Steven Spielberg knew what he was doing when he cast David Lynch as John Ford in The Fabelmans; already, in 2022, the director had become, like Ford, bigger than his movies, a living monument to cinema.

Beloved filmmaker David Lynch died on January 15, and when his family broke the news the next day, Hollywood’s grief mourned the loss of the great director, including the stars of his many films. Isabella Rossellini,

Longtime friend and collaborator Kyle MacLachlan paid tribute to Lynch on Instagram: “Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.