Despite episode ten of Twin Peaks: The Return giving ample screen time to the seemingly never-ending instances of violence against women in the Lynchian canon, brief moments of levity still managed to shine through â as evidenced by the reintroduction of the pink-clad Candie in Las Vegas. When we lay eyes on Candie, sheâs sauntering around a suite while trying to kill a fly, a quest that comes to a screeching halt when she hits her boss, Rodney, in the head with a remote control in hot pursuit. Next time we see her, sheâs in hysterics begging for forgiveness, and the recurring theme of abuse is on the forefront of our minds once again.
Piqued by the circumstances surrounding her characterâs return, Vulture hopped on the phone with Irish actress Amy Shiels this week to talk about Candieâs backstory, her relentless optimism, and why the Mitchum brothers should be considered her âsaviors.â
Can I start by saying how much I love Candieâs pink outfit? I think Iâve found my new Halloween costume this year.
It is really incredible. I wish I could take credit for it, but itâs all for the costume department. Why wait until then? Why wait until Halloween? This is an outfit you can wear every day, as Candie proves. Itâs an outfit for any occasion. I want people to start dressing as Candie.
Walk me through how you got cast in the show â did you have any ties to David previously?
Years ago, I had screen-tested for Randall Wallace, whoâs an amazing director and writer. I was auditioning for a book he was going to make into a film, but it never got made. Years later, I got a call from my agent in London saying, âAmy, casting director Johanna Ray is visiting from America and she really wants to meet with you.â It was so random. I came to meet her and she said, âAmy, Randall showed me your screen-test and I loved it, and I think you would be perfect for Lynch and you would be a great match for him.â Eventually, when I moved to America, I gave her a call and I was like, âHey, Johanna, Iâm here. Help me out.â And that she did.
We donât meet David before casting. Johanna will interview you on tape, and then I was told I got the part a week or two after. And then they sent out the script, just my pages. And then you have a one-on-one with David before you start, just to talk about the part and what he wants.
When I talked with Madeline Zima, she said Johanna asked very vague, open-ended questions and she just ended up talking about Kurt Vonnegut most of the time. Did you have a similar interview experience?
Kind of. Mine was probably more playful than that. I just fooled around. Iâm not sure Iâm allowed to say what I was asked! I loved Madelineâs part, though. She was just so wonderful and mysterious and sexy.
I hope you donât meet a demise as gruesome as that!
Hey, not all of us are killed! [Laughs.]
Weâre reintroduced to Candie and get into her mind-set thanks to an extended fly-swatting sequence this week. How did David direct you in that scene specifically, since itâs well over a minute of you walking around aimlessly?
I was told I was going to have this red handkerchief and Iâm going to be swatting a fly â the fly is flying all over the room and youâre going to keep on trying to hit it. Itâs going to be down there; itâs going to be up here; itâs going to be over there. I knew we really had to just go for it. David would shout direction while I was walking around the room. Itâs up your left! Itâs down! Itâs to the side! Itâs to the right, Candie! It was really fun. And then you reach down and you pick up the remote control, and then it goes up in the air, and then it goes down and lands on his face, and then it goes off again. David was very specific. I didnât feel silly doing it with Candie, because I felt so crazy all of the time anyway. I was in her world every day. I was like, âThis is just a normal day in Candieâs world!â
Although the fly-swatting scene seems to first function as comic relief, it later changes meaning a bit when Candie continuously asks Rodney, âCan you ever love me after what I did?â â which many viewers read as an indication that she had been abused in the past. Would you agree with that?
My personal process for my own backstory brought that about, yes. I feel in my backstory that the brothers are actually saving her. She just loves them and appreciates everything in the world. Thatâs why I love Candie and adore and cherish her so much â itâs because she really sees everything through new eyes and has been through something so traumatic in her past, so absolutely hideous, that now that sheâs been saved by these boys, she loves them and she sees everything and appreciates it all. Everyone takes air-conditioning for granted; itâs just everywhere. But no, not to Candie. Itâs probably the first time sheâs had air-conditioning in her life. Itâs amazing. Everything is so good. She loves her bosses, and thatâs why she was so traumatized, because they were so good to her and she hurt him so badly. Especially when she saw the blood the second time, that was tragic. His face â what has she done to her savior? Sheâs just a wonderfully kind and appreciative person who really feels peopleâs joys and pains and emotions. Sheâs adorable and loves everyone.
What else have you imagined for her backstory?
In my mind, Candie is someone who has possibly been human trafficked her whole life. I think she had something really awful like that, and she was saved by the brothers. When I watched the episode on Sunday, it was interesting because I hadnât heard the line: âShe has nowhere else to go.â That wasnât in my script because I wasnât in the room.
Iâm glad you brought that quote up, because until one of the brothers said that, it was really ambiguous as to who was acting as Candieâs abuser. It solidified, in my mind, that they were being her protectors.
Absolutely. For me, it also solidified what I had been thinking of their friendship and relationship to each other.
How would you define the trioâs relationship, then?
She just adores them. Theyâre her saviors. She just wants to make them happy â thereâs nothing sexy about it, nothing like that. It all comes from a place of absolute love, adoration, and appreciation. Itâs almost like sheâs their adopted child, in a way. Sheâs their little sister. Sheâs so kind and generous and appreciative of them and wants to make sure theyâre always looked after and okay. Sheâs almost like their pet! Sheâs like their little dog.
We also get an extended scene via the casinoâs security camera while Candieâs on the gambling floor. What were you actually mouthing while doing those wonderfully animated arm movements? Was it actually about the air-conditioning?
It was! That was so much fun shooting that scene. Tom Sizemore was trying not to laugh the entire time. I improvised for five minutes about air-conditioning units in Candieâs world. It was so fun. [Laughs.] When we cut ⌠Tom is a genius. We burst out laughing as soon as they called âcut!â and he repeated every single word back to me. He remembered five minutes of that monologue. A lot of the time, when youâre improvising, youâre not going to massively remember what you just said. So it was wonderful to hear it back. I was like, âLook at this space; look at the air conditioners.â I feel Tom Sizemore would actually be able to tell you what Candie was saying better than I could. Shoot him an email or a tweet, Iâm sure heâll be obliging. Recently, we had a cast-and-crew screening, and we were laughing about it again. We had too much fun that way.
And it was an especially nice contrast for an episode that was so inherently violent in nature.
People were saying that on set, too, actually, but of course I didnât know because I had no idea what was going on with other characters besides my own. I was in Candieâs world. Itâs an enchanting world to be in and the best four months of my life.
How did you master the art of the over-the-top ugly-cry face so well?
Thatâs just how I cry. [Laughs.] Iâm very into the physical side of acting, so when I have a new character, I always approach it from body language first. I think thatâs the best way to communicate; what we say is through our body. I embraced that first with Candie. I feel the costume really helps with that, too. I had a tutu at home that I loved rehearsing in, to get into her at night. That helped with her fragility. I also researched old movie stars and would watch their work. But also, Iâm not massively vain, so I donât really care about looking pretty when I cry. What a great part. Itâs not about being a beautiful woman; itâs about being a beautiful woman on the inside. When we cry, we donât look pretty. We donât! We look ridiculous! Have you ever looked in the mirror when you cry? Itâs not the time for a selfie! I really wanted to go for it. It wasnât about looks; it was about feeling.