In 1994, Rolling Stones magazine writers Rich Cohen and Patt O’Brien described actor Kyle MacLachlan as “the boy next door, if that boy spent lots of time alone in the basement.”
Considering how much of his career has been defined by idiosyncratic and downright weird characters, it is easy to see how MacLachlan gained such a reputation. However, audience members lucky enough to see the 67-year-old actor at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on Oct. 2 were met with a remarkably different vibe than this reputation implies.
As MacLachlan sat down to discuss his newly released memoir “Fictional Selves” and the expansive career detailed within it, the first words that came to mind were friendly and remarkably intimate considering the massive audience sitting in front of him.
While this is partially thanks to the theater’s cozy set design, with MacLachlan and moderator Jesse Hawthorne Ficks perched in armchairs beside a coffee table to the effect of a quaint living room, it would not be nearly as effective without the endearing nature of MacLachlan himself. Before taking the stage, a supercut of MacLachlan’s iconic television and film roles played for the audience, to which the actor immediately quipped: “Man, I’ve gotten old.”
MacLachlan’s playful charm was certainly a shift from the weird, basement-dwelling title he was once assigned, but far from unfamiliar to fans who keep up with MacLachlan on social media. Whether that be delightfully unhinged Reddit “Ask Me Anything” forums, shot-for-shot recreations of Lorde’s Instagram posts or indescribably goofy TikToks, the “Twin Peaks” actor has established a new image for himself in the age of accessible online content.
His ability to embody that change at the Sydney Goldstein Theater was apt, considering the nature of the book he was promoting. “Fictional Selves” is MacLachlan’s retrospective appraisal of his life through the lenses of the various roles that shaped his image for more than 40 years. This approach allowed him to parallel his characters with the memories he made while playing them — as he put it, “Who was I when I was there? How did I feel?” And, ultimately, he explores how he changed from one era to the next.
While he remained characteristically warm and fatherly throughout the conversation, MacLachlan was equally eager to embrace the quirkier characteristics that made him and the late director David Lynch such a successful duo. When Ficks asked him if he still had the ability to do his memorable chicken walk from Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” MacLachlan jumped up to perform it without hesitation.
Any moment MacLachlan took to reflect on his work with Lynch, from “Blue Velvet” to “Twin Peaks: The Return,” were easily the night’s best. The otherworldly auteur, who passed away in January 2025, was not only pivotal to MacLachlan’s career but one of his closest friends. Hearing the actor refer to Lynch in the present tense was bittersweet, inviting the audience to relive the genius’s creative impact and mourn his monumental loss.
However, as much as MacLachlan was reflective of the visionary’s legacy, he was just as willing to highlight up-and-coming industry creatives that give him hope for the future of entertainment. When asked about the future of cinema in the face of dehumanizing automation, MacLachlan reflected on the innovative spirit he sees in the Generation Z and millennial filmmakers around him. Briefly mentioning his podcast, “What Are We Even Doing? with Kyle MacLachlan,” the actor highlighted Rachel Sennott and Benito Skinner for telling their personal stories, much like Lynch before them.
As the night ended and MacLachlan blew a kiss to his fans, the energy in San Francisco’s performing arts district was palpable. As some groups excitedly posed for photos with cardboard cutouts placed throughout the lobby, others chatted about the MacLachlan character trading cards included in their copies of his memoir. Above the Dougie Jones costumes and comparisons between a Trey MacDougal and an Orson Hodge card, MacLachlan’s starpower was an undeniable and persistent force emanating throughout the hall and into the night.