Phillip Jeffries
Phillip Jeffries | |
---|---|
Twin Peaks character | |
First appearance | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me |
Last appearance | "Part 17" (The Return) |
Portrayed by | David Bowie |
Voiced by | Nathan Frizzell (in The Return) |
In-universe information | |
Occupation | FBI Special Agent Director of the Blue Rose Task Force |
Nationality | American |
Duration | 1992, 2017 |
Jeffries was an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who disappeared while on assignment in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1987.[1]
His role was expanded in the 2017 revival series, but with the death of Bowie, Jeffries is instead depicted as a white glowing orb right by a giant steaming kettle in a motel room above a convenience store. Before his death, Bowie gave Lynch permission to reuse footage of his character from the movie on the condition that he be dubbed by a Louisianan actor.[2]
Appearances
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
Phillip Jeffries is shown checking into a hotel in Buenos Aires. Jeffries is then seen vanishing when entering an elevator. He emerges from a different elevator several years later at the Philadelphia FBI office. He was believed to have disappeared two years ago while on assignment in Argentina. He hurries to the office of his former superior, Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole and starts raving in a loud and disturbed manner rambling about Judy while also insisting that she not be discussed, and referring at one stage to Special Agent Dale Cooper and yelling “Who do you think this/that is, there?" Jeffries went on to narrate in an abstract fashion where he had been since his disappearance, discussing a discovery in Seattle of a meeting he witnessed above a convenience store and an important ring. Cole had Albert try to figure out how Jeffries got into the building, while Cooper, noticing the lights flickering, ran back out into the hallway. As Jeffries continued his rant, Cole tried to call for backup. He then vanishes after realizing it's February 1989. Jeffries reemerged in Buenos Aires, scaring a maid and the same bellhop from 1987, who had seen him vanish and now reappear. Very soon after this, Jeffries disappeared, this time seemingly permanently.[3][4]
Twin Peaks: The Return
By the time of Dale Cooper's entrapment in
Around this time, another individual began assuming Jeffries' identity, hiring Ray Monroe and Darya to kill the doppelgänger, who is known to his associates as "Mr. C". While in
After shooting Mr. C, Ray contacted "Phillip" on his phone and said that he believed Mr. C was dead, or else Ray would finish the job when Mr. C found him at "the farm." At gunpoint, Monroe later confessed to Mr. C that somebody named Phillip Jeffries had orchestrated the prison break and ordered him to place a ring on Mr. C's body after he died. Jeffries was in hiding somewhere called "the Dutchman's."[9]
Looking for Judy, Mr. C drove to the convenience store and received an audience with the real Jeffries. He learns Jefferies had no involvement with Ray. Mr. C then asked him about Judy, whom Jeffries had previously mentioned at the FBI office back in 1989, and whether Judy wanted something from Mr. C. Jeffries responded that he could ask Judy himself, and a series of numbers floated out of his orb, which Mr. C wrote down.[5]
After the real Dale Cooper killed his doppelgänger, he accompanied MIKE to see Jeffries in person. Cooper tells Jefferies he is interested in a particular date: February 23, 1989, and Jeffries agrees to find it for him. Commenting that it was "slippery in here" Jeffries eventually manifested the symbol found in Owl Cave, which turned into an "8" symbol with a bead modulating around its lower half. Jeffries said that this was where he could find Judy. He also added: "There may be... someone. Did you ask me this?" Jeffries said to give Gordon Cole his regards, and that Cole would remember "the unofficial version." In a loud crackle of electricity, Cooper appeared in the woods near Twin Peaks in 1989.[10]
Behind the scenes
The original editing of Fire Walk With Me puts Jeffries's reappearance in 1988 since it is before the "one year later" hard title. But the shooting script, The Missing Pieces, The Secret History of Twin Peaks, and Part 15 of The Return put it in 1989.
David Bowie was approached to reprise his role as Jeffries in the 2017 limited series, but his lawyer informed David Lynch that he was unavailable due to his declining health, which was not public knowledge until his death on January 10, 2016. Bowie gave Lynch permission to reuse footage of the character from the film, however, he was unhappy with the accent he had used in the film, so he requested to have his voice re-dubbed by an authentic Louisianan actor.[11]
References
- ^ Reiher, Andrea. "Twin Peaks: Who are Phillip Jeffries and Blue Rose?". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
- ^ Robinson, Joanna. "How David Lynch and Twin Peaks Honored One Final David Bowie Request". HWD. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
- ^ Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
- ^ Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
- ^ a b Twin Peaks – "Part 15"
- ^ Twin Peaks – "Part 2"
- ^ Twin Peaks – "Part 4"
- ^ Twin Peaks – "Part 14"
- ^ Twin Peaks – "Part 13"
- ^ Twin Peaks – "Part 17"
- ^ Wray, Daniel Dylan. "David Lynch on Bowie and the Music that Inspired the New “Twin Peaks”." Pitchfork. 19 September 2017.