She was the enigmatic rich schoolgirl who became the beating heart of a small town’s darkest mystery – drawn in by her obsession with a handsome FBI agent she couldn’t help but fall for.
The role catapulted her to fame in the 1990s, earning her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and transforming her into one of television’s most captivating stars.
Soon after, she posed nude for Playboy, where she was likened to legendary Hollywood siren Ava Gardner, cementing her status as a sultry brunette bombshell and pop-culture pin-up.
Her off-screen life proved just as headline-grabbing: a three-year romance with an A-list actor she met on the set of a 1985 comedy supercharged her career, along with a whirlwind fling with one of music’s biggest pop stars.
In the decades since, she’s reinvented herself with guest turns on iconic TV shows, soap operas and, most recently, a starring role in a cult horror-comedy series.
Can you guess who?
She was the enigmatic rich schoolgirl who became the beating heart of a small town’s darkest mystery – drawn in by her obsession with a handsome FBI agent she couldn’t help but fall for
The role catapulted her to fame in the 1990s, earning her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and transforming her into one of television’s most captivating stars
Her off-screen life proved just as headline-grabbing: a whirlwind three-year romance with an A-list actor she met on the set of a 1985 comedy supercharged her career, along with a brief fling with one of music’s biggest pop stars
It’s Sherilyn Fenn!
The 61-year-old actress kept things effortlessly casual as she went about her errands in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Sporting a pink Jesus T-shirt, gray sweatpants and pink studded clogs, she stepped out to check her mail with her hair clipped back and oversized sunglasses shielding her from the harsh California sun.
She later swung by a gas station to top up her white-and-black Mini Cooper before continuing on her way.
It has been 36 years since David Lynch’s Twin Peaks premiered on ABC, and Fenn’s dark beauty and smoldering femme fatale turn as Audrey Horne instantly propelled her to fan-favorite status.
Her unrequited crush on FBI agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, combined with her sultry 1950s-inspired style and the now-iconic scene in which she knotted a cherry stem in her mouth, cemented her cult appeal.
Sherilyn Fenn, 61, shot to stardom as Audrey Horne on David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, captivating viewers with her dark beauty, smoldering femme fatale allure and unrequited crush on FBI agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan
The 61-year-old actress cut a relaxed figure as she ran errands in Los Angeles on Tuesday, stepping out in a pink Jesus T-shirt, gray sweatpants and pink studded clogs to pick up her mail
Fenn also wore her hair clipped back and oversized sunglasses to shield herself from the harsh California sun, later swinging by a gas station to top up her white-and-black Mini Cooper
A nude spread of Fenn in Playboy magazine in the December 1990 edition propelled her into becoming a sex symbol during that decade.
The series ran for two seasons before its abrupt cancellation in 1991, earning Fenn the nominations along the way.
However, she declined to return for the 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and turned down plans for a potential spin-off centered on her character.
It wouldn’t be until 2016 that Fenn finally reprised her role as Audrey for the show’s long-awaited third season.
Before stardom, Fenn briefly worked as a Playboy Bunny at just 19 and cut her teeth in a string of 1980s B-movies, including the skater cult classic Thrashin’ opposite Josh Brolin and the fantasy-action film The Wraith alongside Charlie Sheen.
She enjoyed a short-lived romance with Prince in 1985, but it was later that year, on the set of the student film Dummies, that she met her first great love: Johnny Depp.
Twin Peaks ran for two seasons, earning Fenn Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, but she skipped the 1992 prequel and declined a spin-off offer, only returning as Audrey in 2016 when it returned to the small screen
In 1990, she landed a Playboy cover and nude spread that propelled her to 90s sex-symbol status
She had a three-year relationship with A-lister Johnny Depp which led to an engagement before the pair called it off – she later referred to Depp as her ‘first love’
The pair embarked on a romance that led to an engagement, before they ultimately split and Depp moved on with Jennifer Grey.
During their relationship, Fenn also enjoyed a career boost, guest-starring on his breakout high-school cop series 21 Jump Street.
In recent years, she has described Depp as her ‘first love’ and the ‘love of my life,’ and publicly supported him during his explosive legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.
When Heard first made her allegations in 2016, Fenn posted a photo of herself with Depp, writing: ‘I know JCD is not capable of the things being written.’
The year Twin Peaks debuted, Fenn also appeared in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern.
Throughout the decade, she went on to land roles in films including the 1992 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, directed by and starring Gary Sinise.
After Twin Peaks ended, she starred in the 1993 movie Boxing Helena with Julian Sands
She also portrayed Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor in the 1995 TV movie Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story
Fenn is a devoted mother of two sons: Myles, 30, from her marriage to musician Toulouse Holliday, and Christian, 17, from her relationship with Dylan Stewart, with whom she was spotted at Universal Studios in LA in 2024
Her other notable on-screen roles were in Boxing Helena (1993), Fatal Instinct (1993) and the telemovie Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story (1995).
From 1998 to 2001, she led the sitcom Rude Awakening as a washed-up soap star, sharing the screen with Lynn Redgrave and Mario Van Peebles.
She later became a familiar face on television with guest appearances on Friends – memorably playing a woman with a prosthetic leg who dates both Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) – as well as Gilmore Girls, Dawson’s Creek, Law & Order: SVU, Psych and Shameless.
From 2022 to 2023, she starred in the horror-comedy series Shining Vale alongside Courteney Cox, Greg Kinnear and Mira Sorvino.
In her personal life, Fenn is a devoted mother of two sons – Myles, 30, from her marriage to musician Toulouse Holliday, and Christian, 17, from her relationship with Dylan Stewart.