K.T Simpson
With season 3 looming, I thought it was time to look back at the original Twin Peaks seasons and revisit the actors that appeared in the show – before you knew who they were!
Alicia Witt
Alicia has a long history with David Lynch, who cast her in “Dune” in 1984, and followed up with an appearance on Twin Peaks in 1990. She went on to appear in a whole bunch of films in the ‘90s, such as “Urban Legend” and “Fun”, and her film and television career has progressed up until the current day. Witt will be seen in the upcoming Twin Peaks as the same character – Gersten Hayward, the younger sister of Laura’s best friend Donna.
Molly Shannon
Shannon had much of her film success in the late ‘90s to 2000s, however is perhaps most well known for her stint on “Saturday Night Live” from 1995-2001. Before that however, she appeared in one episode of Twin Peaks as Judy Swain, a foster care worker. This was the beginning of her television career, and also appeared in episodes of Seinfeld, Will & Grace and Sex & the City. She’s also been in a whole lot of films, and you’d recognise her from “Bad Teacher”, “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Other People”.
David Duchovny
You’d be forgiven for not knowing that Duchovny is in 3 episodes of Twin Peaks, as he appears as a woman. Well, sort of – he plays Agent Dennis Bryson, who goes undercover dressed as a woman, and discovers that well…he kinda likes it. And so Denise Bryson is born. Obviously Duchovny has had a mammoth career following his Twin Peaks stint, with his more famous roles being as FBI Agent Fox Mulder in “The X-Files’, and writer Hank Moody in “Californication”. Duchovny will be reprising his role in the new Twin Peaks.
Heather Graham
Graham hit her stride as an actress in “Drugstore Cowboy” in 1989, but was still relatively unknown when she appeared in Twin Peaks in 1991, and the film “Fire Walk With Me” as Annie Blackburn. She was in 6 episodes of the show, and featured briefly in the film as a waitress and love interest to Dale Cooper. Graham has since gone on to have a very successful film and television career, spanning from the ‘90s to now.
Billy Zane
Billy appeared in the 1989 thriller “Dead Calm”, before having a role on Twin Peaks as John Justice Wheeler for a handful of episodes – a friend of Ben Horne who later falls in love with Ben’s daughter Audrey. Zane was later seen in “Titanic” as the key villain and is also known for playing himself in “Zoolander” and the subsequent sequel.
