Among David Lynch’s many muses – Kyle Maclachlan, Laura Dern, Everett McGill, et al – Julee Cruise feels like one of the most important and ephemeral: her haunting songs anchored the soundtrack for the original “Twin Peaks,” and amplified the dreamlike atmosphere of “Blue Velvet” and, later, “Fire Walk With Me.” But the singer was none too pleased about the way Lynch treated her in Part 18 of “Twin Peaks: The Return,” according to a Facebook post Cruise made Sunday after the finale aired on Showtime.
Even among longtime fans, “The Return” has polarized viewers from the very start, eschewing the soapy, left-of-center charms of the original series for something closer in story and tone to Lynch’s later films “Lost Highway” and “Mulholland Drive.” But according to Cruise, she aggressively avoided participating in the reunion series – regardless of format – until Lynch convinced her to come back for a performance with the Chromatics, who appear on several episodes. “I tried to hide,” she wrote in an exchange with fans. “I changed my numbed [sic]! I changed my email address…it was such A BUMMER when I heard it was coming Back.”
‘Twin Peaks’ The Return Finale: The Mind-Bending Ecstasy Of The Unknowable
According to her keyboard-impaired version of events on Facebook, Lynch treated Cruise poorly during filming, never mind that she appeared in only a few moments in the final edited version of Part 18. “He insulted me so loud onset,” she wrote. “I Will Never Forgive Him.” For better or worse, her treatment in the show itself was the same as with just about everybody else from the original series, breaking down her heartrending performance of “The World Spins” into a brief, ghostly epilogue.
In spite of her frustrations, Cruise expressed relief that she was able to put the experience behind her. “I don’t like The David Lynch Sabrina Southerland Attitude toward me, and I Will Never Work for The Emperor Again..thank God!” But on September 4, she shared an interview conducted with the Los Angeles Times about her career where she admitted that she’s possessive of the relationship she shared with Lynch, and grateful that their work together helped launch her career. “I heard somebody say, ‘Oh, there’s a new Julee Cruise,’” Cruise told the Times. “That’s all it took. I don’t know what singer it was. I get very possessive. David is mine. How could they?”
“I will always be known as this,” Cruise said of their collaboration. “And I will always be proud of this.” [via A/V Club]