It’s been 25 years since Naomi Watts shot to stardom with David Lynch‘s Mulholland Drive.
Four years earlier, she had led another thriller — but this time on the small screen. The sci-fi series was called Sleepwalkers, where she portrayed “a dream interpreter and psychologist who uses state-of-the-art technology to enter people’s dreamscapes and help them confront the darkest parts of their subconscious,” according to TV Line. Bruce Greenwood also starred.
Though it certainly sounds enticing, especially for something out of the 1990s, the project was short-lived. Sleepwalkers was only on the air for a whopping two episodes before getting canceled due to poor Nielsen ratings — even though nine episodes were produced, TV Line also noted on Sunday, August 23.
From Stephen Kronish and David S. Goyer, “Sleepwalkers premiered on November 1, 1997 as part of NBC’s Saturday night programming block known as the “Thrillogy,” if anyone from the veteran generations might recall. Among its shows was Dark Skies, a clear answer to Fox’s The X-Files.
But then came Mulholland Drive in 2001, and Watts, 57, has been a movie star ever since. In more recent years, she has also become a regular on Ryan Murphy‘s shows, having portrayed Jackie Kennedy on Love Story as the most recent example.
The Lasting Impact of Mulholland Drive
Earlier this summer, Collider released a list of “the 15 most universally loved thriller movies, ranked” and placed the Watts-led Mulholland Drive at No. 1. The publication suggested that the film has remained so beloved due to its use of surrealism that causes its disturbing storyline to be difficult to unfold, making it an almost interactive mystery for the audience.
In an interview for Criterion Collection Special Features of Mulholland Drive, alongside Watts, Lynch revealed that the film was supposed to be “a possible spinoff” of his popular ABC television series, Twin Peaks. However, an ABC executive wasn’t impressed with the proposed show’s pilot, killing the project.