The cast for Lynch’s Twin Peaks revival swells to 217: who isn’t in it?

The complete cast list for the highly anticipated reboot of David Lynch’s cult series Twin Peaks has been released and, in addition to many returning favorites, the list has some surprises – some good, and some that add a little more WTF-iness to the proceedings.

The series, which ran on ABC for 2 seasons, from 1990 to 1991, dealt with the mystery surrounding the murder of high school prom queen Laura Palmer. There were twists, there were turns, there was an enigmatic, murdering entity named Bob and there was some damn good coffee. David Lynch announced the return of the show back in October of 2014 with a tweet declaring “Dear Twitter friends…it is happening again. #damngoodcoffee.”

The series is returning to Showtime in early 2017 and to add to the anticipation, the network sent out a press release listing the full cast on Monday. The list contains names of big screen superstars, rock and rollers, Lynch alumni from TV and film, comedians and some cult favorites.

Some of the big names joining the cast include Naomi Watts, Monica Bellucci, Michael Cera, Ashley Judd, Amanda Seyfried and Laura Dern – who was amazing in Lynch’s film Wild at Heart. Some actors from Quentin Tarantino’s talented stable – Robert Forster, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Roth have also been cast. In the “huh?” department we have Nine Inch Nails lead singer Trent Reznor, who actually has worked with David in the past, producing the soundtrack for his movie Lost Highway, and Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder. And then there’s Jim Belushi. That one’s a head scratcher. Well, he and Grant Goodeve, who was the only reason I watched Eight is Enough when I was a kid.

Spoilers for the original Twin Peaks if you’re still waiting to watch it

A good percentage of the original series’ cast is also returning, including Kyle MacLachlan, reprising his iconic role as FBI Agent Dale Cooper, Mädchen Amick, David Duchovny, Peggy Lipton and even David Lynch himself, playing Cooper’s FBI boss. Sheryl Lee, who played the doomed Laura Palmer is also returning as well as Sherilyn Fenn, whose character Audrey Horne is reported to be a “major presence” in the new series…despite the fact that her character was blown up in a bank explosion on the series finale. Another seemingly deceased character, Laura’s father Leland, played by Ray Wise, will be back after committing suicide in the original series. But, we are talking about David Lynch here, so I’m sure he will find a creative way to revive these characters, as well as the “Log Lady”, played by Catherine Coulson, who passed away back in September of 2015.

Even though a lot of familiar faces are returning, there are some notable absences, including Michael Ontkean, who played the local sheriff who teamed up with Agent Cooper to investigate the murder, Lara Flynn Boyle, who played Laura’s best friend and Frank Silva, who played the creepiest killer in TV history, BOB.

Aside from the returning actors, the press release did not share the roles the additions to the cast will be playing. All I know is I am saving up for a Showtime subscription come 2017. Is anyone else as excited as I am about the return of this show?

'Twin Peaks' (ABC) - Film Still

'Twin Peaks' (ABC) - Film Still

Photo credit: Getty Images, WENN.com

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32 Responses to “The cast for Lynch’s Twin Peaks revival swells to 217: who isn’t in it?”

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  1. Alix says:

    Peggy Lipton’s all you need.

  2. Dana says:

    What happened to Lara Flynn Boyle?

    • Green Is Good says:

      Dana:

      Lara FB’s trout lips are what happened. No bueno on screen.

      • Esmom says:

        Lol, when you’re too freakish even for David Lynch, you’ve got a problem.

        It’s a shame, though, that she won’t be included.

      • SM says:

        It’s a shame. She was such a beautiful young woman in twin peaks original. And she ruined it all for herself

      • mia girl says:

        @esmom – I was going to make a similar remark!

        If Lynch can’t find a way to fit you in, you know your face has gone too far. It’s sad.

    • Lisa says:

      Alcoholism?

    • Ari says:

      I can’t wait to see Fenn again also she is so terrific on Shameless never get tired of her and she has aged gracefully unlike Boyle lol

  3. roxane says:

    Yess. That’s all I have to say.

  4. Sarah says:

    I only got into Twin Peaks in 2004. I have been hooked ever since. Its a program like no other, it can be watched over and over

  5. susanne says:

    I never saw it. I was going to ask if I should. Got my answer, Sarah!
    I don’t know what happened to Lara Flynn Boyle. Bad surgery, but then it looked like she was taking steroids for a disease or something, the way her face swelled. Truly tragic.

