David Lynch is one of the most prominent filmmakers in the entire entertainment industry, renowned for how surreally he brings his pieces to life. With hits like Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive to his name, he has made sure to leave his audiences truly enchanted. But among all of those masterpieces, there have also been a few disappointments, like his version of Dune (1984).
While this particular live-action adaptation of Frank Herbert’s saga was indeed pretty flawed, it was still bearable. But the director has the harshest criticism for it, considering it a “total failure.” However, surprisingly enough, while he may not consider the 1984 film a worthy piece, Longlegs actress Alicia Witt does, and is even grateful to Lynch for having cast her in the respective movie.
Alicia Witt is Grateful to David Lynch for Casting Her in Dune
Alicia Witt, who is currently leaving viewers dazed with her performance in her latest horror/mystery movie Longlegs, started her acting career decades ago with 1984’s Dune. This, of course, happened after mastermind filmmaker David Lynch saw the potential in her and impeccably cast her in the role of the young Alia Atreides.
But while that movie couldn’t succeed as much as it was expected to, the 88 Minutes star is still as grateful to Lynch as ever. This is because he gave her the opportunity to play the young member of the Atreides family at the age of only 7 in his version of the live-action adaptation of the first novel from Frank Herbert‘s novel series.
According to what Witt confessed during her recent interview with PEOPLE for this week’s issue while acknowledging that she indeed had a “very unusual childhood”:
[What I’m] so grateful for, especially as years have gone on, is the unusualness of my childhood and the fact that I ended up part of David Lynch’s Dune at the age of seven.
As it turns out, it was being there in the first place and “all about the community that I found” while playing Alia that now has her so grateful to Lynch. Not only that but this “first experience” of hers also made her realize just how much she wanted to stay in this field.
Additionally, she also let out how she was “a little embarrassed by the child prodigy label.” However, following her breakout as an actress, Witt also found a “way of connecting and expressing” through music by learning and playing the piano. This, coupled with her passion for acting, eventually led her to the actor cum musician that she is today.
That said, this was another reason why she was grateful for being cast in Lynch’s 1984 movie. As she continued to express during the same interview:
I recognize that [acting and playing the piano] led me to my destiny and I don’t know what my life would be without all of that. So I’m so grateful that every single thing happened the way it has.
Effortlessly enough, the Urban Legend actress has perfectly carried herself so far, considering how her-led latest thriller is leaving the critics shell-shocked at Rotten Tomatoes (Longlegs has an 87% score on the Tomatometer).
But while Witt is all love and light toward the movie for the valuable experience it presented her with, director Lynch doesn’t have all those kind words to say for the 1984 film.
David Lynch is Brutally Critical for His Version of Dune
While an artist is indeed his own greatest critic, David Lynch has a very good reason for going as far as calling his adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel “a total failure”: He just didn’t exercise enough control on it and couldn’t even have the “final cut.”
That being said, the film was nothing short of a “heartache” for him.
According to what Lynch confessed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about why he feels so strongly about it:
Because it was a heartache for me. It was a failure and I didn’t have final cut. I’ve told this story a billion times. It’s not the film I wanted to make. I like certain parts of it very much — but it was a total failure for me.
Of course, having him talk like that is incredibly disheartening. But, then again, it’s not his fault that the 1984 film was such a massively critically panned disaster — holding a mere 37% rating on the Tomatometer — since even he wasn’t satisfied with the final cut that was delivered to the viewers.
Well, for whatever it’s worth, at least it gave Alicia Witt the resourceful experience she so desperately needed!
You can stream Dune (1984) on Prime Video and Longlegs is currently out in theatres.
