FBI Special Agent Phillip Jeffries is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
in the
''Twin Peaks'' franchise. He was created by series creator
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
and portrayed by
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and voiced and dubbed by Nathan Frizzell in ''
Twin Peaks: The Return''. He first appeared in the prequel film ''
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', ''
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces'', which extended his role from the film, and returns in the 2017 revival series.
Jeffries was an agent of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
who disappeared while on assignment in
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
in 1987.
His role was expanded in the 2017 revival series, but with the
death of Bowie, Jeffries is instead depicted as a white glowing orb right by a giant steaming kettle in a motel room above a convenience store. Before his death, Bowie gave Lynch permission to reuse footage of his character from the movie on the condition that he be dubbed by a Louisianan actor.
Appearances
''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' and ''Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces''
Phillip Jeffries is shown checking into a hotel in Buenos Aires. Jeffries is then seen vanishing when entering an elevator. He emerges from a different elevator several years later at the Philadelphia FBI office. He was believed to have disappeared two years ago while on assignment in Argentina. He hurries to the office of his former superior, Regional Bureau Chief
Gordon Cole and starts raving in a loud and disturbed manner rambling about Judy while also insisting that she not be discussed, and referring at one stage to Special Agent
Dale Cooper
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dale Bartholomew Cooper, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, is a fictional character who is the protagonist of ABC's and Showtime's television series ''Twin Peaks''. He also plays a supporting role in the ...
and yelling “Who do you think this/that is, there?" Jeffries went on to narrate in an abstract fashion where he had been since his disappearance, discussing a discovery in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
of a meeting he witnessed above a convenience store and an important ring. Cole had Albert try to figure out how Jeffries got into the building, while Cooper, noticing the lights flickering, ran back out into the hallway. As Jeffries continued his rant, Cole tried to call for back-up. He then vanishes after realizing it's February 1989. Jeffries reemerged in Buenos Aires, scaring a maid and the same bellhop from 1987, who had seen him vanish and now reappear. Very soon after this, Jeffries disappeared, this time seemingly permanently.
''Twin Peaks: The Return''
After Dale Cooper's entrapment in
The Black Lodge, Phillip Jeffries had an unspecified arrangement with Cooper's
doppelgänger
A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person.
In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
, who himself later claimed to have been working undercover with Jeffries for over twenty years. At one point, Jeffries requested information from
Albert Rosenfield
The following is a list of characters from the television series ''Twin Peaks'', the film ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and the Twin Peaks (season 3), 2017 revival.
Overview
Concepts
Bob
Frank Silva was a set decorator who worked ...
concerning a man in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, claiming that it was pertinent to the safety of Cooper. A week later, the agent in Colombia was killed.
Jeffries somehow lost his human form, and by September 2014 he appeared to have become a white glowing orb emitted from the end of a large kettle-shaped device. His chamber was located behind room #8 at a motel only accessible from the upper floor of a certain convenience store.
[''Twin Peaks'' – "Part 15"]
In addition, another individual began assuming Jeffries' identity, hiring Ray Monroe and Darya to kill the doppelgänger, known to his associates as "Mr. C". While in
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
, Mr. C attempted to contact Jeffries via radio, only to find this stranger on the other end. The person who answered mentioned that he knew the doppelganger had met with
Major Garland Briggs
The following is a list of characters from the television series ''Twin Peaks'', the film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and the 2017 revival.
Overview
Concepts
Bob
Frank Silva was a set decorator who worked on the pilot episode. ...
, and was calling to tell him goodbye. "Jeffries" told him that the doppelgänger would be "going back in" the next day and that he would be with
BOB
Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to:
Places
*Mount Bob, New York, United States
*Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica
People, fictional characters, and named animals
*Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Bob (surname) ...
again, then disconnected.
After shooting Mr. C, Ray contacted "Phillip" on his phone and said that he believed Mr. C was dead, or else Ray would finish the job when Mr. C found him at "the farm." At gunpoint, Monroe later confessed to Mr. C that somebody named Phillip Jeffries had orchestrated the prison break and ordered him to place a ring on Mr. C's body after he died. Jeffries was in hiding somewhere called "the Dutchman's."
In one of his
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French ...
dreams, Gordon Cole relived the strange incident in 1989 where Jeffries had appeared in Philadelphia and cast doubt on Dale Cooper's identity, which Cole had since forgotten. Albert also admitted that he was starting to remember the day Cole referred to.
Mr. C drove to the convenience store and received an audience with the real Jeffries at the Dutchman's, determining that he had no involvement with Ray. Mr. C then asked him about Judy, whom Jeffries had previously mentioned at the FBI office back in 1989, and whether Judy wanted something from Mr. C. Jeffries responded that he could ask Judy himself, and a series of numbers floated out of his orb, which Mr. C wrote down.
After the doppelgänger was killed, the real Dale Cooper accompanied MIKE to see Jeffries in person. Cooper said he was interested in a particular date: February 23, 1989, and Jeffries agreed to find it for him. Commenting that it was ''"slippery in here"'' Jeffries eventually manifested the symbol found in Owl Cave, which turned into an "8" symbol with a bead modulating around its lower half. Jeffries said that this was where he could find Judy. He also added: ''"There may be... someone. Did you ask me this?"'' Jeffries said to give Gordon Cole his regards, and that Cole would remember ''"the unofficial version."'' In a loud crackle of electricity, Cooper appeared in the woods near Twin Peaks in 1989.
Behind the scenes
The original editing of ''Fire Walk With Me'' puts Jeffries reappearance in 1988 since it is before the "one year later" hard title. But the shooting script, ''The Missing Pieces'', ''
The Secret History of Twin Peaks
''The Secret History of Twin Peaks'' is an epistolary (dossier-style) novel by Mark Frost, which provides background information on the history of the fictional town and characters from the television series ''Twin Peaks''. The book was publi ...
'', and Part 15 of ''The Return'' put it in 1989.
David Bowie was approached to reprise his role as Jeffries in the 2017 limited series, but his lawyer informed David Lynch that he was unavailable due to his declining health, which was not public knowledge until
his death on January 10, 2016. Bowie gave Lynch permission to reuse footage of the character from the film, however, he was unhappy with the accent he had used in the film, so he requested to have his voice re-dubbed by an authentic Louisianan actor.
[Wray, Daniel Dylan]
"David Lynch on Bowie and the Music that Inspired the New “Twin Peaks”."
Pitchfork. 19 September 2017.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffries, Phillip
Twin Peaks characters
Fictional anthropomorphic characters
Fictional Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel
Fictional occult and psychic detectives
American male characters in television
Television characters introduced in 1992