

The role demanded Lee give all of her vulnerability as an actor to this role. Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer, discusses the challenges of the role and how it has impacted herself as well as women she has met over the years, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse.

Palmer's character was one of the few frank and horrific representations of sexual abuse victims which did not diminish the strength and complexity of the victim. Laura's Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks is an examination of Laura Palmer's legacy on the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks. Instead of solely focusing on the murderer, like most traditional storytelling at the time, the audience gets to know the victim, a complex young woman who explores her sexuality and endures incredible abuse. But after three seasons and a film, Laura Palmer is no longer just a plot device. Laura Palmer's character began as a plot device that triggered a small town to face its fractured self. In 1990, the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, co-created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, opened with a murder mystery when a beautiful homecoming queen, wrapped in plastic, washed up on a cold and rocky beach.
