Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

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Harry Dean Lynch
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Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Harry Dean Lynch »

When listening to a discussion on Twin Peaks today, they mentioned that KM and Boyle were dating during the filming of season 2. And because of this it was suggested that a purposed romance between Cooper and Audrey didn't happen because Boyle objected to it? Does anyone know anything about this? If true that does make LFB quite evil :evil:
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by dronerstone »

I've read this a few times already, so yeah I guess, it's definitely possible and they were definitely dating back then.
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AXX°N N.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by AXX°N N. »

The oft-repeated reason for Kyle objecting is he felt it out-of-character for Cooper to date a minor, someone who was clearly in over their head and not making a reasoned, adult choice -- ie, taking advantage of the infatuation of a clearly vulnerable, somehow deeply troubled minor. Which is a totally credible and even moral thing to reason.

Sherilyn Fenn is where the LFB angle comes in, and I think is the only one to say so -- she's very candid about it all being due to LFB, that LFB demanded Kyle object. The implication being that she were jealous, somehow.

It's clear, whatever the case actually was, that it was an outside decision. A scene axed from episode 6 has Cooper and Audrey eating breakfast, and via certain discreet and nudging cues, it was supposed to have implied they had, potentially, slept with each other the night before. In media res -- instead of Audrey walking up to Cooper at breakfast, she's already sitting with him -- there's no context to how they came to be together, and their words are flirtatious, moreso than the previous freshly squeezed scene. Here's a link for those interested: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sMxPs7i5Shg/T ... G_0002.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PnOEKEh_riA/T ... G_0003.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WQUZpVRxd3U/T ... G_0004.jpg

This is the last time, barring Audrey in Cooper's bed, that the two are implied to have the promise or further development of a blossoming sexual relationship, and it never made the show -- so what we have in the show is the beginning of her flirtations, her showing up in his bed, crying, and then his swift rejection of her. With this deleted scene in the show, I think the arc of that would have been read differently -- Cooper waking up to her vulnerability after the fact, instead of her forcing herself on him and being rejected.

By the tone of the deleted scene, the concept of a Cooper and Audrey romance before it was cut was was to paint Cooper as flawed in some aspect, playing into the dualism. This recurs later with the consequences involving his rescuing Audrey -- which is not overtly romantic, but definitely read as such by viewers and maybe Ben.

I love Cooper and Audrey's chemistry, yet I agree, regardless of if it was the real reason, that it's out-of-character for Cooper to so readily engage in a relationship with her, if that was the implication -- so in a way I'm glad this happened -- but if it was handled smoothly, and involved development on Audrey's part, it would have been so much more compelling than Annie, where it was just a good, cute thing that became tragic, instead of itself innately an ambiguous question of morality and crossing a line. At this time, instead of finding a way around Kyle's objections, it appears they shelved it.

But I read somewhere once, I think it was in Wrapped in Plastic, that they had planned to bring the Cooper/Audrey relationship back for something to focus on after the Laura Palmer murder got wrapped up -- but obviously by then whoever objected had had their say.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by tmurry »

Now that you mention it, it is only Fenn interviews (I've seen at least three) where the LFB-threw-a-hissy explanation comes up, but I somehow swallowed it uncritically. I always imagined that the unfortunate sequence of events (beginning with making her a high school student which became a liability as soon as she and Coop started emanating sparks) interrupted a tighter story progression where (spoilers, I guess) it is she, not Annie, that is abducted to the lodge.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

AXX°N N. wrote:Sherilyn Fenn is where the LFB angle comes in, and I think is the only one to say so
I don't have it in front of me, but I'm fairly certain Harley Peyton alludes to LFB influencing MacLachlan's decision in Brad's book. Not that it really matters at this point.

EDIT: It's on page 218. "Whether or not the fact that he was dating Lara Flynn Boyle had any impact on that - we all had our questions." So, basically just a hunch/instinct from someone who was very much on the inside.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by CuriousWoman »

There obviously was an exterior reason, Frost mentioned it in Secrets From Another Place and Peyton said in his AMA that the plan was for them to be together but they explicitely also say that they won't tell more about it.

As far as I know, Fenn is the only one who outright said that it was LFB and nobody clearly denied that point. (I repeat, as far as I know)

Kyle always say that he objected because it was that it would out of character for Cooper to date such a young female in Secrets From Another Place. One reason does not exclude the other, it's up to you to decide how LFB actually influenced his decision.

Personally, the fact that LFB always avoided anything Twin Peaks related after season 2 makes me think that it is likely that she would clash with the showrunners direction.

But like said before, after 25 years I think we can stop hating on her in any case. (Plus I agree that the good Cooper dating a 18 year old would have been creepy and I actually like Annie although she very much seems like a last minute inclusion).
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by N. Needleman »

I am so not getting into this again, but:

Yes, the show planned to go forward with Cooper and Audrey in Season 2, even after he rejects her in S1 and they become close friends (which IMO was 100% the best way to go at that time in order to legitimize a future relationship). All the stuff with Audrey being held captive at One Eyed Jack's and Coop saving her was the show's careful setup for a future romance, right down to Ben's insinuations about their relationship and Coop telling Diane Audrey's disappearance 'touches me in ways I could not predict.'

