Forgive me for taking my time with this one, but I wanted to get to the bottom of this peculiar casting announcement.
Steven Spielberg’s upcoming autobiographical drama, “The Fabelmans,” has just added none other than David Lynch to a cast that already includes Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, and Julia Butters.
Variety admits that Lynch’s “role remains a closely guarded secret,” which is odd since the other roles in the film have been notably cast and announced without secrecy.
So, what gives?
Could Lynch be portraying John Ford? There have been many stories of a young Spielberg sneaking onto film sets and meeting legends of the era. He famously met Ford at the age of 15 doing just that. Lynch sounds a lot like Spielberg's impersonation of the time he met John Ford. Rodrigo Perez is, more or less, confirming the role is John Ford. You do the math.
A fun tidbit I had heard years ago was Spielberg admitting that he was a big fan of Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” and that if a third season of the show had happened in the ‘90s, then he would have approached Lynch to direct an episode.