Lara Flynn Boyle says she never left Hollywood — and makes rare comment about ex Jack Nicholson

She never left. 

Lara Flynn Boyle, 54, opened up about her time in Hollywood and the rumors that she left the industry in a rare interview with People magazine published Tuesday. 

Although she’s been on a four-year hiatus, she said, “I never wanted to bow out. Any moment I was feeling down or sorry for myself, I made sure I did not complain. My mom used to sometimes bring me articles about other actresses to show me I’m not the only one getting a raw deal.”

She also revealed that she’s had some #MeToo experiences, but she declined to name names. 

“I’ve been in situations that were not called for,” the “Twin Peaks” star revealed. 

“I’ve walked out of meetings and had repercussions for it. We all go through it.”

Boyle rose to fame on “Twin Peaks,” before starring in popular movies like “Wayne’s World” and “Men in Black II.”

She’s been married to Texas real estate developer Donald Ray Thomas since 2006. 

“I have a lovely marriage,” she said. “We were together that night,” she added, referring to first meeting him at a party, “and ever since.”

But before her marriage, she had several high-profile relationships, including with her “Twin Peaks” co-star Kyle MacLachlan, “Saturday Night Live” alum David Spade and Jack Nicholson, who is 33 years her senior. 

“I left with a bang when it came to actors,” she said, referring to Nicholson, 87. 

“Then I went, ‘Okay, I’m done now.’”

The exes famously dated on and off for years starting in 1999. In 2015, Spade claimed that Nicholson approached Boyle when she was still with the comedian.

“Nicholson asked Lara Flynn Boyle out in front of me, while we were all smoking a doob somewhere,” he recalled to Details. When he didn’t jump to defend their relationship to Nicholson, “she got mad because I didn’t stick up for her.”

“I said, ‘I’ve been in this town long enough to know when I’m outranked. You’re either gonna go out with him or you’re not.’”

Boyle and Nicholson called it quits for good in 2004.

She’d go on to marry Thomas and live a quieter life out of the spotlight. Per People, she noted that her public absence was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and her choice to prioritize time with her husband.

“Mother, Couch,” premiering July 5, is her first movie in four years. The dark comedy follows a woman (Ellen Burstyn) who goes furniture shopping at a store and refuses to get up from a couch. Boyle plays Linda, her daughter, while Ewan McGregor and Rhys Ifans (“House of the Dragon”) play Linda’s brothers. 

Boyle dismissed the idea that returning for “Mother, Couch” is a comeback. 

“You don’t want an article to read, ‘Boyle’s Second Chance’ or ‘Look Who’s Back,’” she said. “I’m right here.”

The movie’s writer-director, Niclas Larsson, said that he grew up in Sweden reading tabloids at his mother’s hair salon.

“The only type of literature I was exposed to between the age of 5 to maybe 10 was gossip magazines,” he said. “And Lara was on the cover a lot.”

She added that although it’s frustrating for actresses of a certain age to find roles, she doesn’t blame the industry for it. 

“The thing that gets my goat is when actresses talk about ageism in Hollywood. Ageism is human nature,” Boyle explained. “It’s not Hollywood’s fault. It’s all of our fault. Myself included. I like looking at pretty people on the camera.”