33 Facts About Kyle MacLachlan

1.

Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor best known for his role as Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks and its film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, as well as roles in two of David Lynch's films: Paul Atreides in Dune and Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet.

2.

Kyle MacLachlan's mother, Catherine, was a public relations director for a school district and a homemaker who was active in community arts programs.

3.

Kyle MacLachlan's father, Kent Alan McLachlan, was a stockbroker and lawyer.

4.

Kyle MacLachlan grew up in Yakima, the eldest of three boys.

5.

Kyle MacLachlan's mother left his father when he was 17, and his parents divorced in his senior year of high school.

6.

Kyle MacLachlan was introduced to stage acting by his mother when she became director of a youth theater program for teenagers that she helped set up in Yakima.

7.

Kyle MacLachlan sent him to piano lessons from the age of 9 to 14, when he began to study classical singing.

8.

Kyle MacLachlan initially planned to major in business and studied classical voice at UW, but changed his focus to acting.

9.

The first film Kyle MacLachlan worked on was The Changeling, part of which was shot on the University of Washington campus.

10.

Kyle MacLachlan made his film debut in Dune in the starring role of Paul Atreides.

11.

Kyle MacLachlan moved to Los Angeles in 1985, and auditioned for several films, including Top Gun, but failed to win any roles, eventually dropping his agent, Creative Artists Agency.

12.

Kyle MacLachlan cast me as the lead in Dune and Blue Velvet, and people have seen me as this boy-next-door-cooking-up-something-weird-in-the-basement ever since.

13.

Kyle MacLachlan starred in the 1987 science fiction action film The Hidden as FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher.

14.

Kyle MacLachlan further collaborated with Lynch in the ABC television series Twin Peaks, playing Special Agent Dale Cooper, reprising that role for Lynch's 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

15.

Lynch, who is known to allow his collaborative partners a large degree of control over their roles when working with him, rewrote scenes in Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks at the request of Kyle MacLachlan, who felt they were not right for his characters.

16.

Kyle MacLachlan appeared as musician Ray Manzarek in Oliver Stone's 1991 film The Doors, about the band of the same name.

17.

Kyle MacLachlan had previously turned down Stone's offer to play Chris in the 1986 movie Platoon, which ultimately went to Charlie Sheen.

18.

Kyle MacLachlan played the role of a killer in Tales from the Crypt, in 1991.

19.

Kyle MacLachlan recalls that when he watched Showgirls for the first time before the premiere, he thought it was "horrible".

20.

Kyle MacLachlan played King Claudius in the 2000 film Hamlet based on William Shakespeare's play.

21.

In 2003, Kyle MacLachlan made his Broadway debut as Aston in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker with Patrick Stewart.

22.

Kyle MacLachlan portrayed the spirit of Cary Grant in the 2004 film Touch of Pink.

23.

In 2006, after starring in the short-lived In Justice, Kyle MacLachlan appeared in Desperate Housewives as the mysterious dentist Orson Hodge.

24.

Kyle MacLachlan first appeared during the show's second season, and became a full-time cast member at the start of season three.

25.

In 2007, Kyle MacLachlan was one of the presenters at the London leg of Live Earth benefit concerts.

26.

Kyle MacLachlan appeared in the 2008 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

27.

In 2010, after four years of playing Orson Hodge, Kyle MacLachlan decided to quit Desperate Housewives as he found the commute from his home in New York City to the set in Los Angeles increasingly difficult since becoming a father in 2008.

28.

Kyle MacLachlan guest starred as George "The Captain" Van Smoot in season 6,8 and 9 of How I Met Your Mother from 2010 until 2014.

29.

In 2018, Kyle MacLachlan starred as the main antagonist Isaac Izard in the fantasy-horror family film The House with a Clock in its Walls.

30.

Kyle MacLachlan has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for Twin Peaks.

31.

Kyle MacLachlan was devastated when his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1986, aged 53, shortly before Blue Velvet was released.

32.

Kyle MacLachlan had been diagnosed while he was filming Dune in 1983, and delayed informing him of the diagnosis.

33.

Kyle MacLachlan was in a relationship with Blue Velvet co-star Laura Dern for three-and-a-half years from 1985 to 1989.