‘I can hardly walk across a room’: David Lynch urges smokers to quit after emphysema diagnosis

The film-maker and lifelong smoker David Lynch has spoken out about the dangers of the habit, revealing he started smoking at the age of eight and now needs supplemental oxygen even to walk small distances.

In August, the Twin Peaks director revealed that he had been diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung condition that causes shortness of breath. In a short statement on X at the time, he wrote: “I enjoyed smoking very much … but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is emphysema.”

Now the 78-year-old is urging others to quit – and holding himself up as a cautionary tale. In an interview with People magazine on Thursday, Lynch revealed the extent of his emphysema, saying he needs supplemental oxygen for most activities: “I can hardly walk across a room. It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.”

Lynch told People that smoking had been “a big important part of my life … it was part of being a painter and a film-maker for me.”

Related: David Lynch says he is not retiring after revealing he is too ill to direct films in person

Even as smoking became part of his public image, captured in portraits and candid press shots, his love affair with tobacco played out on screen, with characters in Twin Peaks and films such as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive regularly lighting up.

Lynch said he had tried to quit “many, many times” over the years. “But when it got tough, I’d have that first cigarette, and it was a one-way trip to heaven. Then you’re back smoking again.”

Even after he was diagnosed with emphysema in 2020, he didn’t kick the habit for two more years. “I saw the writing on the wall and it said, ‘You’re going to die in a week if you don’t stop,’” Lynch told People. “I could hardly move without gasping for air. Quitting was my only choice.”

These days Lynch is mostly homebound, wary of catching infections that might exacerbate his disease. It has made working on set impossible, though he has said he is open to directing remotely in the future. His last feature was 2006’s Inland Empire, and his last major screen project was 2017’s Twin Peaks reboot, though he continued to make webisodes, short films and music videos, most recently as part of his collaboration with the US singer Chrystabell.

He has taken occasional acting roles, including a cameo as cigar-chomping director John Ford in Steven Spielberg’s 2022 Oscar winner The Fabelmans.

While he admits the price he has paid for smoking is great, Lynch told People that he did not “regret it”, but wanted others to learn from his experience: “I really wanted to get this across: Think about it. You can quit these things that are going to end up killing you.”