I think it was a real waste to scrap it, and I think it really hurt the show; while I understand MacLachlan's objection, I've spoken at length on this before about how the show regularly existed in a super-stylized world where they frankly were not that interested in dealing with the age ramifications of a number of romantic dalliances, including Gordon and Shelly and Coop and Audrey, who the show took pains to indicate was 18. That is an imperfect situation and explanation for an imperfect show and world which is also partly a product of its time. It would not be done the same way today, even hyper-stylized.

And yes, I do believe the story (which comes from more people than Sherilyn Fenn, who really ought to drop the topic at this point IMO) that Lara, seeing a challenge to her own popularity, leaned on MacLachlan to drop the romance which had made Fenn/Audrey central and ascendant in the show's publicity and threatened her own. But this was a career calculation, Lara Flynn Boyle was a very, very young woman who I seem to recall was being micromanaged by her own management which may have included her family. She had a hard life later on and she was pushed into the public eye and stardom very quickly. It's difficult for me, 25 years later, to hold a huge grudge against that very young girl over a story point. If the writers and production had really wanted to do it neither she nor Kyle could have stopped them.

It is what it is today, and for me it's now water under the bridge. But I do think the show lost a lot when the Cooper/Audrey relationship - even just their friendship - was completely dispensed with, and when Audrey was made a more supporting character, and that in particular was a big mistake. But do I think the Cooper/Audrey romance was the heart of the show? No.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Dalai Cooper »

Agreed - I believe the story 100% (both peyton & frost have all but corroborated it) and I do think the outcome was harmful to the show (although that's as much the writer's fault as anyone) but lfb gets enough crap from people already, including really shitty remarks about her appearance, and I don't see what's to be gained from calling her "evil" for something she may have done when she was like 20
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

Dalai Cooper wrote:Agreed - I believe the story 100% (both peyton & frost have all but corroborated it) and I do think the outcome was harmful to the show (although that's as much the writer's fault as anyone) but lfb gets enough crap from people already, including really shitty remarks about her appearance, and I don't see what's to be gained from calling her "evil" for something she may have done when she was like 20
Especially since MacLachlan, as an autonomous adult and the person who actually demanded the change, was far more culpable. Not that I think anyone should give him crap, either, at this point. But I think the LFB-basting is emblematic of an ugly societal gender bias.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by N. Needleman »

I think it was an immature move on LFB's part and bad for the show. But do I sit around putting a voodoo doll in her, no. She's a human being, it happened, it's long ago. And she has enough in her performances which I can readily critique, frankly; her attempt at becoming Audrey Lite was rarely a boon for the show.
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AXX°N N.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by AXX°N N. »

Mr. Reindeer wrote:Especially since MacLachlan, as an autonomous adult and the person who actually demanded the change, was far more culpable. Not that I think anyone should give him crap, either, at this point. But I think the LFB-basting is emblematic of an ugly societal gender bias.
Yeah, it reeks of the 'Yoko Ono killed the Beatles' type narrative.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Dalai Cooper »

Yes, that's a great comparison.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Mr. Jackpots »

In the upcoming season 3 we could very well be dealing with a bad coop, opposed to our previous experiences with good coop. Cooper now about 55 years old I guess, and overcome by his darker side. Could very well be involved with 18 year old girls.

Personally for season 3 I'm hoping that against all laws of physics and nature. We find Dale now married to Laura.

Also, I really hope the character of Donna Hayward is given some ample screen time and character development. Obviously there is no LFB or Moira Kelly involved. But i would gladly welcome a re-cast. I love the character Donna.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Agent Sam Stanley »

N. Needleman wrote: But this was a career calculation, Lara Flynn Boyle was a very, very young woman who I seem to recall was being micromanaged by her own management which may have included her family. She had a hard life later on and she was pushed into the public eye and stardom very quickly.
I'm glad someone is finally looking at the other side and considering this.
You're absolutely right, a lot of the bad decisions LFB made had to do with others micromanaging her career, including very close people like her own mother. She's dealt with a lot of pressure since she was very young so you can't expect the most mature decisions all the time.

N. Needleman wrote:And yes, I do believe the story (which comes from more people than Sherilyn Fenn, who really ought to drop the topic at this point IMO)
Exactly. 25 years later and she's still bringing it up every chance she gets. Can't be healthy.
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Re: Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

Post by Agent Earle »

Agent Sam Stanley wrote:
N. Needleman wrote:And yes, I do believe the story (which comes from more people than Sherilyn Fenn, who really ought to drop the topic at this point IMO)
Exactly. 25 years later and she's still bringing it up every chance she gets. Can't be healthy.
Well, her career really hadn't gone anywhere (at least anywhere special) post-TP, so one can almost understand that she's prone to return over and over and over again to the one high point in her up-and-coming years when it seemed the sky was the limit and obsess about it endlessly (much to the applause of her groupies) - and to come down on one person that, in her mind, supposedly arranged it so it didn't work out for her and practically single-handedly ruined her career... Of course, being on the side of the fans who're bitter and seeking someone to blame that their favourite show went down the drain after only two seasons can't harm her cause either. At least in LFB's case, you can partially excuse what she did on account of her youth, inexperience and hotheadedness at the time; SF, on the other hand, is (or at least should be) a grown and mature woman and she's still unable (unwilling?) to come to grips with it.
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