The Big Picture

• Collider's Steve Weintraub interviews Prime Video's Fallout co-star Kyle MacLachlan.
• MacLachlan discusses how he got involved with Fallout, his surprising character arc, the show's David Lynch vibes, and why he was so excited to join.
• He also shares stories from the set of Lynch's Dune (1984), what it was like to be a part of Twin Peaks, and why he's excited for Pixar's Inside Out 2.

With Prime Video's Fallout series now streaming, Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) is stepping into yet another notable piece of pop-cultural history. Based on the massively popular Bethesda video games, Fallout will take viewers out of the Vault-Tec shelter and into the Wasteland, from executive producer and director Jonathan Nolan (Westworld) and co-writers and showrunners Graham Wagner (Portlandia) and Geneva Robertston-Dworet (Captain Marvel). MacLachlan, who's a repeat collaborator of acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch (Blue Velvet), teases that the show and his character, Overseer Hank, give Lynchian vibes.

Known for the surreal and ominous, Lynch is an unexpected but welcome vibe to the Fallout universe. Likewise, MacLachlan hints that there's more than meets the eye to his own character, the father of Ella Purnell's (Yellowjackets) Lucy and Vault 33 leader. In addition to Hank and Lucy, the adaptation series also stars Aaron Moten (Disjointed), Walton Goggins (Justified), Moises Arias (Ender's Game), and Michael Emerson (Lost).

In this interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub, MacLachlan shares what he loves about the show and playing Hank, how he got involved, and how much he knew about his arc ahead of time. The Twin Peaks alum also discusses what it was like being a part of a "network television grenade," why he's so excited for Pixar's Inside Out 2, and shares a story from the set of Dune (1984). You can watch the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

COLLIDER: There's gonna be people out there who have never seen anything you've done before, which is shocking, but true. If they've never seen anything, what's the first thing you'd like them watching and why?

KYLE MACLACHLAN: This is my real hair color. That’s exactly what I want to say. Well, I hope that they appreciate the work and enjoy it. And maybe it’ll lead them on a little journey to discover some other things that I'm proud of — Twin Peaks, of course, being one, Blue Velvet being another. So, you never know.

Kyle MacLachlan Recalls the Set of 'Dune'

I am curious, what is the most nervous you've been before the first day of filming something?

MACLACHLAN: Oh my gosh. I remember back to the first day of filming on Dune in Mexico City. Frank Herbert was there, who had written the book, of course, of Dune. It was our first day and all I had to do was walk with my mother, played by Francesca Annis, past some greenery and then into some red flowers, and I remember that I was very, very nervous. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I just basically paid attention and did a little stroll. I thought, “I'm making a movie here, man. Here I am.”

Kyle MacLachlan Compares 'Fallout' to the Work of David Lynch

"There was this odd humor that was wrapped around these violent episodes."

First of all, thank you for sharing that story. I have a million questions about that, but let me jump into why I get to talk to you. I've seen the first four episodes of Fallout. I wish I could see Episodes 5 through 8 right now. It's very, very good. What was it about this material that said, “Oh, I want to be a part of this?”

MACLACHLAN: I was not familiar with the game before I was cast, but I loved the world. I loved the character of Hank. He's enigmatic, but he's very positive, and I knew, based upon that, that there was something more that was gonna come, which indeed it does. And I just loved the fact that there was this odd humor that was wrapped around these violent episodes. It's not David Lynch exactly, but there are moments where you juxtapose these things in a Lynch world, and I said, “I really appreciate this.” I think I know why they reached out to me to play this character based upon my past work [laughs], and I said, “This is gonna be fun.” Of course, I sat down with Jonah Nolan, our director, and we had the greatest conversation, and I said, “I want to go to work with this guy. I want to go into this world.”

One of the things about the show is it's like movie-scale sets, movie-scale everything on a TV show. What was it like reading the scripts, and at any point were you like, “How are we doing this on a TV show budget?”

MACLACHLAN: Oh, I knew, only because I'd watched Westworld, that the people that were going to take this are world-builders. So, I said, “They're going to create an environment that is completely different than anything we've seen before.” I had complete faith in them. So I was just like, “You know what? I'm just jumping in. I'm going for this ride.” And I'm excited to work inside these big studio rooms, surrounded by computer screens to create the vistas that you get to see. It is a very cool thing. I’m a huge fan of The Mandalorian, and I know they used this technology when they made that, and I said, “I am so excited.” That was part of the fun.

I'm not going to do spoilers, but you're not in every episode…

MACLACHLAN: Wait a minute. I’m not in every episode? Hold on a second!

