David Duchovny Recalls “Completely Unique” David Lynch & “Fix Your Hearts Or Die” Line: “I Feel Lucky”

As friends and fans continue to pay tribute to David Lynch more than a month after his death, one memorable line from his filmography has made a comeback.

Nearly 25 years after making his Twin Peaks debut as transgender DEA Agent Denise Bryson, David Duchovny recalled the line, “fix your hearts or die,” which creator Lynch said to Denise in character as FBI Agent Gordon Cole.

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“I didn’t know that was brought up recently, but I remember getting that script and reading that line, and thinking, that’s one of the all-time great lines,” Duchovny told TooFab. “So, I’m not surprised that people remember it.”

Making her first appearance in a 1990 episode of Lynch’s hit series, Denise began transitioning after going undercover in feminine clothes and realizing she was more comfortable presenting as a woman.

Despite current discourse about cis actors playing trans roles, Duchovny reprised his role in Showtime’s 2017 revival Twin Peaks: The Return, in which Gordon recalls telling Denise’s colleagues who gave her a hard time “to fix their hearts or die.”

“Working with David is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of a thing,” said Duchovny. “He was completely unique, had a completely unique vision as a filmmaker, as an artist. And I feel lucky to have auditioned in the late ’80s to play this transvestite character, and it was something I got to do 30 years apart.”

“You never think as a young actor going in to audition for a TV show, you don’t even know what it is, and then for it to be something like that is quite special,” he added.

Lynch died at age 78 on Jan. 15, 2025 after suffering cardiac arrest resulting from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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