Actor Michael Horse, who plays Deputy Hawk in Twin Peaks: The Return, initially told David Lynch he would do a cameo for free. He hesitated about the revival but was reassured on the first day of filming. Horse praised the role as a strong Native character.
Michael Horse revealed that before knowing Deputy Hawk would be a major character in Twin Peaks: The Return, he offered to appear for no pay. The revival, set 25 years after the original series, reunited familiar faces from the past. David Lynch called Horse, saying, 'Hey buddy, we're getting the gang back together.' Horse responded, 'Just give me a cameo. I'll do it for free,' as told to SFX Magazine. He initially worried that reviving the show might diminish its mystique, noting, 'I thought part of [the show's] mystique was that it died before its time and had that kind of James Dean thing going for it.' His confidence returned on the first day of filming when Kyle MacLachlan, portraying Agent Cooper's evil doppelganger 'Mr. C,' emerged from the forest in black makeup and greeted him. Horse recalled, 'And I'm looking at him, like, okay, 'Twin Peaks' is back.' In the series, Hawk continues at the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department, now alongside Sheriff Frank Truman (Robert Forster), replacing Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean). Horse expressed pride in the role, telling The Hollywood Reporter, 'I've done everything from 'Walker, Texas Ranger' to 'Malcolm in the Middle,' but something like 'Twin Peaks' doesn't come around often. And it was a really, really good Native character. It held some mirrors up to some stereotypes about Native people and did away with some of them.'