Original cast only. My choice of actors comes from the opening credits and their amount of appearances in the show. Season 3 doesn't count. Worst to best. Let's rock. SPOILERS AHEAD 17. James Marshall as James Hurley This man cannot act. He had one good moment during the pilot, but after that he just acted mopey and said stupid monologues about his bike. His performance of "Just You" was a camp highlight of the entire series, but his entire subplot with Evelyn was just truly miserable. Not even in a funny way. 16. Eric Da Re as Leo Johnson Leo was pretty heavily pushed as the prime suspect as Laura Palmer's killer. But overall, I found him to be pretty uninteresting. He was such a boring, one-dimensional character. Actor Eric Da Re was the casting director's son, which... yeah that makes sense. Da Re was only good at one emotion: anger. He never acted in any other emotion, at least until Season 2, where he was unconscious for the entire run. Pretty much an improvement, if you ask me. Even similarly boring characters like James and Josie had their moments. James was at least hilariously bad, and at least Josie was pretty to look at. Leo had bad hair and was just mediocre. 15. Joan Chen as Josie Packard This character was really a disappointment to me. I don't know if it was the actor or the way she was written, but the character never had a real pay-off to me. Hong Kong actress Chen looked the part of the mysterious seductress but ultimately the character did little for me. 14. Lara Flynn Boyle as Donna Hayward This character had her moments, but ultimately Lara Flynn's transformation of her character from the shy girl next door to "cool hot girl" was the character's downfall. Boyle had a huge ego and was probably insistent that her character get more screen time and become more cool and mysterious like Audrey. Early Season 1 Donna was the best, but after that she became tiresome and uninteresting. 13. Chris Mulkey as Hank Jennings I could essentially copy and paste what I said about Leo onto this part about Hank. The main difference is Chris Mulkey is a way better actor than Eric Da Re. Hank is mildly charming in the beginning, mostly due to Mulkey's performance, but he begins to lose focus as the character continued. He would have worked better if he was handled like one of the other ancillary villains like Jean Renault- a sinister presence who leaves the show once his purpose is done. Instead, his character arc was muddled with so many confusing developments that his whole purpose began to lose focus. 12. Wendy Robie as Nadine Hurley Nadine always struck me as a pretty one-note character. Even in the beginning, her sole character trait was her love of silent drapes. But the love triangle she was in was always semi-interesting, so I didn't dislike her. Then Season 2 happened. The writers thought it would be hi-larious if Nadine thought she was a 16 year old cheerleader and had super-strength. And on top of that, her character hit on a 16 year old boy. 11. Warren Frost as Dr. Hayward I always thought it was strange that Warren Frost (Co-creator Mark Frost's dad) was in the opening credits. He doesn't have much of a bearing on the plot and doesn't appear as much as the others. But nevertheless he's there, and Frost gives a good performance. Dr. Hayward actually feels like a real person, something which some of the other actors don't accomplish. 10. Piper Laurie as Catherine Martell Piper Laurie was a pretty well known actress at the time, perhaps the most well-known in the cast. Her character was almost comically villainous, sometimes seeming like she came from a more straight soap opera than the quirky world of Twin Peaks. But that's okay, because she's a delight to watch when on screen. 9. Madchen Amick as Shelly Johnson I don't have much to say about Shelly. She has her moments and makes some funny faces during her run on the show, but some of the show's less talented writers seemed to not understand how to make the character work. Her best moments are her scenes with Gordon Cole. Shelly had a better part in 2017's Season 3, and she still looked great too. 8. Everett McGill as Ed Hurley Another great character that was wasted in Season 2. He became less and less memorable as the series went on, going from the stoic but warm gas station owner to a guy who has one line per episode and only reacts to Nadine's inane subplot. 7. Kimmy Robertson as Lucy Moran, Harry Goaz as Andy Brennen It felt right to group these two together. They are both about the same quality in terms of performances. Lucy is the lovably ditzy secretary of the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department. Slowly turned into a one-note joke towards Season 2. What was so great about Lucy in the early days of the show was her mix of stupidity and cunning. She was capable of getting work done, and her fierce independence and love/hate relationship with Andy provided bits of comedy amongst the darkness. Her boyfriend Dick Tremaine was perhaps one of the worst characters in the show, and any scene featuring him also featured her, so that was definitely a downside to her character. Andy's main attribute was his ineptness as a police officer, which seems like a very boring character. But Andy is far from it. At least in S1 and the first half of S2. Both are funny but inconsistent characters. 