Why David Bowie Didn't Like His Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Cameo

Of the many, many surprises that "Twin Peaks" has to offer, chief among them must surely be David Bowie's brief appearance in the 1992 prequel film, "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me." His character, introduced by Agent Cole as the long lost Phillip Jeffries, speaks with a strange Southern accent and accuses Dale Cooper of not being who he says he is. Then he just sort of screams and acts erratically before disappearing into thin air. Or maybe he disappears into the electrical wires? It's hard to tell:

It's one of the more baffling moments in a movie that was already slightly confusing. "Twin Peaks" fans were hoping for some answers to the many questions the incredible season 2 finale cliffhanger left them with, but instead they got a prequel that not only answered nothing, but which introduced a bunch of other plot threads. The mystery of Phillip Jeffries was never so much as mentioned in the original series, and now he's been added to the never-ending pile of "Twin Peaks" loose ends. 

As for how Bowie himself felt about it? He was frustrated because he didn't think he had enough time to do the character justice. As he explained in a 1991 Seattle Times interview, "They crammed me. I did all my scenes in four or five days because I was in rehearsals for the 1991 'Tin Machine' tour. I was there for only a few days."

It may seem strange that Bowie would be upset that he only had a few days to film his scenes. He's in the movie for a minute, after all; how much production time would he really need? But when the "Missing Pieces" clips from the movie were released in 2014 (check out our list of the 10 best "Twin Peaks" deleted scenes here), it became clear just how much he'd actually filmed. There were a lot of clips cut from the movie's theatrical release, and several of them include Jeffries hanging out in Buenos Aires and talking about a mysterious woman named Judy. "The Missing Pieces" also contains an extended version of the one scene we got with Jeffries in the theatrical version; in the extended version, he explains himself a tiny bit more before passing out on the desk. 

You may be thinking, "Oh good, these extra scenes will help explain what Jeffries' whole deal is." Well, think again. If anything, these scenes actually make things more confusing, especially that one clip where Jeffries accidentally makes a bellhop soil himself:

But despite how confusingly "Fire Walk With Me" handles the character, the mystery of Phillip Jeffries still looms over the series. 25 years later in "Twin Peaks: The Return," the show even brings Jeffries back, except now he's been transformed into a giant teakettle and is voiced by a soundalike actor:

As for why Bowie himself didn't return to the series? Some assume it's because the actor/musician passed away in 2016, but he actually had the chance to return for the production before his death. Instead, Bowie passed on the part because he didn't like the Southern accent he used in "FWWM," and didn't want to do it again. As David Lynch explained in a 2017 interview:

"We got permission to use the old footage, but he didn't want his voice used in it. I think someone must have made him feel bad about his Louisiana accent in 'Fire Walk With Me,' but I think it's so beautiful. He wanted to have it done by a legitimate actor from Louisiana, so that's what we had to do. The guy [voice actor Nathan Frizzell] did a great job."