David Lynch: ‘I Will Never Retire’ Despite Diagnosis
Samantha Bergeson
David Lynch may be “homebound” but he is never leaving Hollywood.
The auteur took to social media to clarify making his emphysema diagnosis public in an upcoming interview with Sight & Sound magazine.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking,” Lynch tweeted. “I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco — the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them — but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is emphysema. I have now quit smoking for over two years.”
Lynch continued, “Recently I had many tests and the good news is that I am in excellent shape except for emphysema. I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire. I want you all to know that I really appreciate your concern. Love, David.”
The 78-year-old “Mulholland Drive” auteur told Sight & Sound magazine (via The Independent) that he cannot leave his house due to his weakened immune system.
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out,” Lynch said. “Because of Covid, It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold.”
Lynch added that he “can only walk a short distance before” he is “out of oxygen.”
He told the outlet that he would still be able to direct remotely “if it comes to it,” he said, albeit adding, “I wouldn’t like that so much.”
Lynch recently debuted a partially animated music video for “Sublime Eternal Love,” which he directed as part of new collaborative album “Cellophane Memories.” His most recent feature film, “Inland Empire,” was released in 2006, and Lynch directed 2017’s “Twin Peaks: The Return.”
Lynch was previously set to shoot a Netflix series known as “Unrecorded Night” in 2020 before the show was scrapped due to the pandemic, according to Lynch’s longtime producer Sabrina Sutherland. Netflix also passed on his long-gestating animated film “Snootworld,” which he co-wrote with “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “The Addams Family” scribe Caroline Thompson.
“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, who also directed “Blue Velvet,” told Deadline in April 2024. “‘Snootworld’ is kind of an old fashioned story and animation today is more about surface jokes. Old fashioned fairytales 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.”
