The visionary "Twin Peaks" filmmaker is remembered as a complete original and built up quite the list of collaborators since 1984's "Dune."

After starting her career in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Watts scored her breakout role in Lynch’s 2001 mystery thriller Mulholland Drive. She portrayed lookalikes Betty Elms and Diane Selwyn, the former of which worked to help a woman with amnesia named Rita (played by Laura Harring) unravel the truth of her identity.

David Lynch, whose career spanned more than 50 years, directed surrealist mystery Mulholland Drive, in which Naomi Watts, from Shoreham, Kent, played a lead character

The director himself came off as almost performatively normal. Masterpieces like “Eraserhead” and “Mulholland Drive” said otherwise.

Nicolas Cage, Naomi Watts and Patricia Arquette are among the stars to pay tribute to the late David Lynch.

The filmmaker, writer and artist was Oscar-nominated for his films Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive

Oscar-winning director and Happy Days star Ron Howard paid tribute to Lynch on social media, writing: “#RIPDavidLynch, a gracious man and fearless artist who followed his heart & soul and proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema.”

Mulholland Drive star Watts said Lynch "put me on the map" with her 2001 break-out film about the dark side of Hollywood, which earned him the award for Best Director at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival alongside an Oscar nod. "My heart is broken. My Buddy Dave… The world will not be the same without him," Watts wrote on Instagram.

David Lynch, who died on Jan. 16, directed Naomi Watts in her breakout movie ‘Mulholland Drive’ Naomi Watts is mourning the loss of her Mulholland Drive director David Lynch. The legendary filmmaker died at the age of 78,

David Lynch, who died Thursday at age 78, was remembered by his many collaborators, as well as those he inspired, such as "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly.

With such hallucinogenic masterworks as 'Eraserhead,' 'Blue Velvet,' 'Mulholland Drive,' 'Twin Peaks' and 'The Elephant Man,' he often left more questions than answers.