Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn. Kyle McLaughlin is our guest. He's being interviewed

by Bullseye's producer, Kevin Ferguson. Kyle has had a really interesting career. He

broke into showbiz just after college. He was acting in a few local plays and then,

boom, he gets his first ever audition for a part in a movie. Not just any part in a movie,

the lead role in Doom, a big budget, super anticipated sci-fi drama, and then he got the part.

But then the movie didn't do so great. It's a box office flop, the critics didn't like it,

and it was from the ruins of Doom. He forged a working relationship with that film's director,

David Lynch. He eventually got the lead role in Lynch's Blue Velvet, one of the greatest films of

all time. Then in 1989, he was cast as special agent Dale Cooper, the star of Lynch's iconic TV

show, Twin Peaks. Diane, 11.30 a.m. February 24, entering the town of Twin Peaks. It's five miles

out of the Canadian border 12 miles west of the state line. I've never seen so many trees in my life.

If you name the type of character Kyle plays most often, it's usually a charming,

confident guy, sometimes a little goofy, like the mayor on Portlandia or Orson on desperate housewives.

And it's not far off from his personality in real life, he is charming, confident, and kind of goofy.

His latest movie is called Tesla. It's directed by the cult filmmaker Michael Amareida.

Tesla tells the story of Nicola Tesla, the inventor and engineer who pioneered the

advancement of alternating current electricity, meaning you can thank him for among other things

this show, and whatever electrical thing you're using to listen to it with.

It's a weird kind of ethereal movie. Most of the scenes take place in dimly lit rooms,

the characters are subdued and haunted. Every now and then they'll break the fourth wall to tell

you something about what happens when you search the internet for Tesla's name. Tesla is played

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