[Laughs] I am curious, though, did you film everything at once, or did you film your stuff and then all of a sudden you're away from set for two months, and then you're coming back?

MACLACHLAN: No, I kind of bounced back and forth, actually, during the whole filming process. We filmed a lot of that in New York, and then there were some travel dates. I wasn't involved in the travel so much — they popped out to a couple of different places — but I was kind of bouncing along during the course of it. In and out, basically, for the whole time.

How much did Jonah and Graham and everybody involved tell you about the full arc of your character before signing on, and how much is it sort of like, “I know there's gonna be a lot here?”

MACLACHLAN: I am still waiting to have a conversation with Graham. No, Graham is a good friend. Of course, we worked on Portlandia together. But they were actually very careful about what they revealed. Part of it was, obviously, because they didn't want us to know, but they also didn't want us to start playing something that would happen in the future, which I appreciate. So, I created this guy knowing that there was more to come, but not necessarily having to reveal it, I guess, which wouldn't have been appropriate in the early stuff. So, I was quite happy with the way they presented it to me.

Spoiler-free, what do you think fans are gonna think or say after they see the Season 1 finale?

MACLACHLAN: Oh, gosh. Well, I hope that they're excited. I hope that they feel like we've given them the sense of honor, I guess, or respect that I think they deserve because they are fans of this game. When we came in to make the film, I think there was a great– Or make the series. You're right. See? I'm talking about it like it's a film because it feels like it's a film. But I hope that they feel that we were really trying to do right by this experience and the game that they have such reverence for. At the same time, I’m hoping that there will be a larger audience, of course, that will find the story and the arc of the story really compelling that's set in [what] I find an extraordinary world, of Fallout.

Oh, 100%. What do you think would surprise people to learn about the actual making of Fallout?

MACLACHLAN: One of the things that surprised me, and again, I go back to the technological and the vast nature of what they needed to do to create this environment. There was an entire wing of the sound stage that was nothing but the computers and generators and power that would deliver the visuals that were necessary, which were the backdrop, basically, for what we did. I'd never worked on that before, or seen that before, and I was fascinated. I was spending a lot of time talking to everybody back there, doing my little videos, interviewing the people that were in charge of doing that, because I was so curious about what this other side of filmmaking was. I'm very comfortable with the stuff that happens in front of the camera, but I'm really curious about what's going on behind.

Kyle MacLachlan Reflects on How 'Twin Peaks' Altered Network Television

"We were embarking on a journey in a new way."

I definitely want to touch on something. I'm a fan of Twin Peaks, and for people that are young, I don't think they understand that when Twin Peaks came out in the late ‘80s, it was a revolution on TV. It was throwing a grenade to network television. I credit Twin Peaks for just changing television. Can you sort of talk about what it was like being part of that revolution?

MACLACHLAN: You know, when you're in the middle of something like that, you're not really aware. That was the whole thing. It all happens around you. I knew that we were embarking on a journey in a new way. It's David Lynch on television. You're bringing a filmmaker to network television, so you're bringing a filmmaker's sensibility to a different medium. And he was excited to be able to do kind of what you said, which is basically throw a grenade into the middle of network television to see what would happen. All of the cast members to a person said, “We're gonna do a pilot and then they're gonna say, ‘Thank you very much,’ and they're gonna turn it into a movie of the week, and we're gonna be done.” Surprise, surprise — ABC said, “No, no. We're gonna step up, actually, and we're gonna make some of these.” But you think about the look of it, you think about the music, you think about the story. I mean, the story was a kind of a network TV story, but it was more than that. Then you introduce these characters that no one had ever seen on television before, these eccentric characters, and you had a home run. And the pitcher for that is David Lynch. He's running the whole thing.

I'm excited to see Inside Out 2, and I know you're a part of it. What can you tease about the movie? I’m not trying to spoil anything.

MACLACHLAN: I appreciate that. I'm just really excited to see it, as well. You know, we go in, and I do the voice of the dad. I come in for a couple of scenes here and there, so it's really hard to get a sense of what it's going to be. I was such a fan of the first one. Part of the fun is I go in, and I do my little bit, right? I have no sense of the whole, so my experience watching the movie for the first time is like a regular audience member. It's not like I have any sort of secrets or spoilers or understanding. And I was so overwhelmed by the first one, and I know the second one will be good. It's Pixar. They take a tremendous amount of time, focus, love, and energy in trying to create something very special and magical, and I think they've done the same again.

Fallout is now streaming exclusively on Prime Video (watch here). Be sure to check back with Collider for more cast and crew interviews.