David Bowie approved his 'Twin Peaks: The Return' cameo before he died
David Bowie didn't make an in-camera appearance in Twin Peaks: The Return like I had kinda-sorta predicted (see: wishfully thought he might). But he gave his blessing for his character Phillip Jeffries to be featured -- whether he knew about the teapot thing or not.
Bowie made a blink-and-you'd-miss-it cameo in the 1992 Twin Peaks spinoff film Fire Walk With Me as Jeffries, a long-lost FBI agent who blows into Gordon Cole's office, sputters some nonsense about "Judy" and disappears in a flash of electricity.
Though it was a bit part, Jeffries was repeatedly name-dropped in the first two episodes of The Return, leading me to the wild theory that David Lynch might have filmed a scene with his longtime friend before Bowie's January 2016 death.
That wasn't meant to be, but Jeffries -- and his elusive whereabouts -- continued to be a theme in Twin Peaks: The Return.
On Sunday, Sabrina Sutherland, executive producer of The Return did a Reddit AMA and was asked about Bowie's involvement.
"Did Bowie know how his character was going to be tackled in his absence?" the Redditor asked.
"Bowie did give us permission to use his clips in this season," was Sutherland's reply -- though she didn't give any more "Bowie-related detail."
Bowie-as-Jeffries is briefly seen in a flashback clip from Fire Walk With Me, and his cryptic tirade was given just a bit of context. What we'll probably never know is why Jeffries was later turned into a refrigerator-sized talking teapot that helps Agent Cooper navigate negative space.
If nothing else, it certainly made for some interesting steam formations.
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Josh Dickey is Mashable's Entertainment Editor, leading Mashable's TV, music, gaming and sports reporters as well as writing movie features and reviews.Josh has been the Film Editor at Variety, Entertainment Editor at The Associated Press and Managing Editor at TheWrap.com.A finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club's Best Entertainment Feature in 2015 for "Everyone is Altered: The Secret Hollywood Procedure that Fooled Us for Years," Josh received his BA in Journalism from The University of Minnesota.In between screenings, he can be found skating longboards, shredding guitar and wandering the streets of his beloved downtown Los Angeles.
