Which actress played Donna Hayward in the original television series Twin Peaks?

Lara Flynn Boyle played Donna Hayward in the original television series Twin Peaks.

Donna is Laura Palmer’s closest friend and becomes increasingly involved in the effort to understand Laura’s secret life and death. Boyle’s performance presents Donna as an apparently conventional teenager who gradually takes on a more active and investigative role.

Boyle appeared in the original series during its 1990–1991 run. She did not return as Donna for the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, in which the character was played by Moira Kelly. That recasting is one reason viewers sometimes associate the role with two different actresses.

Boyle later became known for roles in films and television, including the legal drama The Practice. Her Twin Peaks performance remains one of her early prominent screen roles.