Ray Wise plays Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Leland is Laura Palmer’s father, and the film explores the final days of Laura’s life before the murder that begins the television series.
Wise had already played Leland in the original Twin Peaks television series. In the film, his performance is central because the story moves closer to the family’s hidden trauma and to the supernatural forces connected with Laura’s fate.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was released in 1992 and directed by David Lynch. Rather than functioning as a conventional continuation, it serves primarily as a prequel to the television series. Its focus on Laura makes it darker and more tragic than many episodes of the original show.
Ray Wise is sometimes confused with Richard Beymer, who played Benjamin Horne, another prominent businessman and father in Twin Peaks. Leland Palmer and Benjamin Horne are separate characters, and Wise and Beymer are different actors.