Michael Cera Got His Twin Peaks Role Thanks to Transcendental Meditation
Michael King Learning that David Lynch is into meditation is like learning that a cat hates water or a dog likes cheese or a gay guy likes Laura Dern. What might be a surprise is learning that he uses it as a way to find actors. Michael Cera got firsthand experience for his role playing a Brando in Twin Peaks, not typically a part for the George Michaels of the world. “The full story is that I did a transcendental meditation course with some friends, and a woman there said she was from the David Lynch Foundation and invited us to meditate with David Lynch,” Cera told The Hollywood Reporterwhile at the Berlin Film Festival. “So about a month later, we went to David’s house, which is the house from Lost Highway, and at first it was me and David. He was so sweet and welcoming, but I was still just so confused about why he was having us, why we were allowed to be there and meet him. I was so excited. So we meditated with him for about 20 minutes.” Being happy you’re with David Lynch but also wildly confused about why you are there seems like the ideal Lynchian experience to us, actually.
But it paid off. “A couple of years later, I got invited to do this Twin Peaks scene,” Cera says. “I only worked with David for about two hours when we shot that scene, but it was so much fun.” So suddenly Michael Cera is a version of Marlon Brando named Wally Brando in Twin Peaks. For what it’s worth, Vulture critic Jen Chaney called Cera’s scene “the moment that cemented this as one of my favorite episodes of television so far this year.”
