Filmmaker David Lynch says his days of directing are essentially over because he cannot leave home, thanks to an emphysema diagnosis caused by a lifetime of smoking.
"I've gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I'm homebound whether I like it or not. … And now, because of covid, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold," the legendary cult-movie director, whose masterpieces include Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, and the Twin Peaks series, told Sight and Sound, via Variety. (See montage of Lynch's stunning cinematography in video below, posted by The Beauty Of.)
"I would try to do it remotely, if it comes to it," added 78-year-old Lynch, but "I wouldn't like that so much."
In addition to the risk of catching a cold or other virus, Lynch said he "can only walk a short distance" before running "out of oxygen."
Lynch admitted in the interview that he"absolutely loved" smoking, "but in the end, it bit me," according to Daily Beast.
"The tobacco and the smell of it, and lighting things and smoking and going back and sitting back and having a smoke and looking at your work, or thinking about things; nothing like it in this world is so beautiful," Lynch reminisced. "Meanwhile, it's killing me. So, I had to quit."
From Variety:
Elsewhere in the Sight and Sound interview, Lynch, whose last feature film was 2006's "Inland Empire," said he is still "hopeful" that his 2010 screenplay "Antelope Don't Run No More" will make it to the big screen. "We don't know what the future will bring," he said.
He also discussed "Snootworld," the animated film he began working on two decades ago with Caroline Thompson ("The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Edward Scissorhands").
"Just recently, I thought someone might be interested in getting behind this, so I presented it to Netflix in the last few months, but they rejected it," Lynch said. "Old-fashioned fairy tales are considered groaners: apparently, people don't want to see them. It's a different world now, and it's easier to say no than to say yes."
Order a copy of the September 2024 issue of Sight and Sound here.
Previously: This book of David Lynch's paintings and drawings is full of endless inspiration
