Between meeting fans at Baltimore Comic-Con, actress Sherilyn Fenn took a break to chat with Scoop. She talked about conventions, what she likes about Twin Peaks and the fanbase, and a few other movies and TV shows that she’s been in throughout her career.

Scoop: Are you having fun this weekend?
Sherilyn Fenn (SF): I am, thank you.

Scoop: What do you like about doing conventions?
SF: I love meeting the people, the fans, what I like to call sacred family. Some of them have the most amazing insights into [Twin Peaks], into the work, and it’s a beautiful thing if your work touches people. It’s the reason, really, to do it.

Scoop: Are people most interested in talking about Twin Peaks, or specific work?
SF: I’d say for the most part it’s Twin Peaks. But, a lot of people grew up with me, so they saw The Wraith and Just One of the Guys over the years.

Scoop: That’s cool. Do you have a favorite project? You’ve done quite a lot of different work on film and TV.
SF: I love Twin Peaks but what always stands out for me is Of Mice and Men. It’s classic John Steinbeck, and John Malkovich. When I got the role to screen test for it, Gary Sinise called me and was like “Will you be in my movie?” And I was like “Ahhh!” I felt, somehow, like a legitimate actress because they were these great theater actors out of Steppenwolf and I’ve always loved John Malkovich. I’m really proud of that. And now they show it in schools to introduce students to John Steinbeck.

Scoop: What did you like about being in Twin Peaks?
SF: It was a really big gift because David [Lynch] wrote the role for me and that was kind of amazing. It was amazing when it happened, but then it blossomed into something that I never would’ve dreamed. I got to learn a lot about myself. It was a fun role and a great group of people. David is such an amazing director.

Scoop: What’s really fun about projects like that is that it might not appeal to the mass audience, but you get a cult following of really passionate, devoted fans.
SF: That’s 1,000% right. It’s amazing that people will come up and have really interesting, deep insight into things. And that’s why I call them sacred family – you get it or you don’t. David is not everybody’s cup of tea.

Scoop: A couple years ago you did a movie called Raze with Doug Jones. That was really interesting. What did you think of that movie? Is the message that the rich get to do what they want? Is it a twisted view of our society?
SF: It was a twisted view of our society. It was weird. I didn’t see it, I don’t really watch my work. It was interesting. It had a lot of different commentaries that were interesting to me, that you could go in a lot of different ways with.

Scoop: I heard the premise for the movie, and I really like Zoë Bell, then I heard that you and Doug Jones were in it and I had to see it. I thought it was really good.
SF: Oh great! That’s excellent.

Scoop: Do you have more conventions lined up for the next few months?
SF: Sinister [Creature Con] in Sacramento. Every year there’s an Eraserhead thing where fans come in and they show the movie, so I’m going to be a guest there. I’m doing something in London in November.

Scoop: What are you working on now?
SF: I just finished S.W.A.T. and just reading scripts right now and seeing what’s out there.