Lynch’s one request, when taking the role of cranky-yet-wise John Ford, was for there to always be a bag of Cheetos waiting for him in his dressing room:
“Well, Cheetos, number one, I love them. And any chance I can, I get them. But I know that they’re not exactly health food. So when I do leave the house and I get a chance to… But I don’t get them that often, honestly… If I do get them, I want a big bag. Because once you start… you need to have a lot before you could slow down and actually stop. Otherwise, with a small bag, then you’d be prowling for days to find more… It’s incredible flavor.”
Of course, Lynch is probably overstating the importance of the Cheetos in his decision-making here, as he also clarifies that he was impressed with the script. He told Empire Magazine that he “really liked the scene” and that John Ford’s speech to Sammy about horizons, about how a director should never place the horizon of an image in the middle of it, is spot on: “A horizon in the middle is boring as s**t.”
For David Lynch fans, the Cheetos anecdote serves as yet another entry in the list of foods and drinks Lynch has a strange, positive attachment to. We already know Lynch loves coffee and cherry pie, to the point where he made them the ultimate symbols of kindness and safety throughout all three seasons of “Twin Peaks.” Are Cheetos on the same level? It’s still not clear. But thanks to “The Fabelmans,” we now know that the snack is close to Lynch’s heart.