Added poundage since when she was a corpse in the pilot, or...?  You could see her ribs in the Pink Room scene...

She looks her age, not a teenager, maybe a little tired (I'd chalk that up to the stress of the role) but Pamela Gidley looks even older. Sheryl Lee had kind of a plump face (ie. not the dramatic cheekbones of LFB, Moira, Madchen and Sherilyn), but that is a sign of youthfulness. 

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

 Look, all I'm sayin' is...

InTwinPeaks.com

InTwinPeaks.com

Gordon Cole tells Chester Desmond in the first scene.

Charles, those comparisons really don't prove anything....

The top comparisons are like the diet before and after pics- the models always smiles in the 'after' because a smile is an instant face lift. Compare that first smile in the necklace scene to her last smile in FWWM.

The bottom caps are how her head is positioned. Check out these pics of Charlize Theron. (Hasn't a photographer ever told you "chin up, tits out?" (j/k) http://newfaces.com/acting-modeling-advice/photo.php Plus, that makeup is caked on and hideous...

Keep in mind, also, a few years had passed. From 22 to 26, a woman's skin just starts to sag. Smoking and drinking exacerbate this more than weight gain. Dieting that leads to rapid weight loss can cause this, too.

i thought sheryl's lee's older looks worked for her, laura been been through a LOT of rough shit  for 5+ years by that point. that STILL doesn't explain the wig.

i've also decided that FWWM suffered from "episode 1" syndrome where you can tell that certain scenes were written to be a lot better, but there weren't enough takes or they used the wrong take, or something.

take the "wash your hands" scene for example. as written, it could be acted as a very normal conversation with the creep factor as an undercurrent. as filmed, it's three actors shrieking at each other for way wayyyyyy too long. i'd bet my bottom dollar that there was a much calmer take filmed, and lynch (for god knows what reason) went with the nutball one.

If she hadn't worn the wig, the line "Teresa Banks, you look just like my Laura" would have made much more sense.  Funny that.

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

Being a huge Laura fan, I appreciate FWWM for just giving Laura more screen time. Yes, the wig is awful. I just don't get it. But I'll take any extra Laura I can get.

 That said, I really wish there had been  more of the "good Laura", as it was, as someone else mentioned, "Laura gets shit on:The movie". I would have loved to have seen some scenes out of the diary where she is good, even though by the end she was just struggling to get up in the morning. 

I enjoy the darkness of FWWM, and I accept it and value it as it is, but I think some things could have been taken out or added, for sure. And as far as LFB/Moira Kelly debate is concerned, I agree that MK is closer to the Donna of Laura's diary, which I like. However, it is kind of jarring and, as mentioned, created this feeling of disconnectedness (which may or may not be a real word). Donna did have that bad side to her, which MK portrays very well in my opinion. 

At the end of the day, even as a Laura fan, I will take the mystery of the woods and the town over some expolitative shots of Laura screaming/crying/being raped. 

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

hahaha it's way too late, that happened in 2004

that year at the fest when she signed her book she added people's initials to the list of guys laura's fucked, it was cool as hell. ("a.l. -- a true favorite...")

JUst an observation on a post about half way up this page with 4 good sized pictures of Laura Palmer.

I believe ( putting my TP cred on the line ) that the bottom right "Not a Teenager " is from the end of FWWM where she and a grayed older Coop were, I surmised, in the Lodge-- a timetricky place --- and I maintain that the one pic is a Lodge 25 year advanced Laura from the very end of FWWM. An apparent fully growd woman who after so much teenage horror had arrived at happiness as a woman with ole Dale to hold her              hand.

No big deal : )

Well, I'm one of those who had a particular relationship with the whole Twin Peaks universe. I had glimpses of the series when I was just a kid. As I already said somewhere else, I wasn't allowed to watch it. By the way, one or two years later, knowing already the series plot, I had watched the movie so many times that I fell in love with it. Some years laters I finally watched the series completely for the first time and realized that Donna was originally played by a different actress and I wasn't impressed much with the work Lara F. Boyle did during the series. Although she is an interesting character, opposed to the one of the dead Laura, including the final mistery about who her real dad is. I like the fact that she really breaks down and cries in a very emotional and theatrical way only in the pilot and in the finale. In between she had a few cries, but those two stick to my memory as genuine and impressive. But, having seen the movie and having read the diary, I'm with Nefud and those others when they say Moira Kelly was more suitable and did justice to her character as depicted in the diary.

Now, the issue about ages has bugged me for a while too. And I came to this conclusion. In Twin Peaks, no one is innocent, especially the girls. So, they strangely look like girls trying to look like women as soon as they can. It's a typical 50s-60s portrayal of young women. The paradox is that Twin Peaks takes place in the 1990s, but it looks like there time had stopped for like 30-40 years. This happens also with Laura Dern in Blue Velvet, she was supposed to be a teenager since she was in high school but her mannerism, her looks, the hair, the clothes (also those of her friends and of Jeffrey's) belong to the adult-emulative universe shown in classical 50s-60s movies.  That's what every girl (except maybe Shelly, who seems to mantain an air of innocence till the end) goes through in Twin Peaks. Also Audrey, in the pilot she really looks girly, but she gradually loses that quality and becomes a woman. So, using actresses that are evidently older or looking older than teenagers perfectly works for the timeless frame of Twin Peaks.

Laura never looked really that teen and that's because of her history. So Sheryl is perfect and when Maddy comes up, she is always Sheryl Lee but now she is evidently playing a little bit older cousin who claims she has her own apartment and a job. Definitely not the high-school girl prototype.

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

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

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

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

I think the more that i watched both the series and the movie i think i've gotten to like the movie slightly more than the show.

 I like both the show and the movie and think both are great.