‘Twin Peaks’ star joins lineup at Spa-Con
Laura Palmer is alive and well and coming to Hot Springs in September.
Actress Sheryl Lee, who is known for her performance as the high school student whose mysterious death fueled the cult television series
“Twin Peaks,” will be a special celebrity guest at Spa-Con, the multigenre celebration of comics and science fiction that will be held at the Hot Springs Convention Center Sept. 22-24.
Coincidentally, the third season of a reboot of the “Twin Peaks” series debuts tonight on the Showtime cable network.
“We are simply delighted that Sheryl Lee has joined the lineup of celebrity guests who
will enliven the 2017 Spa-Con experience,” said Bill Solleder, special events manager for Visit Hot Springs and one of the co-creators of Spa-Con.
“The character of Laura Palmer, and her likeness for that matter, is the face of ‘Twin Peaks,’” he said. “Hosting Sheryl Lee at the upcoming Spa-Con is a thrill and an honor. Twenty-six years ago, the question of who killed Laura Palmer was asked around the world and I believe that a new question about Laura will be asked as part of the reboot of ‘Twin Peaks.’”
In 2015, at the “Twin Peaks” UK Festival, Lee confirmed she would be returning for this year’s limited Showtime run, alongside Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Agent Dale Cooper and Dana Ashbrook as bad boy Bobby Briggs.
Speaking about tonight’s Showtime series premiere, MacLachlan said, “The question of who killed Laura Palmer resonated around the world.”
“The timing couldn’t be better for Spa-Con,” Solleder said, noting Showtime is “hyping the new series with increased intensity” leading up to tonight’s premiere. He noted the season finale will air one week before Spa-Con begins.
“Twenty-six years is a long time to wait for one of the most groundbreaking and risk taking TV shows to resurface,” he said. “Of course, we are hoping that ‘Twin Peaks’ and David Lynch fans will attend Spa-Con for the Q and A sessions, photo ops and VIP Meet and Greets with Sheryl Lee.”
VIP Spa-Con passes go on sale Sunday, Solleder said. “We just recently announced that Shannon Purser, who plays Barb on the ‘Stranger Things’ series, would be our guest also. Plus, we will be announcing additional surprise guests in the near future.”
The VIP pass gains you access to Lee and Purser and a second “Twin Peaks” celeb that will be announced in June.
The first Spa-Con event last year drew nearly 5,000 fans of comics, science fiction, gaming and cosplay. Weekend passes for Spa-Con, which is co-sponsored by the Garland County Library, are available for $25 via http:// www.spa-con.org. The price will be $35 on the weekend of the convention.
In the original “Twin Peaks” series, Lee was also given the part of Palmer’s eerily look-alike cousin Maddy Ferguson. She also starred in the 1992 prequel, “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” which elaborated on events leading up to Palmer’s death.
Lee’s other roles have included playing the role of Astrid Kirchherr in the 1994 movie “Backbeat,” a biopic of the early career of The Beatles opposite Stephen Dorff; the part of Liza in Gary Walkow’s 1995 adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella, “Notes from Underground,” opposite Henry Czerny; the role of Katrina in John Carpenter’s 1998 film “Vampires” opposite James Woods and Daniel Baldwin, and the role of Marlene Cadena in the 2003 television series “Kingpin” opposite Yancey Arias and Bobby Cannavale.
She also starred alongside Craig Sheffer in 1977’s “Bliss.” Lee starred opposite Anthony Michael Hall as the sweet but vengeful housewife Eve Robbins in the 2001 USA Cable movie “Hitched.”
In 2005, she played the recurring role of Ellie Harp, the biological mother of Peyton Sawyer, played by Hilarie Burton, who battles breast cancer, on the third season of the WB Network series “One Tree Hill.”
In 2007 and 2008, Lee appeared on the ABC dramedy, “Dirty Sexy Money” as Andrea Smithson, the mother of Brian Darling’s (Glenn Fitzgerald) illegitimate child.
Lee, along with several other “Twin Peaks” cast members, guest starred in a special “Twin Peaks”-themed episode of “Psych,” titled “Dual Spires.”
In 2010, she appeared in a supporting role as April in Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone,” which won best picture at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. Lee played Lucie Sliger in the 2011 crime thriller “Texas Killing Fields” alongside Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington and Chloë Grace Moretz.
In 2014’s art drama thriller “White Bird in a Blizzard,” written and directed by Gregg Araki, she played May opposite Shailene Woodley and Eva Green. Lee also starred in the lead role in the drama “The Makings of You” in 2014 alongside her former “Twin Peaks” co-star Grace Zabriskie, who played Palmer’s mother in the series.
In 2016, she appeared in a supporting role as “Air” in the Netflix production “Rebirth,” and had a small part as Karen in “Café Society,” written and directed by Woody Allen.