The Thousands

I could never get into Twin Peaks. Maybe I didn’t give it enough time, maybe I’m a fool, but the four episodes I saw were more than enough. Despite the sour impression, I still remember the scene-stealing pirouette by a mystery actor in the background of the high-school hallway. The swift spin and extended ‘energy transfer’ out of frame stayed with me longer ever since, even if his name remained unknown. Who’d want to scour the credits to find the name of someone who spent a total of eight seconds on screen*?

Tristan Fidler, it turns out. His blog Background Artists of the Cinema is dedicated to providing the oft-forgotten and loosely-described with credit. With a knowledge both broad and deep, there’s none of the condescending “you haven’t seen it?” that you’d expect from a highly-specialised film site. Located on the ever-entertaining Tumblr, the site is a never-ending source of “Oh! THAT GUY!” moments. But in the end, it’s worth it just for Steve Buscemi as ‘Test Tube‘. Now if only he’d branch into TV so I could finally find the name of the ‘Twin Peaks Dancer’.

*the ‘Twin Peaks Dancer’ is 49 seconds into this clip