Wild At Heart actor Nicolas Cage has paid tribute to "singular genius" film director David Lynch, after his death aged 78.
The director, known for the surreal TV series Twin Peaks and films such as Eraserhead and Blue Velvet, died on Thursday.
In a statement, Cage said: "David was a singular genius in cinema, one of the greatest artists of this or any time.
"He was brave, brilliant, and a maverick with a joyful sense of humour.
"I never had more fun on a film set than working with David Lynch. He will always be solid gold."
In Lynch's 1990 road trip film, Cage, 61, plays the Elvis-like Sailor, as he reunites with love interest Lula, played by Laura Dern, after leaving prison, before they decide to run away to California, breaking Sailor’s parole. The film netted the director the 1990 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or.
Actor Kyle MacLachlan, 65, a frequent collaborator with Lynch, who starred in Twin Peaks, paid tribute to the director on Instagram.
He said: "42 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 recognise. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.
"What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.
"Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met."
He said the director was "in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human".
He continued: "While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.
"I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice. We’d talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh.
"His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other.
"I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone.
"David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything."
#RIPDavidLynch, a gracious man and fearless artist who followed his heart & soul and proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema. https://t.co/uMsAxrzKFx
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) January 16, 2025
Apollo 13 director Ron Howard said in a post on X: "RIPDavidLynch, a gracious man and fearless artist, who followed his heart and soul, and proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema."
Billy Corgan, lead singer of alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins, who contributed the song Eye to the Lost Highway soundtrack, said he was "truly saddened" by the news in a post on X.
He said: "Working with him was like a dream out of one of his movies, and I treasure the times I got to speak with him and hear first-hand his vision for a film.
"I truly encourage anyone who loves movies and television to watch all that David produced. He was a true artist, through and through."
RIP David Lynch. A true artist, through and through. pic.twitter.com/qtcE8U4q3f
— William Patrick Corgan (@Billy) January 16, 2025
Lynch's death came just days before his 79th birthday, which would have been on 20 January.
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