David Lynch to act in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans

The list of creators who David Lynch is willing to get out from behind the camera and act for is a decidedly small and eclectic one, featuring such names as Seth MacFarlane, Louie C.K., John Carroll Lynch…and David Lynch. We can now, per Variety, add up-and-comer Steven Spielberg to that list, with news breaking that Lynch is set to act in Spielberg’s upcoming The Fablemans.

Details about Lynch’s role in the film—which stars Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Gabriel LaBelle, Julia Butters, and Paul Dano as members of a Southwestern family loosely based on Spielberg’s own—are being kept tightly under wraps. But if we had to guess, we imagine he’ll be playing sort of a…wispy-voiced weirdo with a strangely comforting affect?

Damn, we’re actually pretty pumped for this.

Lynch is, after all (and in addition to his other obvious gifts), a consistently fascinating screen presence, bringing a persistently off-kilter vibe to projects whether they’re his own Twin Peaks, or his full-series voice run on The Cleveland Show, a TV show that David Lynch regularly appeared on for some damn reason.

Spielberg’s been kicking around ideas for The Fablemans for a few years now, returning to the coming-of-age wheelhouse that helped make him a globally-known name—albeit with a more autobiographical spin this time. (Among other things, it’s the first film he’s taken a screenwriting credit on since 2001's A.I., working alongside his long-time collaborator Tony Kushner.) Gabriel LaBelle will star as a young man named Sammy, who is, shock of shocks, an aspiring filmmaker who grew up in Arizona, just like Spielberg.

Lynch joins the cast of the film fairly late (which is to say, his presence in the film has leaked fairly late); Spielberg began principal photography on the movie back in July of 2021. The Fabelmans is currently scheduled for a November 23, 2022 release.