David Lynch debunked that actors have to ‘suffer’

Like all of us, Margaret Qualley will not forget David Lynch’s impact on cinema.

The “Substance” actress reflected on how the late author Lynch inspired her own movie tastes and filmography. Lynch died this week at age 78.

“I love it,” Qualley told IndieWire. “I think ‘Blue Velvet’ might have been the first one of his films that I saw when I was 16. It still lives in me in such a deep way. These images and Isabella Rossellini’s performance… I will always be inspired by him, like everyone else.

Qualley also cited how transcendental meditation “changed his life” through Lynch’s practice.

“He has a quote about how people believe that Vincent van Gogh’s suffering and his pain was indicative of his art. And (Lynch) was talking about how he thought that probably limited his art, and he could have been a lot more prolific if he hadn’t suffered so much,” Qualley said. “And I thought that was a very clever point in the sense of demystifying the idea of ​​the struggling artist and the amount of suffering someone has to go through to be able to make sound work. I have the impression that this is something that particularly affects actors, in the sense that you have to submit to it to be good.

She continued: “I think striving for joy, happiness, family, a good life and working from there is so inspiring, and being able to look at David Lynch as someone who was capable of absolutely unlimited creativity and had the ability to go in every emotional direction possible while still striving to be happy, that’s truly special.

Lynch’s full quote reads: “You don’t have to suffer to show your suffering. You don’t have to be upset to show agitation. Have it in the story. I don’t know what goes through artists’ heads, but I think all great artists loved to work. A lot of people say, “Well, suffering is good for art.” Look at Van Gogh,” they say. And I say, “Let’s take a look at Van Gogh.” Van Gogh didn’t paint because he hated it. The only time he was happy was probably when he was painting. He painted because he loved to paint. And the rest of his life was pretty miserable. He didn’t sell anything. He was broke. Most of the time he was probably very hungry. It’s just common sense. The suffering diminishes. Negativity is the enemy of creativity.

He later said: “People might cite Vincent van Gogh as an example of a painter who produced excellent work despite or because of his suffering. I don’t think it was pain that made him so great, I think painting brought him the happiness he had.