On a particularly bad day of auditioning in Hollywood before she landed the role, Naomi Watts was driving along Mulholland Drive and imagined herself turning the wheel and going over the edge to her death. After several years of getting nowhere and largely being ignored by casting directors, Watts was shocked that not only did director David Lynch meet her in person but he asked her questions about herself, and she immediately felt relaxed. She was so moved by their conversation, she almost burst into tears after leaving his office.
The set of reels that was distributed to the movie theaters included a computer-written, photocopied note from director David Lynch himself giving special instructions to the projectionists worldwide. Specifically, he did not want the film to be centered vertically on the screen, but rather to "allow more overhead" as the term in projectionist's slang, that is, to let the top part of the frame be more visible than the bottom part. This was because the film was originally made for TV, with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (or 16:9) in mind -- without the projectionists' manual correction, the aspect ratio of the theatrical release (1.85:1) would have resulted in heads being cut off at the top of the silver screen. Lynch also asked to raise the volume of the theater's sound system by three decibels when the film was playing. The note ended with the words, "Your friend, David Lynch."
Naomi Watts actually lost her health insurance and faced eviction from her apartment shortly after filming wrapped. She was ready to quit acting and leave Los Angeles, but her close friend, Nicole Kidman, talked her into staying until after this film was released.
Rebekah Del Rio (the singer at Club Silencio) first met director David Lynch when a talent agent took her, on a whim, to a recording studio where Lynch happened to be and asked her to sing a song for him. She performed an impromptu version of "Llorando" which, also on a whim (and without her knowledge), was being taped by the audio engineer. Years later, Lynch decided to incorporate the song into this film. However, except for a few minor tweaks, this was the exact same recording used in the movie.
Adam Kesher smashing the producer's car windshield in with a golf club is a reference to the famous 1994 incident where Jack Nicholson committed the same act. Nicholson's nickname is "Mulholland Man."
David Lynch: [Lincoln] The blue-haired lady sits in the balcony in the same position as Abraham Lincoln did in the Ford Theater.
David Lynch: [the use of the color blue] In this film, there are many objects that are blue and a character associated with the color blue. For example, there's a blue box, a blue key, a blue-haired lady with blue eyeshadow on, blue lights, blue walls, and blue smoke. The use of the color blue is used in significant ways in other Lynch films such as Blue Velvet (1986), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), and Lost Highway (1997).
David Lynch: [Music by composer Angelo Badalamenti] Badalamenti's music score in this film provides a mixture of classical, distorted, and moody melodies in various scenes. This type of music can also be heard in other Lynch films such as Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), and The Straight Story (1999), respectively.
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