If I moved out to Los Angeles to pursue my own acting dreams, would I end up like Diane Selwyn—Betty’s alter ego in Act ...

The first long, proper kiss David Lynch had with a girl took place in a ponderosa pine forest in America’s north-west. Pine needles, incredibly soft, covered the floor to a depth of about two feet.

This article originally appeared in the January 1985 issue of Esquire. To read every Esquire story ever published, upgrade to All Access.

“Don’t turn away from love, Sailor,” she tells him, blowing him a kiss. He wakes up, and runs off to pursue his romantic destiny. The name “David Lynch” is synonymous with darkness and ...