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By Christina Radish
 Having begun three years ago, as an experiment between filmmaker David Lynch and Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, Inland Empire is an unusual, three-hour story of an actress, named Nikki Grace (Dern), who is married to a powerful man in Los Angeles. After she lands a role in a high-profile love story, playing a woman named Susan Blue, Nikki begins an affair with her womanizing leading man (Justin Theroux), then seems to have trouble delineating between her real life, and the character that she is playing.
First working with Lynch in his 1986 classic Blue Velvet, when she was just 17, Dern went on to star as sexpot Lula Fortune in Wild At Heart, four years later. Now, 20 years later, both Dern and Lynch tell MediaBlvd Magazine that it is the love they have for each other that makes their working relationship so strong.
MediaBlvd Magazine> What was the genesis of this film, and when did you start writing it?
David Lynch> It started with a scene with Laura. There was actually a scene without Laura first. Then, there was a scene with Laura. I didn't know that the scene without Laura was going to be part of the film, though. We shot that as a stand alone thing. I kept looking at this scene thinking there's something more. It's holding something and then I get another idea and then we go write that scene and then we'd shoot that. And then I'd get another idea without Laura and I'd shoot that. I didn't know how one would relate to another or if it was going to hold together or be anything. Then a thing happened five, six or seven scenes down, where I see a story coming out that unites these scenes and holds them and then it went faster. I'd write more and more and more. Then we'd shoot more traditionally after that. But in the beginning it was scene, then a long time and wait, then another scene, and wait, like that.
MediaBlvd> This film has a structure some people don't get. Is that something you thought of?
David> No. I get an idea and the idea tells me everything. I understand the idea enough to translate it to cinema, and stay true to that and try to get everybody to get tuned into that idea of driving the boat. Sometimes, if you're true to the idea, these ideas have harmonics. I could go back to a film I made a long time ago and, if I was true to the ideas, I could get a whole different thing out of it. Because I was true to this idea, this idea is true. You have to stay true to the idea.
MediaBlvd> How difficult is that?
David> It's not so difficult. You just can't let up because every element is critical. Every element has to feel correct before you walk away, in terms of the idea. So, you just have to do your work until things feel correct. Then, you've done that days work. The next day, you come in and you've got all these unfinished things looking at you. You have to try to get to 100%, based on the original idea. That's your job.
 MediaBlvd> Laura, you've worked with David before, so was this experience much different than your previous experiences?Laura Dern> Yes. There are things that stay true to the unique experience of working with David. Interestingly, they weren't in the area of working, scene by scene, and not having a script. It's more in the area of working in digital film. The ease of which you can shoot your day, and the ease with which David alone can move the camera around and get the scene, is unheard of on a traditional 35 mm movie set. To have a 12-hour working day, and have us film 10 of 12 hours, was a more common day's experience than not. We got to work and would start working. We had the luxury because of 40 minutes in the camera of shooting an entire scene without cutting, and David would work on covering one actor and then going to the next actor, and then pulling back, and then doing coverage within the scene. It gives you a great deal of freedom, as an actor, to truly be in the moment, as opposed to holding it and then trying to go back to that moment and replicate it. That was the thing I found the most liberating and unusual. Then comes the fact that he gave me several characters to play. And so, it's like the game Candyland, if it were real. That would be like what my experience of working on this movie was. It was just pure bliss to have someone that extraordinary, that I've admired my whole life, trust me enough to say, “Let's work this way,” and you're going to explore these people. I wish, if he could impart anything to other filmmakers, one thing I think would be so helpful, just in terms of working with actors, is that actors will be what you want them to be, and feel brave and be daring and be as good as you want them to be, if you believe in them. You can't fake that. David so believes in actors and has such reverence for that process, and is very specific and detailed about what he wants. Because the film is abstract, one thinks that his expression of what he wants you to do would be vague or surreal, and it's not. It's very, very specific.
MediaBlvd> David, how did you know when you were done writing?
David> With painting and music and all those things, there's a moment where the whole thing feels correct, and it's done. It's not until the end that you start dealing with the whole. Up until then, it's in parts. Toward the end, you think you've got the whole thing corralled, and maybe you have a screening, and some other people are there, and you say, “Wait a minute.” You've got huge problems and you go to work, and get closer, and then you have another screening. Then, there's a moment where it happens, and it gets done. It feels correct, as a whole.
 MediaBlvd> Laura, as the producer, did you see the script or the author?Laura> As an actor, what I always see first is the author -- the filmmaker -- and that's who I go to work with. When David calls, I show up. I don't need a script. I know he has something in mind. I'm excited to be part of that experience. Referring to me as a producer, that's a gracious token of esteem from David for going along for our three-year ride, more than having a particular job title. My job was being a member of the team for this journey.
MediaBlvd> David, does the music play a part in your creative process and experience?
David> Music is huge because sometimes you get ideas from listening to music. Sometimes a scene comes right out of it, or it might set a mood or marry a scene that's already been done. It's inspiring. It's a magical ingredient.
MediaBlvd> Was there specific music that you listened to for this?
David> All the music you hear is music that I found that married to the place in the film where it exists. A lot of things were tried. When it doesn't work, you know it doesn't work, then you've got to start again. You've got to find the thing that marries to the scene, and then you're rolling.
MediaBlvd> What are your political intentions with the film?
David> Some people are very political and they see politics in everything. This is a world on its own, and you just go into this world. Where there are abstractions, people have varying interpretations and thoughts about it. It's the same with all film. When the lights go down and the curtains open and we get to go into another world.
MediaBlvd> Can you talk about your Oscar campaign for this film?
David> In my opinion, and the opinion of a lot of people, Laura should at least be nominated for an Academy Award, but we don't have any money and we're not connected with a giant studio. So, I had this idea that, because the Academy members love show business, I'd go out on the street with signs for Laura, and a cow. One time, I had a cow and a piano player, and it was beautiful. People would come up and talk to me. It was on the Internet, so more people would come and, pretty soon, Channel 4 and Channel 5 came, and it was magical. That story went around the world because we live in that kind of world now where things travel fast. It was to make people aware that the film was coming out, and that it had a great performance by Laura. We'll see how it works out.
MediaBlvd> What's the main thing in your relationship that makes it work?
David> Love and trust. And, Laura's a great talent. If someone you love is right for the part, then you're very happy because you get to go down the road for a long time with that person. There’s so much happiness seeing her nail these scenes and get them to feel correct. It's not so easy all the time, but when there’s enthusiasm to get it, it's great.
MediaBlvd> Is Twin Peaks still coming out on DVD in April 2007?
David> I think it is.
MediaBlvd> You haven't done commentary in the past. Are there extras or commentary on this release?
David> There might be some extras. I'm not sure what's being cooked up. There won't be commentary, though.
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