David Lynch needs oxygen to go after smoking from age 8 to 76

David Lynch has enjoyed smoking for almost a lifetime, but his habit has caused some serious health problems.

The Mulholland Drive The filmmaker, who started smoking at age 8 and quit at 76, says he now needs supplemental oxygen for any physical activity beyond a walk across the room following his emphysema diagnosis in 2020.

“In the back of every smoker’s mind is the fact that it’s healthy, so you’re literally playing with fire,” he told PEOPLE in a new interview. “It can bite you. I took a chance and I got bitten.”

Lynch was only able to kick cigarettes completely two years after his diagnosis. “I saw the writing on the wall and it said, ‘You’ll die in a week if you don’t stop,'” Twin Peaks said mastermind. “I could barely move without gasping for air. Quitting was my only choice.”

His condition, which causes intense shortness of breath, means he won’t be able to return to directing on set – although he may explore remote directing. “Living with emphysema is hard,” Lynch said. “I can barely walk across a room. It’s like walking around with a plastic bag over your head.”

Lynch also revealed that he rarely leaves the house at this time. “I’ve never really liked going out before, so it’s a good excuse,” he joked. Still, if he could do it all over again, he probably wouldn’t have quit smoking sooner. “I don’t regret it. It was important to me. I want what every addict wants: that what we love is good for us.”

He continued: “I loved the smell of tobacco, the taste of tobacco. I loved lighting cigarettes. It was part of being a painter and a filmmaker for me.” He also noted that he sees no problem with depicting smoking on screen: “I’ve never thought of it as pandering,” he said. “It was part of life. Some characters would be smokers, just like in real life.”

But he hopes his story will inspire other smokers to quit before it’s too late. “I really wanted to get this across: Think about it. You can stop doing these things that will end up killing you,” he said. “I owe it to them — and to myself — to say it.”

Lynch’s last feature film was 2006’s Inland Kingdomwhich reunited him with frequent collaborator Laura Dern in a nightmarish, non-linear saga set against the backdrop of a cursed Hollywood production. His last major directorial project was in 2017 Twin Peaks: The Returnan 18-episode Showtime follow-up to the ABC mystery drama that made him a household name in the early ’90s. An occasional actor, Lynch made his last screen appearance in a stage appearance in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelman family in 2022.

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