6. Dana Ashbrook as Bobby Briggs I wasn't going to talk about Season 3, but I kind of have no choice. Bobby becomes a standout character in that season, but to be honest I've always appreciated Bobby. Ashbrook really tries with his acting, and he gives the character a strange, elevated quality that almost seems unreal. His strange, overly punkish demeanor is what's immediately noticeable about his character, but as Season 2 progresses he actually matures somewhat, something very few Season 2 characters do. 7. Richard Beymer as Ben Horne Ben Horne is yet another character who's enjoyability flatlined during the second half of Season 2. But his Season 1 and early Season 2 performances were good, but pretty flat in terms of his motivations. He was just a generally evil dude. His standout moment actually came in one of the series worst episodes, during a scene in which he watches early home video footage of himself and his brother as young children. He had fallen significantly from grace after being accused of killing Laura Palmer and this moment emphasizes this. 6. Michael Ontkean as Harry Truman Truman is a very underrated character. He's a necessary foil to Cooper, and without him I don't think the show would be the same. However, actor Michael Ontkean and the character's blank personality couldn't carry his subplots with Josie. 5. Peggy Lipton as Norma Jennings I always saw Norma as the heart of Twin Peaks. She was the owner of the Double R Diner, and had a love for everyone in the town. Her relationship with Shelly was also very sweet, and I'm glad it got carried into Season 3. Lipton was a great actor and made the character very believable. 4. Sherilyn Fenn as Audrey Horne Audrey Horne acted a Cooper's main love interest until the last third of Season 2, when 2 new characters played by Billy Zane and Heather Graham becme the new love interests of the respective characters. While Zane had the charisma of a wet brick and was way too boring for Audrey, Annie didn't bother me all that much. But when the finale of Season 2 came along, I knew Annie was a mistake. The impetus for Cooper going into the Lodge was the kidnapping of Annie. But I don't care if Annie lives or dies. Audrey, on the other hand, is a character that I care about. This came about because Lara Flynn Boyle demanded that Audrey and Cooper split because of his real-life relationship with MacLachlan. Anyway, back to Audrey. She's a great character. Her strange 50's aesthetic, alluring appearance and playful personality were all greatly portrayed by Fenn. But there was a dark side beneath her tight sweaters and bob haircut. She pushed her younger brother down the stairs at an early age, joined a brothel to help Agent Cooper, and manipulated her various employers. Audrey was certainly a fascinating character. It's just a shame that she got bogged down by Billy Zane's stupid voice and gross face. 3. Jack Nance as Pete Martell Pete Martell is a character unlike any other. He lights up any scene he's in, and Jack Nance elevated even the most boring of scenes with his facial expressions and strange speaking style. Of all the original series characters, he was the one i missed the most in Season 3. 2. Kyle MacLachlan as Dale Cooper The main character of the show. Dale is a great character, and is consistently funny and serious at the same time. Well, except for Season 2, but that's to be expected. Cooper was a perfect main character for this weird and wonderful show. So many main characters in other shows are boring and simply an audience stand-in, but not Cooper. He is truly unique. 1. Ray Wise as Leland Palmer
The moment Leland Palmer died was the moment the show lost itself. After his death, the show lost direction, turning into a parody of itself and introducing inane characters like Evelyn Marsh and Little Nicky. Leland was of course the killer of Laura Palmer, but the reason isn't all that simple after all. There are so many intricate layers to Leland's character, and his utter heartbreak over his daughter, combined with his incredibly sinister demeanor as the series progressed, made him one of the most complex characters to grace the TV screen. Wise also did an excellent job in the movie, but we're not counting that here, so it's irrelevant. Leland Palmer is a character that achieves something incredible: He's hilarious, sad, and menacing all at once.
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AuthorI'm Spoon Goon. I like movies and video games and occasionally a good TV show. Archives
April 2020
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