Lost in character

[Sydney]

FRANCIS DASS finds striking similarities between the actors and the roles they play in ‘Lost’, though with a few happy exceptions.

THE first thing that strikes you when talking to the cast of TV series Lost is how similar the personalities of some of the actors are to the characters they play. The only surprising thing, if one can call it that, was seeing their sense of humour on full display — in various shades of brightness and wryness — as Lost is a a rather serious mystery drama with a hearty dose of adventure thrown in.

New entry to the show, London-born and bred Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who appears as Mr Eko in the show’s second season, has a deep voice and regal air about him; Jorge Garcia who plays the friendly Hugo ‘Hurley’ Reyes is equally affable and warm in person and Evangeline Lilly is all wound-up energy, frankness and feistiness just like her TV persona Kate Auste.

The only people distinctly different from their television characters are the highly-confident Dominic Monaghan (as opposed to the oft-times flaky junkie Charlie Pace) while the serious character of Libby as played by Cynthia Watros is far removed from the real Cynthia who displays savvy comic timing.

Yes, I was one of the lucky people who met the actors during a promotional exercise for the second season of Lost held recently in Los Angeles. Entering the room full of media types from around the world and looking confident and happy, Monaghan announced: "I was on a flight at 7.30am and I got here at, like, 12.30pm, went to the hotel, had a shower and made sure my hair looked beautiful!"

Everyone cracked up laughing. His hair was exactly like his character’s hair: completely unkempt. And does flying make him nervous, considering Lost is centred around a plane crash?

"I get weird looks. We’re now associated with bringing down a 747," he accommodatingly answers, smiling broadly. It is easy to believe him when he says later that making Lost has been a great experience and he is having fun doing it.

Having new cast members join the show in its second season has also been a boon for everyone, he says, as this continues to keep the show fresh for both the actors and the audience.

"When we first spoke (producers Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof and Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Damon and Carlton conceived of the character of Mr Eko in order to explore more spiritual and mystical elements of the show and pit it or juxtapose it against Jack (Matthew Fox) the man of science and Locke (Terry O’Quinn) the man of faith and philosophy," explains newcomer Akinnuoye-Agbaje of his role.

Due to his height — at 6’1" — his Mr Eko comes across as part Terminator and part protector of the weak on the show.

Another newcomer to the show is Watros. She used to play Kellie Newmark in The Drew Carey Show and she admits to having been a little nervous joining a cast of a hit show and wondered how she was going to fit in, this even though she says she watched the show and felt like she knew the cast.

"When I got the job, I moved to Hawaii six days later," Watros says.

Her move and faith were well founded as, she continues, the rest of the cast members have been very welcoming and loving and go out of their way to make her feel she’s included in everything.

Watros plays Libby in Lost, a clinical psychologist whom she describes as a good listener.

"Libby is a slow developing character and I think just like everybody else, she will have her share of surprises," Watros assures.

But like everyone else, she is caught in the excitement that’s being generated by Lost and is curious about how her character’s back story is going to pan out. (Lost’s creators are very secretive about the scripts.)

Despite the distance covered by Lost so far (it’s advanced well into its second season in the US), Garcia says that his favourite episode is still the pilot for the show.

"The whole experience of doing the pilot and, like, the moment when I’m running from the plane wing and it exploded behind me, that was stuff I never thought I would be doing in my career. I didn’t think I’d be doing an action movie and diving about and stuff. I didn’t think that was going to happen, so all that stuff was a blast!" Garcia said excitedly.

In the newest episodes airing stateside, Hurley is very close to Libby and that closeness has translated well to an endearing camaraderie between the two in real life.

Talking about his occasional injection of subtle comedic tones into his Hurley, Garcia explained: "It has been the direction that has always appealed to me. In doing more serious material, you kind of find the humour in it because I think it is a very human thing to do — when you are in a dire situation to sometimes crack a joke to ease the tension in yourself. So I think I am very happy with the stuff they have written for me to do. It works and I think they play well to my strengths."

The verbal interplay that transpired next between Garcia and Watros at the press conference, although simple and straightforward, was a priceless display of interjections and interpersonal sophistication:

PRESS: You are a funny guy!

GARCIA: Thank you.

PRESS: In real life, are you a funny guy?

WATROS: Yes!

GARCIA: Thank you.

Is the price to pay for fame then, as a result of being on such a blockbuster show, too high?

Watros delivers a perfectly pitched tongue-firmly-in-cheek answer to this: "Before, when I go jogging, I never worried about my appearance. Now, I have to make sure my pony tail is okay and I put on some mascara. I got (in) the papers a couple of times. And because there would be the paparazzi (lurking about?), I have to make sure my pony tail is straight and my mascara is on. You have to be somewhat more aware of your appearance."

On the other hand, Lilly, whose feisty Kate is probably the second most popular character in the show after Fox’s Jack, doesn’t appear to mind being photographed as much as being asked invasive questions.

"As far as how I spend my salary, I think money is one of those things that is intensely individual and private. I mean I don’t like to spend it on a lot of bling-bling or cars or homes or anything like that, but I don’t really talk about money a lot," she says earnestly.

Still feeling she had a lot more to say after a journalist had enquired earlier about how Lilly felt about the public knowing how much actors earn or what they spend their money on, she positioned herself safely in her armoury and issued more firepower: "I have had people come up to me on the street and say, ‘So, how much money do you make on the show?’, and I always think if I were, let’s say, an economist, you wouldn’t have the audacity to walk up to a stranger and say that. I don’t understand why this job seems to warrant that people don’t have to have tact!"

Although the petite 5’5" actress does not play into the fame game and abhors the invasive media trappings that come with it, she does admit that the allure of celebrity awards shows do get to her sometimes. Oh — in a GOOD way, we mean!

"I used to watch people at awards ceremonies who get their award shaking and crying and I would think, ‘Oh, get over it! It’s just an award.’

"And when we won the Emmy, I practically leapt out of my seat. I let out a spontaneous scream — and we were in the back of the hall — and was running to the stage. And I was shaking and I was, ‘Oh, my God!’" she says with a laugh.

Note: For those unfamiliar with Lost’s pedigree, this blockbuster show won the 2005 Emmys for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series; Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series; Outstanding Drama Series; Outstanding Music Composition for a Series; Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series; Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series and it also won the 2006 Gloden Globe award for Best Television Series (Drama).

The second season of Lost currently airs over AXN every Monday night at 10pm.

Courtesy of New Straits Times