Well, you go fishing for ideas and sometimes one bites.

(Inhale. Blow out smoke ring.)

I used to be angry. 

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

To be fair, the same is true of almost anyone who's been interviewed over and over and over.  They become accustomed to repeating the same stories and themes.  If you follow any artist closely, chances are you're going to have that same sense.  Keeping in mind that most journalists are not intimates of the person they're interviewing, the interviewee is only going to reveal so much. 

You saw what happened this week with Gwyneth Paltrow when her interview in Spanish made the headlines.  

Wariness has got to be part of the equation when dealing with the press.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

 This is  true to a certain degree. I think his behaviour towards the media in general has become more reserved after the year 1992. I don´t know if he does this intentionally (and I don´t care anways), but his presence seems "iconic" and static sometimes unless he trusts the interviewers or the questions are more thrilling.

It´s telling that he frequently gets asked "Is it true that you kept a shaved mouse in your freezer 20 years ago?" and the interviewer of course knows the answer and simply wants Lynch "to talk Lynchian".

It's all in the questions. It seems that he gets asked the same questions over and over. I remember in the chat room when it first opened up I was able to get some questions answered that were pretty awesome. I wish I saved the transcripts as I don't believe they were ever posted.

Yeah. And how about the story about a painting starting to move. Ever heard Lynch talk about that one? ;)

I'm getting kinda bored of this. Sure Dave is unwilling to share a lot but I think the reporters are more to blame. They always ask the same questions as if they hadn't done their homework at all. They either ask something that all the fans are more than familiar with, or then something that has to do with Lynch's own interpretations of his films, which we know he won't tell us. That's only natural, I don't like to talk about my films a lot either. It's better to find out by oneself. If that's impossible, then the answer is not earned. However, there are lots of questions to ask that are of neither of these two groups.

For example, regarding casting Jeremy Irons to Inland Empire: my favourite role from mr. Irons is his performance as Humbert Humbert in Adrian Lyne's Lolita (1997). Lynch always says that doing the later Lolita was rather blasphemous (as Kubrick's Lolita is one of his all-time favourites) and he refused even to watch it. Has he still not seen it and where did that casting decision come from?

Kubrick's Lolita is incomparable to Adrian Line's film, but they're both good films. For example, Dominique Swain respects much moren than Sue Lyon the resemblance with Lola's character because, of course, the film was made nowadays and there were less restrictions regarding her minor age. I use to not like Jeremy Irons very much in that movie, but I have to admit he's one of the greatest actors in the modern history of cinema and his performance in Dead ringers is his best ever!

Regarding Lynch not wanting to see Lolita it seems reasonable, since he probably never sees any movie at all! If he chose Irons he didn't need to see it to know he's one of the best actors in Hollywood. And we also know he probably doesn't even like to put them on the acting test during their first meetings a.k.a. auditions.

The interviews, yeah well they always don't add nothing more than what's just been said already with the movie. This is a general law regarding any kind of people, especially actors. They're good at acting, but terrible when they have to deal with the press (usually they end up telling more about themselves than something about them actually).

 Lynch is elusive and definitely likes to make fun of journalists and critics. When he told that it's wonderful that so much people had different interpretations for Mulholland Dr. it was an obvious joke. Of course it is open to many different views and perspectives, but the story and the meaning is only one... And he'll never reveal it to you!

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

 Depends on the circumstances. Usually, in the wake of promoting a film, certain (negative) things tend to be left unsaid, simply because cast and crew are contractually obliged to do a certain amount of interviews and not to trash the film. (That´s why retrospective audio commentaries can be so intriguing, I´m having Jereym Irons´ commentary for Dead Ringers in mind where he talks about de Niro turning the role down if the role wasn´t changed from gynaecologist to lawyer.)

Very often journalists receive a list of dos and don´ts in advance, so they know which subjects not to touch. (According to a Cronenberg interview, there´s even an on-set codex for certain films for cast and crew with topics to be avoided in jokes...)

So, it´s hardly surprising that interviews are more often playing by rules than openminded discussions.

Jeremy Irons plays a great dirty (yet sensitive) old man, and I think he did great justice to Humbert as he was written.

I own Lolita on audio, read by Irons.  Absolutely perfect.