of entertainment, with tributes from other notable collaborators and contemporaries such as Kyle MacLachlan and Steven Spielberg having honoured the director in heartfelt posts.
The director, whose cause of death has not been officially confirmed, announced in 2024 that he had been diagnosed with emphysema, and was housebound as a result of the illness. His last creative project was the 2024 album Cellophane Memories, which was his release in collaboration with American singer Chrystabell. Meanwhile, 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return acted as his final directorial effort prior to his death.
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