The Character Brad Dourif Would Have Played on Twin Peaks

Over time, I've read fans question why Brad Dourif, an actor favored by Lynch, did not appear in Twin Peaks, and if he had, who might he have played?

Reading this Reddit post  inspired me to share what I read in issue 16 of Wrapped in Plastic Magazine many years ago.

A letter written by Adam Barnick detailed his attendance of The Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in January of 1995, where Brad Dourif held a Q&A. Mr. Barnick shared some of what Mr. Dourif relayed to the audience regarding his experience working with David Lynch. 

Points four and five are included here, 

He (Dourif) later compared the script for the Twin Peaks pilot to literature, calling it one of the best scripts he'd ever read.

I asked Mr. Dourif about the character he was approached to play in TP, which he had to turn down due to scheduling conflicts. It turned out to be none other than Jerry Horne! He said he would have loved to play him. 

I was fortunate enough to speak to Mr. Dourif at a convention, and he confirmed this.

The film Jungle Fever (1991) grants us a vague idea of how he may have looked had the costume and hair stylist followed a similar path as  David Patrick Kelly's Jerry.

Interestingly, Brad Dourif and Richard Beymer worked together in two other projects: an episode of Moonlighting and an unreleased film titled Playing Patti. 

Richard Beymer and Brad Dourif in Season 3, Episode 5 of Moonlighting, All Creatures Great and Not So Great. 

Mr. Dourif also appeared in the television mini-series Wild Palms, which drew comparison to Twin Peaks at the time of its release in 1993. 

Brad Dourif as Chickie Levitt

The cast of Wild Palms features other actors who had already or would later be involved with Twin Peaks or David Lynch, including Jim Belushi, Ernie Hudson, Robert Loggia, and David Warner, who played the father of Brad Dourif's character, Chickie Levitt. 

Though it is nearly impossible to imagine anyone other than David Patrick Kelly in the role of Jerry Horne, it's interesting to contemplate how Mr Dourif might have interpreted the character.