Friday Feature: I Know Catherine, the Log Lady (2025)
Catherine E. Coulson was so much more than the Log Lady & she was also always the one to flick the light switch & call us to attention. Gina Myers listens to what Catherine’s log has to say in this week’s Friday Feature. Published May 9, 2025.
The Log Lady holds a special place for many Twin Peaks fans, so it was especially moving to see the role reprised in 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return, which featured the Log Lady in her last days. It was also the last days for Catherine E. Coulson, who portrayed the Log Lady and who would die from cancer only days after shooting her final scenes. I Know Catherine, the Log Lady (2025), a new documentary, is bookended by Coulson’s final days and prominently features her portrayal of the Log Lady, but it also tells a more complete story of Coulson’s life. Through interviews with friends and family, archival photos, video from her television, film, and theater work, and audio recordings, the film traces Coulson’s life from her conservative upbringing to her move to San Francisco where she joined a theater group and met Jack Nance, who would become her first husband. They eventually moved to L.A. where they met David Lynch, and Coulson worked as an assistant cameraperson on Eraserhead. This led her to working as an assistant to the cinematographer Frederick Elmes on numerous films before ever appearing as the Log Lady. The film then covers her post-Twin Peaks career as a theater actor in Oregon up until her final appearance as the Log Lady.
In addition to her professional life, the film discusses her personal life, which was not easy. David Lynch describes a near-death experience Coulson had during her early days in Los Angeles. Her marriage to Nance was abusive, and her second marriage ended after she experienced a miscarriage and lost the ability to have children. And while she created a family through adoption in her third marriage, that, too, was marred by her husband’s infidelities. Despite everything, Coulson is described as a generous and loving force whose presence was deeply felt by those around her. Several of the interviews are quite moving, as the interviewees grieve Coulson’s loss.
While the movie is a tearjerker, there is humor throughout. The movie opens with a recording of a phone call to a mortuary where Coulson is telling them to prepare for her arrival because she thinks it will be soon. The person on the other end of the line says, “I’m sorry.” Coulson asks, “About what?” When the person responds, “About your situation,” Coulson cheerfully says not to be sorry because we all die. In another recording, Coulson has to let David Lynch know how sick she is leading up to the filming of The Return. Lynch asks, “Catherine, are you dying?” and she says, “Yes—well, no. Not right now.”
In addition to Lynch, the talking heads include Kyle MacLachlan, Charlotte Stewart, Michael Horse, and other Twin Peaks castmates. There are also interviews with Coulson’s friends from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and her wider community in Ashland. It was this community that rallied around her in her final weeks, caring for Coulson and making sure she was able to fulfill her final role. A notable absence among those interviewed is her daughter Zoey, who is mentioned throughout the film. It is said that she was against her mom filming the final Log Lady scenes for The Return, which may also explain her absence in a film that frames Catherine’s life with that role and treats that final film session as a heroic moment.
Overall the film is a wonderful tribute to Coulson’s life and work. For people who only know Coulson as the Log Lady, the film is an opportunity to learn so much more about Coulson. There are also a number of gems included, like a photo of Coulson acting in a scene from Eraserhead that never made the film, images of her on set with Elmes with John Cassavetes, and video of theater performances. It is clear director Richard Green had a lot of interview footage to work with, and there is a bit of whiplash, especially early on as the film cuts between interview subjects, but either I got used to it, or the movie finds its rhythm. All the stars, or in this case sacs of blood, to Coulson. Minus half a sac for the pacing. 4.5 out of 5 sacs of blood.
—Gina Myers