Lara Flynn Boyle was photographed in Los Angeles on Sunday for the first time in nearly a year. The reclusive actress, 56, was seen taking her beloved 12-year-old rescue dog Shrimp for a walk.
A Relaxed Outing
Boyle, who used to be covered in head-to-toe freckles, proudly showcased her heritage by sporting a grey 'Irish' sweatshirt. The Emmy-nominated The Practice actress completed her casual attire with large dark sunglasses, white jeans, and matching sneakers. She also used her outing as a chance to smoke a cigarette.
Missing from the Iowa-born brunette's side was her second husband, real estate developer Donald Ray Thomas, with whom she also lives in Texas part-time.
Past Relationships
Boyle divorced her prior husband, John Patrick Dee III, in 1998 after two years of marriage. After brief romances with Kyle MacLachlan and David Spade, the self-described 'scrapper' famously dated Jack Nicholson from 1999 to 2000, who was 33 years her senior.
Last year, Nicholson's daughter Lorraine penned a Vanity Fair essay about how she viewed Boyle as a kind of Mary Poppins when she was a child. 'They were actually falling in love,' the 36-year-old wrote. 'I'll never forget the first day Lara was introduced to us children. She came down the outdoor staircase to join us by the pool... I remember what Lara wore - a thong bathing suit with flames licking up the crotch.'
Lorraine, whose mother Rebecca Broussard was suffering from alcoholism, remembered how Boyle played Barbies with her on Christmas while her famous father 'had no interest in playing with dolls.' 'When I looked over at her a few minutes later, I was shocked to find she was smashing the dolls faces together - my Barbies were kissing,' the W Magazine reporter wrote.
Lorraine also remembered she could talk to Boyle about self-harming and made her 'feel like my pain mattered.' She would join her in an uncomfortable bunk bed, and she cried when Boyle disappeared one day. 'For this article, I asked Lara if I could see her for the first time in more than 20 years to talk about the time we shared,' she wrote. 'She declined. Of course, this feels like being rejected by Mommy. But the truth is, whether I see Lara again or not is almost irrelevant, because I carry so much of her in me.'
Recent Career and Views on Acting
Boyle hasn't acted since portraying impatient chainsmoker Linda in Niclas Larsson's 2024 dismally-reviewed family dramedy Mother, Couch, which earned only $50,163 at the global box office. The big-screen adaptation of Jerker Virdborg's 2020 Swedish novel Mamma i soffa also starred Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Taylor Russell, Lake Bell, F. Murray Abraham, and Ellen Burstyn.
Two years ago, Boyle told People that she doesn't blame Hollywood for icing out aging actors. 'It's not Hollywood's fault. It's all of our fault. Myself included. I like looking at pretty people on the camera,' she said. But Boyle refuses to watch herself onscreen: 'If you want to call me Norma Desmond, go for it. Whenever I catch a reflection of myself in a lens, I'm like, "Oh, cut."'
Famous Roles
Boyle is best known for her breakout role as Laura Palmer's best friend Donna Hayward in David Lynch and Mark Frost's surrealist mystery Twin Peaks, which aired for two seasons from 1990 to 1991 on ABC. She memorably played Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble for five seasons of David E. Kelley's legal drama The Practice, also on ABC. Boyle is also known for her roles in Wayne's World (1992), Threesome (1994), Happiness (1998), Fox's Ally McBeal (1998-2002), Men in Black II (2002), Showtime's Huff (2004-2005), and NBC's Las Vegas (2005-2006).
