The Lowdown's Kyle MacLachlan Says Working With Reservation Dogs' Sterlin Harjo Felt Like Being 'Back In The Land Of Lynch'
The inimitable Kyle MacLachlan gave us The Lowdown on working with both Reservation Dogs maestro Sterlin Harjo and the late, great film director David Lynch during a recent press conference to preview FX's upcoming and very stylish noir.
Harjo's new series (which premieres Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 9/8c with its first two episodes) follows the gritty exploits of citizen journalist Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), a self-proclaimed Tulsa, Okla. "truthstorian" whose obsession with the truth frequently lands him in trouble. MacLachlan plays Donald Washberg, a gubernatorial candidate whose dearly departed brother leaves behind a curious trail of clues for Lee to follow. Lee's digging soon brings him face to face with Donald and grieving widow Betty Jo (Jeanne Tripplehorn), as Lee tries to get to the bottom of the city's latest death (murder?), all while trying to keep his ramshackle business afloat.
When asked to describe his time on set with Harjo, MacLachlan hearkened back to his earlier days spent with the iconic Twin Peaks creator, Lynch.
"There were many reasons that I enjoyed working with David. His worlds are singular and specific, and I felt like the world of The Lowdown is singular and specific," the actor said. "There was an atmosphere of joy, fun and creativity working with David Lynch that I also felt working with Sterlin. There was also a feeling that the material, the script, is the starting point, and that there was always room for growth and improvement. Often working with David, the script would change, situations would change, lines would change, things would be transposed, and working with Sterlin, it's the same way. There was always change and shifting going on, and development and improvement and just making the scene better. I know Sterlin is a great admirer of David's. To experience Sterlin's set and say to myself, 'Wow, I feel like I'm kind of back in the land of Lynch here,' was really something that made me happy."
Immediately after MacLachlan's response, Harjo quipped, "I can retire now."
With all of the moral ambiguity and mystery surrounding The Lowdown, Tulsa became the perfect location for Harjo to spin his new tale, one that helped him shape the new world he was crafting.
"Tulsa felt like the right place to set a noir," he said. "In noir, we've explored Los Angeles, you've explored New York City and even New Orleans. But there's so much political and cultural activity, I think, happening in the middle of the country and Tulsa felt like the right place. It has the right amount of grit, the right amount of history, the right amount of secrets to set this story in, and for a show that's about someone fighting for truth, there's a longstanding need for the truth in a place like Oklahoma."
"There's such a strong sense of community in Tulsa," added Hawke. "People are really rooting for each other. [There's] a lot of people making art for art's sake, and it feels like the creativity that you're running into is extremely authentic. The past is very present. You're aware in the architecture and the streets and the way people talk. It has a very deep past that is representative of America as a whole, and it was an amazing place to get to meet a huge community of people that were all in a likeminded vision. We all were serving the same goal. We were so welcomed. It was one of the best experiences of my life."
Hawke also touched on what it was like playing a character whose fight for truth almost completely takes over his life, even at the expense of his family.
"I'm so grateful to be a part of a story that centers on truth and journalistic integrity," he said. "When I was a kid, when I first started in this business, every interview I did, we'd get fact-checked. I haven't been fact-checked in years. What the role of journalism is and the ways that we tell our community stories, and the way that we talk about ourselves and create a narrative of our lives and of our community, it just couldn't be more important."
He continued: "It's falling at a time where I feel really grateful to be doing a press conference and really grateful to be sharing The Lowdown with people because the show's full of love. It's full of wit and humor and silliness, and it's got an undercurrent of a really honest conversation about who we are and how we can intersect with each other and hold multiple truths at the same time."
"We need people to fight for the truth," added Harjo. "I think it's one of the most important things right now."
Will you be tuning in to The Lowdown? Let us know in the comments.