Gen Z’s favorite Paul Atreides took the stage at South By Southwest 2025 for a brief reprieve from the panels of evil bald guys touting AI mission statements.
It’s not the white boy of the month turned Kardashian-dating Oscar nom Timothée Chalamet, but the critically panned David Lynch Dune star: Kyle Maclachlan.
The 66-year-old actor gained clout among young people after recreating Lorde’s selfies on Instagram in early 2024 and later embracing Charli XCX’s Brat Summer on social media.
@kyle_maclachlan the girl, so confusing remix and it’s the same but i made a music video to it so it’s not
♬ original sound – Kyle MacLachlan
Additionally, he announced in a panel at the Austin, Texas festival Monday that he’s building on his cross-generational connections via a new podcasting project.
What Am I Even Doing Here?
Maclachlan admitted to having caught the “podcasting bug” after working on Varnumtown, a PodcastOne series investigating a Pablo Escobar-related rumor in a small North Carolina town.
Though the new project, titled What Am I Even Doing Here? and produced by his wife’s company Full Picture, remains mysterious, his pre-existing relationship with terminally online young adults proves to be a driver.
“The intention is to interview different generations of, probably, millennial, Gen Z and just talk about their experience, what the world is to them, what’s important, how it differs from the world I come from,” he said. “Because part of this experience of social for me is an awakening and a true, pure curiosity about what’s coming.”
“I’m embracing it in my own way,” he noted of his adoption of youth culture. “And I’m curious what they’re thinking and feeling.”
His hip social media presence has already become part of his legacy, as panel moderator Jenni Kaye of Letterboxd asked Maclachlan to recite a few “brain rot” phrases for the audience. “Level 10 gyatt,” “delulu,” and “skibidi toilet rizz” were uttered.
“I actually enjoyed that one,” Maclachlan said of the latter. “Because it has a kind of rhythm to it.”
It got Lynchian
The SXSW event would be remiss to avoid bringing up the late, great David Lynch, a longtime friend and collaborator with Maclachlan. Aside from launching the actor’s career by casting him in 1984’s Dune, Lynch directed Maclachlan in 1986’s Blue Velvet, the unparalleled 1990 series Twin Peaks, and its prequel film Fire Walk With Me.
Maclachlan, or Kale, as Lynch called him, even started off the session with a weather report, calling back to Lynch’s Los Angeles weather reports that he began on his now-defunct website in the 2000s and returned to during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Jenni, I predict sunny skies and fluffy white clouds,” he said, putting on his best Lynch impression. (It’s very good.) “Perhaps tacos at Torchy’s. Damn good tacos.”
His reminiscing on Lynch’s relentless artistic spirit left the crowd in hopeful awe. The director, also his neighbor, practiced something creative every day, whether it was painting, sculpture, music, or furniture (“He did love douglas fir”). Maclachlan also pointed to Lynch’s wholehearted belief in the worlds he created.
“[To him], they were ongoing, parallel to our universe. Which I think is why he was able to tap into those stories in such an interesting way, in such a complete way.”
Lynch sometimes simply referred to the actor as “Coop” his primary Twin Peaks role, “out of love really,” Maclachlan said, “for these worlds that he just embraced and cherished, the dark and the light both.”
Moving forward
With such an iconic career, MacLachlan isn’t afraid to call back to his past roles. See his niche reference to his Sex and the City character Trey McDougal on TikTok, or curated Letterboxd lists of his popular character’s favorite movies. The Flintstone’s Cliff Vandercave favorited the 1987 Michael Douglas pic Wall Street, for example.
@kyle_maclachlan therapy bites 🦟
♬ suara asli – Vin.AI93
But he isn’t ready to rest entirely on his laurels. Via his mysterious generational podcast, the upcoming A24 horror film Altar, or the next season of Amazon Prime’s Fallout, the actor is booked and busy.
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