‘I truly owe my entire career and life to his vision’

Kyle MacLachlan remembers his dear friend David Lynch.

Lynch, the four-time Oscar-nominated director who created Twin Peaks, died Jan. 16 at age 78, his family announced. Those Lynch influenced during his storied film career shared touching messages about their late friend, including MacLachlan, 65, who posted a tribute to his legacy on Instagram.

In the post, which included photos from the many years of their friendship, the actor credited Lynch for kick-starting his career.

“Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me from obscurity to star in his first and last big-budget film,” MacLachlan wrote. “He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and indeed my life, to his vision.”

He continued: “What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative sea bursting forth within him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could access.”

MacLachlan and Lynch worked together on Dune (1984), but their friendship “blossomed” on the set of Blue velvet (1986) and later, while collaborating on Twin Peaks (1990), he wrote.

The actor praised Lynch’s mind and imagination—writing that the director didn’t care much for answers because questions were far more valuable—and reflected on fond memories of everyday special moments in their friendship.

“While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I have lost a dear friend who envisioned a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own,” he wrote.

The photos MacLachlan shared ranged from on-location snapshots of the duo and recent candids taken together at home, to shared selfies and solo shots of Lynch in his element of directing.

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MacLachlan thanked his friend for their time together and said he will remain “forever changed.”

“His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic destiny of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other,” MacLachlan wrote.

He continued: “I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is so much fuller because I knew him and so much emptier now that he is gone.”