David Lynch Opens Up About Emphysema Diagnosis and His Plans To Continue Working; Director Says He ‘Will Never Retire’
Master filmmaker David Lynch has said he was diagnosed with emphysema, and in the post COVID era, it would be “very bad” for him to get sick even with a cold. The 78-year-old, known for directing movies such as Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, The Straight Story, Lost Highway and TV series Twin Peaks, said he “can only walk a short distance before” he runs “out of oxygen”. David Lynch Teases New Project via Cryptic Post on X, Says ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Something Is Coming Along’ (Watch Video).
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. … And now, because of COVID, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold,” Lynch told Sight and Sound in the magazine’s September cover story via the Independent. Emphysema is a progressive lung disease which causes shortness of breath.
David Lynch Announces Emphysema Diagnosis
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking. I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco – the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them – but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is…
— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) August 5, 2024
In the story, the American director also said he was “hopeful” that his 2010 script “Antelope Don’t Run No More” will one day see the light of the day.
“We don’t know what the future will bring,” he added.
Several hours after the publication of this interview, Lynch in an X post on Tuesday said that he “enjoyed smoking very much” but has now quit for more than two years. Twin Peaks’ Creator David Lynch’s Wife Emily Stofle Files for Divorce After 14 Years of Marriage.
“Recently I had many tests and the good news is that I am in excellent shape except for emphysema,” he wrote. “I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire. I want you all to know that I really appreciate your concern,” he added.
Lynch’s last feature film was 2006’s Inland Empire.
