Romantic Artists

"As a young man, he was convinced one had to suffer to portray suffering. That's what all the art students believed back then, he says, his lips creasing into a Jimmy Stewart smile. 'But you don't have to die to do a death scene. You just have to understand it in your own way. It's like the law of diminishing returns - the more you suffer, the less you can do. Real suffering is something we don't want. You could say it's very romantic, and it came to me that poor, melancholy artists, slightly depressed - it's just to get chicks, and it works so well.'

Was he once that melancholy artist? 'For sure. The girls love that. They bring food over and drinks, and hold you tight.' David Lynch's Guide To Pulling, huh? He likes that idea. 'It works like a charm. But it is a joke for creativity. If you were really that way, you couldn't work.'

David Lynch, in this interview.