  6. SM says:

    Now I wanna go back in time and experience the original twon peaks all over again. I was around 7 or 8 when it came out and watched it with my older brother and some older friends in summer of 1996 I guess. It is as much about the actual thing as well as about a very happy time in my teenage life. I had to rewatch when I got older of course because I didn’t understand anything beyond the storyline of Laura Palmer’s murder the first time around. I will try watching the new one, no doubt about it

    • Esmom says:

      I hear you. I’m clearly much older than you because I was in my first apartment after college and I can’t overstate how much of sensation TP was. My roommate was really obsessed, she even changed her style from her strict 80s corporate to look more like Sherilyn Fenn’s character, it was kinda funny.

      My teen son and I have been looking for something to watch together, I think I’m going to suggest the original series. I will be very curious to see how it’s held up, since I have not seen it since its original airing.

      • bex says:

        I re-watched it with my teen kids over the summer holidays last year. It was really great.
        The previous year we watched all the seasons of Lost over the hols, that was quite epic too.

      • Esmom says:

        bex, my son and I watched Lost a few years ago, too. He loved it so much he watched the whole thing all over again. I enjoyed seeing it the second time but that was enough for me. Glad you guys liked Twin Peaks, my guy says he’s up for it!

  7. Ariel says:

    I’ll miss Sheriff Truman, but i am so excited to see what Mr Lynch brings us.
    I will not miss Bob- the stuff of nightmares.

  8. oliphant says:

    i hope they fix the huge error they made and finally get cooper together with audrey- man their chemistry was smokin’

    THE OWLS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.

    *cough* sorry so excited for this!!!!

    • mia girl says:

      Me too!

    • Shutterbug99 says:

      Ha! Well, with no Lara Flynn Boyle around this time, it just might happen.

      She was dating Kyle McLachlan at the time of the show and had a big problem with the Coop/Audrey thing if I remember correctly. Or maybe that’s just pure gossip and they didn’t happen because of the age difference between the characters…

      Yeah.

  9. LannisterForever says:

    I tried watching a couple episodes of Twin Peaks on Netflix but didn’t get into it at all. Does it have a really slow start/should I give it another shot?

    • Shutterbug99 says:

      If you can’t get into Season 1 (the best season!) then you’ll never make it through Season 2 which is very hit and miss at times (I say that as a big fan of the show!) David Lynch is my favourite director, and I think he is an absolute genius, but his stuff is definitely not for everyone!

    • SusanneToo says:

      S1 started off like gangbusters, but I got tired of S2 long before it petered out. Really didn’t care who killed Laura at that point.

  10. Shutterbug99 says:

    I first watched Twin Peaks as a kid and Bob scared the bejesus out of me. Re-watched last year and Bob still scares the hell out of me! I had nightmares! I heard some fan speculation that Eddie Vedder may play Bob in the new series (pure guessing!) I can see it, as Eddie Vedder can totally do those scary eyes, although being my big-time teenage crush, he’ll never scare me like Frank Silva (RIP).

    I’m not totally sure if it’s fact or speculation that Lara Flynn Boyle refused to reprise her role in the Fire, Walk With Me movie. Fact, I think. In any case, the Donna role was recast for that movie. I heard another rumor (more pure speculation) that Ashley Judd may play Donna in this new series.

    Anyway, if you didn’t guess, I’m so excited for more Twin Peaks!

  11. Lisa says:

    Disappointingly I wasn’t asked to join the cast

  12. Size Does Matter says:

    Wow, when I saw the header photo I though “Ted Cruz looks younger all of a sudden.” Sorry, Kyle. Need coffee.

    • SJO says:

      Hehe…Awesome. I was gonna whine about the insufferable Ashley Judd. But your comment made me snort

  13. JKL says:

    I think BOB, Frank Silva, died in the 90’s, so not seeing him is something of a relief. Even more nightmares…

  14. andy o'connor says:

    The biggest surprise is no Harry Trumen. Lara Flynn Boyle pissed off too many people in Hollywood, they already replaced her once for Walking in Fire or whatever that movie was.