Kyle MacLachlan fans all know him as an iconic character — but which character that is may vary. To some, he’s FBI agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks. To others he is Orson Hodge from Desperate housewives or Trey MacDougal from Sex and the city.
Newer fans may even know the 65-year-old as an actor who’s not afraid to get a little crazy on social media. He has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, where he’s shared videos of himself dressed as a hot dog and singing along to Chappell Roan, or participating in absurd social media trends to promote his new projects. He knows he’s been branded a “babygirl,” a term of endearment given to celebrities who inspire a protective instinct.
In addition to appearing in Fallout, Inside Out 2 and his own podcast in recent months, MacLachlan stars in a new ad campaign celebrating the return of a cult-favorite menu item at Arby’s: tater tots. If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s giving his fans what they want. He spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about his erratic social media presence, his illustrious acting career, and what songs and snacks he’s most passionate about this summer.
This interview has been shortened and clarified.
Your social media presence is incredible, what made you decide to have a little fun online?
It all started when I made a podcast called VarnamstadIt’s such a crazy story, I thought, “Why don’t we try to promote this online and do some of the crazy stuff that actually existed in the community that we were visiting?” We did some parodies, and since there was cocaine involved [in the story told in the podcast about a small Southern town that reportedly served as Pablo Escobar’s shipping port]There’s all this weird, crazy behavior. It’s brought my page into this kind of silly space where we’re having a lot of fun and people really seem to respond to it. I work with a few people who help me with my accounts and give me ideas, and we create these things together. We started doing some trending stuff, and I really got a kick out of the idea that this is supposed to be fun and playful. It’s meant to point out people who I think are really talented, and they’ve embraced it. Lorde has embraced it. Charli XCX has embraced it. Chappell Roan has embraced it. They’ve all loved it.
I wanted to ask you about your posts about them. Are you a pop music fan?
I love music, and that’s the newest thing I’ve been exposed to. I have a 15-year-old son who’s really into music — he’s got great taste, both in current and old music. He’s been a big influence on me. I listen to “Von Dutch” [by Charli XCX]and I’m like, “Oh my God!” It just grabs me. She’s got such an amazing canon of songs. This one in particular, I’m just like, “This makes me want to move, even at my age.” It’s really a pleasure to collaborate with them using their music. I think it’s incredibly fun and whimsical, putting it out there and seeing what happens.
Are you familiar with the concept of “the song of the summer”? What is yours?
“Von Dutch” is really good. I don’t know why, but it just grabs me. It’s something I can listen to all the time.
You’ve got that, and then you’ve got the potato pie at Arby’s, which is becoming my favorite. something this summer.
Summer snack?
Yeah. I’m excited about that too. Someone told me that one of the best ways to eat a tater tot is — you know, the beef and cheddar sandwich that Arby’s makes? — you stick the tater tot on the sandwich so you have beef, cheddar, tater tot, and a little bit of horse sauce. Come on! It doesn’t get any better than that. That’s perfect.
Was there ever a point when you were playing a new character or promoting a new project, like a podcast or a potato pie, that you felt like people weren’t accepting you as someone else because you’ve played so many iconic roles?
No, never. These fans are just so focused on the show — they love the show and use it to express their feelings in a way that means a lot to them. Fans are the reason Arby’s is bringing out tater tots again. The fans have spoken.
I think fans are in some cases the reason why so many shows come back, like with Twin Peaks: The Return. Fans kept hammering and hammering and hammering until finally [co-creators] David Lynch and Mark Frost found a way to get back into the story. The power of the fan is really important.
I see a lot of people commenting on your posts praising the bromance between you and David Lynch, so I want to ask you a ridiculous question: do you think he would ever go on TikTok?
Would David Lynch ever be on TikTok? That’s a good question. He posts a lot of videos. He has a YouTube channel where he posts most of his stuff. I wish he would be on TikTok. It would be really cool to have him on TikTok.
I would be so curious to see what he would do with the medium because he loves music and he’s visually amazing. I would be curious to see how he combines the two. It would be absolutely memorable. He’s my creative inspiration. He’s literally doing something creative every day. It’s phenomenal. Besides being a good friend, I admire him so much. I’m a huge fan of the campaign to get David Lynch on TikTok.
Speaking of Lynch, I would never play each other twice Dune movies against each other since the 1984 film you starred in became so iconic — but have you Dune popcorn bucket from the recent movie?
Popcorn bucket? What does it look like?
It looks like a worm’s mouth.
You put your hand in the worm’s mouth? You must be very brave. That’s crazy. I predict they will become very collectible.
I went to a showing of Inside Out 2, and they gave me this. [He holds up a plastic tray made to look like the console where the emotions work in the movie.] You can open it up and put your drink and popcorn in. I’m going to put this on eBay and make a million dollars someday.
Are you aware of all that thirst for you Inside Out 2 character?
He’s become… well. I saw an article that indicated what happened between my character and my wife’s character, played by Diane Lane. What is what happens between those two? Maybe Pixar should Inside out film from the perspective of the parents as they raise the child. My son is 15 and a lot is happening inside Mine head. That would be interesting to turn, but I’m sure Pixar has thought of that already. They’re brilliant and have thought of everything.
If I only had 24 hours left to view one of your projects, would I watch it? Twin Peaks or listen to your podcast?
Oh God, Twin Peaks is very special. If you want a really crazy story about a small town in North Carolina that was a drug hub for Pablo Escobar’s stuff coming out of South America, the podcast would be a really good jam.
Sex and the city is having such a huge resurgence right now. I’ve seen it all over your social media comments — people are literally referring to you by your character’s name, Trey.
When I was working on the show I worked primarily with Kristin Davis [who plays Charlotte York]. She was great — we had really good chemistry together. We had a comedy thing going on and I think we were believable as a couple tackling a difficult subject. There was just an underlying sadness that made things a little more real. They really loved each other. It just wasn’t meant to be.
Is there a character that you can identify with, in the way that people say, “I’m a Carrie” or “I’m a Charlotte”?
I’m Trey.
That’s a typical Carrie thing to say.
I think that was the brilliance of the show: different points of view represented by different women who could actually come together and have a friendship. I think the biggest lesson there was that we can disagree and still be friends.
What made you want to partner with Arby’s and join their campaign to bring back tater tots?
It’s a very silly, very tongue-in-cheek campaign. I get to flex some of my eccentric muscles. In the videos, I come out as the leader of the Order of the Potato Cakes, and I take it very seriously. It’s the kind of humor I like, and it makes the fans happy.
I have to say I am a hash brown lover and these are very similar to hash browns. Anything that takes a potato and makes it awesome — I’m in. They’re back for a limited time starting July 1st.
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