‘Twin Peaks’ actors taking roadshow to Natick: We chatted up Dana Ashbrook (aka, Bobby Briggs)

When I got hit up for an actor interview by organizers of the “Twin Peaks: Conversation with the Stars” show coming to TCAN in Natick on Sept. 16 and 17, I had to make a confession.  While interested in doing the interview, I’d somehow never seen the iconic early ’90s TV show from Mark Frost and David Lynch, even though I’m plenty old enough to have remembered its original airing and have seen many of Lynch’s movies.

So I started bingeing “Twin Peaks,” and got partway into the second of the original show’s two seasons. So I got to know Bobby Briggs— the rebellious jock and ex-boyfriend of the late Laura Palmer—by the time I spoke with Dana Ashbrook. He’s the actor who portrayed Briggs in the original series, as well as in the prequel and later revival series. In “Twin Peaks: The Return,” Bobby had become a police deputy… I couldn’t avoid that spoiler in prepping for the interview.

Ashbrook, who has appeared in many other TV shows like “Dawson’s Creek” and “The Outer Limits” as well as theatre productions and movies over the years, will be coming to TCAN alongside Ray Wise (aka, Leland Palmer), Kimmy Robertson (aka, Lucy Moran), and Sabrina S. Sutherland, executive producer of “Twin Peaks: The Return.” They’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes stories, answering questions, taking photos with fans, and signing autographs during the sessions. The events are presented by David Roy Williams Entertainment under license from Paramount Location-Based Experiences, and moderated by Twin Peaks and David Lynch expert Josh Eisenstadt.
 

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Ashbrook says he remembers the details of his “Twin Peaks” performances pretty well, sort of like college alums might recall their time at school many years later, though acknowledges super fans have him beat.

“I remember certain things pretty vividly and clearly and then I’ll catch an episode or scene and don’t remember that day,” he says, adding that the show was done “in a quick amount of time, but a very intense amount of time for everyone involved.”

Ashbrook got the gig in part through a connection with the casting director, but then nailed it after meeting with the co-creators in a get-to-know-you session during which he talked about the theatre company he was in. He was wowed by the script for the pilot, dubbed “Northwest Passage.”

The San Diego native comes from a theatrical family—his mom and dad met while taking part in a play. Growing up, Ashbrook said members of his family took part in summer musicals. “It’s just sort of what our family did,” he said. After graduating high school, Ashbrook followed one of his sisters, also an actor, to LA and worked with the same agent.

Perhaps Ashbrook’s most famous “Twin Peaks” scene took place in episode 1 of season 2, when his stoic father, Major Briggs, shared an optimistic vision he’d had about how things would turn out for his son. Up to that point in the show, the two had never seen eye to eye, but many consider the major’s monologue at the Double R Diner to be a turning point for the father and son, and a harbinger of Bobby’s eventual evolution from a troublemaking Lothario character to a respected law enforcement professional.

“That scene had a lot of impact on some people,” says Ashbrook, who continues to act, including in a play about professional wrestling called “Masters of Puppets” performed in Connecticut.

The actor says he really enjoys interacting with “Twin Peaks” fans.

“They’re usually super creative and artistic… lovely, sweet people.” Couples have become lifelong friends or even married after meeting at “Twin Peaks” events, says Ashbrook, who will be making his first visit to Natick (he does have family in Massachusetts).

What’s fun now is seeing the “next gens,” young fans turned onto “Twin Peaks” by their parents or even grandparents, original fans of the show, Ashbrook says “You might think it’d be too slow for them, but they love it,” he says.