10 Strange David Lynch Stories You Probably Don't Know

It's not just his movies that are strange...

By Matthew Austin /

Universal

As a filmmaker, David Lynch remains one of the most uniquely singular voices currently working. With just ten films and a handful of television projects to his name (plus all kinds of Lynchian short films and commercials spread out from the 60s to today), the Montana-born writer-director has managed to carve the strangest, most surreal path imaginable for himself.

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After bursting onto the scene with his debut feature Eraserhead in 1977, Lynch went on to release a biopic about the infamous Elephant Man, a much-contested feature film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, and a Hollywood horror story for the ages called Mulholland Drive (among other films, of course). Simply put, there’s truly no one like him.

Unsurprisingly, this odd moviemaker has an equally peculiar personal life. Existing almost like a cartoon character, often wearing the same outfit (a white button-up — buttoned all the way to the top — and an ill-fitting black suit) with the same cigarette dangling from his mouth and the same gray coif on the top of his head, Lynch is undoubtedly a one-of-a-kind man. This is a fact that carries over from his films and seeps into his own daily routine.

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From on-set stories to baffling personal appearances to rumors of failed projects and weird habits, there are all kinds of unusual stories out there about David Lynch.

10. He Doesn't Like Cooking In The House

WC

As the director has told countless sources throughout the decades, cooking in the house is just about the worst thing imaginable to David Lynch. As someone who does all kinds of creative work in his home, there are certain stipulations that he chooses to live by. This includes cooking.

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To him, the oils, greases, and stenches from the evening meals cling to his papers and paintings and completely “deteriorate the works.”

If he absolutely must cook at home, it’s going to be something relatively odourless like rice or quinoa (the latter is a personal favorite of his — he even released a video on how to cook it). To him, these foods are nutritious enough to satiate him and not smelly enough to keep him from reaching his full creative potential.

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