Empathy for Lara Flynn Boyle in 1990

This post is purely speculation. I am not claiming to be aware of the personal lives of any person mentioned here. 

The behind-the-scenes accounts regarding why Cooper and Audrey parted ways remain a point of contention among fans. Sherilyn Fenn has frequently asserted that Lara Flynn Boyle was responsible for the dissolution of Audrey and Cooper's on-screen romance. Fenn contends that Boyle was envious of Audrey's popularity and uncomfortable with her then-boyfriend Kyle MacLachlan's character becoming involved in a romantic relationship with Ms. Horne. In contrast, MacLachlan has stated that he opposed the storyline because he could not envision Cooper, a distinguished FBI agent, engaging in a relationship with a much younger woman. Regardless of the explanation, Lara Flynn Boyle is often discussed in a negative light.

This post does not intend to support either Sherilyn Fenn or Kyle MacLachlan. Rather, its purpose is to express sympathy and empathy for a teenage girl who faced intense public scrutiny during a formative period of her life and who was in a romantic relationship with a much older man. An interview with Details magazine gives the impression MacLachlan was jealous. 

"Did you meet Kyle on Twin Peaks?"

"Yes, and we started dating."

"But you didn´t have any love scenes together. You´re supposed to fall in love with James Marshall who plays James."

"Yeah, right," she said. "It´s very funny because sometimes I´ll have, like, this huge kissing scene with James and, like, Kyle´ll be sitting in the trailer like this, you know?" she said, impersonating a man in turmoil.

"He doesn´t understand that you´re just acting?"

"Oh, we do," she said. "I understand that, he understands that, but, still, I don´t like somebody else touching my boyfriend and he doesn´t like somebody...."

One Q&A at a Twin Peaks fest had a cast member relay a story of how MacLachlan watched as one romantic scene was filmed, and that Flynn Boyle would leap into his arms between takes. 

We have to remember Lara Flynn Boyle was still only 18 when she and Kyle started dating. One Australian magazine clipping has Kyle state that he and Boyle had been together since the day they met on the set of the pilot. Lara Flynn Boyle also gave a matching timeline in interviews. 

TV Week - sadly all I have are screenshots. The seller would not ship to the U.S. 

Getty Images - August 1989

The Twin Peaks Pilot

At 18 and 19 Lara Flynn Boyle was at the age when many young women are in the midst of their greatest insecurities. Whether or not she was jealous, we should take into account she was very young, and not cast disparging words against her. 

Lara Flynn's story about her dreams of drowning in Fluffer Nutter have always struck me as youthful. 

As someone who was in a relationship while experiencing an eating disorder in their teens, I was terribly jealous and lacked self-confidence. I hated myself and worried that my then-boyfriend would find any woman more desirable than me. I cannot speak for Ms. Boyle, but I know if she faced anything similar, my heart goes out to her. 

With Kyle being 30 at the time of their relationship, Ms. Boyle may also have been afraid he would see her for what she was: an adolescent. Please take that to heart if you feel there is truth to the rumors of her involvement with the Twin Peaks storyline.