Rossellini’s Pets History Shorts, Lynch & Redford Talk

Isabella Rossellini, the acclaimed actress best known for her role in David Lynch's Blue Velvet, is currently developing a new shorts series that will chronicle the history of pets. The project, which she discussed during a recent interview, marks another chapter in her long and varied career, which has seen her move seamlessly between dramatic cinema, avant-garde filmmaking, and, most recently, a series of quirky educational shorts about animal behavior.

Rossellini confirmed that the new series is in active development, though she did not provide specific details about its release timeline or distribution platform. The project follows in the footsteps of her earlier short-film work, including Green Porno and Mammas, which used playful, low-budget costumes and deadpan narration to explore the reproductive habits and maternal instincts of various species. With the pets series, she appears to be turning her attention closer to home, examining the domesticated animals that share human lives.

The actress, who has long divided her time between Europe and the United States, spoke warmly about the unique challenges and joys of making short-form content in the digital age. She noted that the brevity of the format allows for a kind of creative freedom that feature films often lack, encouraging experimentation with tone and visual storytelling. While she remained vague on the specific animals the series will cover, she hinted that the project will blend scientific curiosity with a sense of humor, a combination that has become her signature in recent years.

During the same conversation, Rossellini took time to reflect on her collaborations with two of cinema’s most distinctive directors: David Lynch and Robert Redford. On Lynch, she expressed enduring admiration for the director who cast her as the tormented nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens in Blue Velvet. She described the experience as transformative, noting that Lynch’s approach to filmmaking was less about conventional acting technique and more about tapping into a subconscious, almost dreamlike state of performance. She credited him with giving her the confidence to take risks, both in front of the camera and in her later work as a writer and director.

Rossellini also touched on her time working with Robert Redford, though she offered fewer specifics about the project itself. She praised Redford’s calm, understated directing style, contrasting it with Lynch’s more intuitive and sometimes enigmatic methods. She characterized Redford as a filmmaker deeply concerned with character and landscape, interested in the quiet moments that define human relationships. Her remarks suggested a deep respect for both men, even as she acknowledged how different their working environments were.

The actress’s career has always defied easy categorization. Born into cinematic royalty as the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, she initially worked as a model before becoming one of the most recognizable faces in international cinema. Her filmography spans everything from mainstream Hollywood fare to obscure European art films. Yet in recent years, she has found a distinctive niche as a maker of short, science-inspired films, a pursuit that combines her lifelong love of animals with a performative playfulness that audiences have come to expect.

That love of animals is deeply personal. Rossellini has spoken in past interviews about growing up with a menagerie of pets and about her current life on a small farm outside New York, where she keeps chickens, dogs, and other animals. The new series appears to be an extension of that personal interest, offering viewers a chance to see the history of human-animal relationships through her distinctive lens.

While no release date has been announced, the project is likely to attract attention from both her longtime fans and the growing audience for educational short-form content on streaming platforms. Her previous shorts have been well received for their inventive production design and their ability to distill complex biological concepts into digestible, entertaining segments. The pets series seems poised to follow that template, though with a subject matter that is arguably more universal.

Rossellini’s continued willingness to embrace new formats and audiences is a testament to her restless creativity. Even as she approaches her fifth decade in the entertainment industry, she shows no signs of slowing down or retreating into nostalgia. In discussing both the new project and her past collaborators, she came across as an artist still deeply engaged with the world around her, still curious, and still willing to experiment.

For now, details about the series remain scarce, but the mere existence of the project offers a welcome reminder of Rossellini’s unique place in contemporary cinema. She has never been content to rest on her laurels, and her latest endeavor promises to continue that trend. As she prepares to bring the story of pets to the screen, audiences can expect a work that is at once informative, affectionate, and unmistakably her own.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter