David Lynch's days of directing on set are probably over, thanks to Covid

Four years in, and coronavirus is still taking things from us—and folks, this one hurts. According to David Lynch, he can’t really direct in-person anymore because the danger to his health is too great. “I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not,” the filmmaker told Sight & Sound magazine (via The Independent). He disclosed that he can “only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen” and that “because of Covid, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold.”

“Smoking was something that I absolutely loved, but in the end, it bit me. It was part of the art life for me: the tobacco and the smell of it, and lighting things and smoking and going back and sitting back and having a smoke and looking at your work, or thinking about things; nothing like it in this world is so beautiful. Meanwhile, it’s killing me. So I had to quit,” he said (via Consequence). This is, obviously, not great news when it comes to one of our greatest living auteurs working in a highly collaborative medium. Lynch admitted to the outlet that he probably wouldn’t be able to direct again, at least in the traditional way: “I like to be amongst the things and get ideas there. But I would try to do it remotely, if it comes to it.”

Lynch fans will no doubt be deeply concerned about this development, and the news did spark an outpouring on social media, causing the director to take to Twitter and issue a statement clarifying that he will “never retire.” 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

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Yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking. I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco – the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them – but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is…

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) August 5, 2024

Meanwhile, the artist himself has always had plenty of creative outlets beyond film. Most recently, he’s released a new collaborative album, but during the initial onset of COVID-19 he had all sorts of projects going. “The lockdown stopped all kinds of work that involves other people. It forces us to go to something that we can do on our own. Like, I’m experimenting with music. I can experiment with any kind of motion picture I can do on the computer. And I can work in the wood shop and build things. I can go to the painting studio and paint,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020. “You can’t work on a film right now and I think for a long time, we won’t be able to work with a big crew in a normal way of filmmaking. It’s just too dangerous right now. It’s really something to think about. I don’t really think I can make a film until there’s a vaccine.”

Even then, Lynch thought it wouldn’t be “that easy” for the world to get back to business as usual, but he predicted that “on the other side it’s going to be more spiritual, kinder, friendlier, more caring for one another, very exciting for inventions and cures for problems. And it’s going to come out to be a really, really great world.” It’s certainly a lesser world if David Lynch doesn’t get to direct in it, but there’s still time for his optimistic vision of the future to come to pass.

This story has been updated to include a new statement from David Lynch.