...This mysterious paradise fascinates millions of viewers and now AXN and CineMagia give the fans the chance to meet the leaders of the castaways, Matthew Fox (Jack) and Evangeline Lilly (Kate).
Reporter (R): This show is one of the biggest hits of the year. Everybody's talking about it. How do you deal with this level of fame?
MATTHEW FOX: I feel great and I'm having a lot of fun. This is the most fun I've had working. And I'm very surprised to see this phenomenon grow to such an extent with such speed. I've always known that the show is amazing and that it would be a big hit, but I'm not used to this kind of... I think when Party of Five was at the height of its popularity, we had 10 million viewers each week. And now we have 22 million people watching our show, so this is taking things to a whole new level that I'm not used to and...
EVANGELINE LILLY: And yet, Matthew is handling it like a real pro. On screen, he's a sort of natural leader. Actually, he's the same undisputed leader for all of us in real life as well. I think Matthew has absorbed a big part of the impact this show has had on all of us... you know, the media and all this attention focused on us, and he's been acting with such calm, you'd think he's been in 20 shows like this before. I know we all have a lot to learn by watching him.
R: How does it feel to go from being relatively unknown to being involved in a show this big?
EVANGELINE LILLY: I'm just watching this guy. I think you need to take a step back from something to get a better grasp of what's happening to you. I keep saying it's like watching your hair grow and one day you end up asking yourself: "Hey, when did my hair get so long?" That's how it is for me. Every three months I end up asking myself "When did my life change so much and how did this happen?" And it doesn't hit you on a daily basis because we're shooting in Hawaii. And it's not a 9 to 5 job; we work from 5 am to 10 pm, we wake up to go to work every day and we try to do our best, same way you do. And then all of a sudden you see people coming up to you, recognizing you, telling you how much they appreciate the work you're doing. It's only then that you finally understand what it's like to have 20 million people watching your work. We don't just do it for us. We love this show so much, and we love acting and being part of this cast and working hard every day, that I think we're starting to forget the business aspect of our work.
R: The cast spends a lot of time away from home. Do you spend time together?
EVANGELINE LILLY: Absolutely. The cast is our social circle. [I think that's what she said. The translation was messy.] We hang out on Wednesday nights, we have lunch together and then we watch the show. All of us with our families and our partners. In America people talk about this, they have what they call "Lost parties" where they come together with friends families and so on and they watch the show. Well, we have Lost parties too, only ours are huge. We have about 25 people coming over, the whole cast with friends and families. So it's great.
R: It certainly looks that way. I mean, it's obvious you're enjoying it, but I was wondering if Matt finds it harder to live on an island?
EVANGELINE LILLY: Maybe he does. I can't speak for him. But I know I miss home just as much.
R: Your character doesn't speak French on the show. [o_O nonsequitur much?]
EVANGELINE LILLY: I know. I thought she would when they first introduced the French woman and they were trying to translate the message. I remember wanting a take where I could go: "Wait! I know what she's saying. I can translate". Kate doesn't speak French, but Evangeline can. I grew up in French Canada, not in Montreal or Quebec, but I've been there and it's wonderful. I'm very proud of my native British Columbia, I mean the Vancouver area. It's beautiful. But I have to say that if there's a part of Canada that comes close, it has to be Quebec. It's extraordinary.
R: How much time do you spend on the island?
MATTHEW FOX: It varies for each of us. I've been commuting a lot, going back to Los Angeles to meet the press and various people and to look for projects during the hiatus. I mean, my house is still there so I have to go home every now and then, take care of some things.
R: How long is that hiatus?
MATTHEW FOX: I think it's four months, which is going to be great for everybody. We're wrapping around April 1st and we should get back to work in August.
R: Are you both going to be doing movies during the break?
MATTHEW FOX: I think we're both looking. Evie's looking for a project as well. This show is a springboard in television for a lot us. It has a visual appeal. It has a cinematic feel to it. So the movie industry is paying attention to Lost, not just because of its success, for the ratings, but also because it would make a better movie than say, CSI, which is a very technical show. There's an openness to Lost and the type of cinematographic technique that the movie industry is very interested in. [I'm not sure Matt actually said that they want to make a movie out of Lost, just that it's very cinematic.] Actually, a lot of famous directors are interested in directing an episode of Lost because it's a unique opportunity for them.
EVANGELINE LILLY: We're very fortunate.
R: What type of projects are you looking for? I mean... characters that resemble the ones you play"Lost"? [absolutely. Everybody loves typecasting. Moron. Sorry, I'm just pissed at the quality of their translation. ]
MATTHEW FOX: You know, it's how things go in this business; I'm probably going to attract offers for leader-type characters.
EVANGELINE LILLY: A hero.
MATTHEW FOX: A hero of sorts. I think... I have the feeling that I'm about to succeed at the right time, in a way. Obviously, there are a lot of things you have to consider. It takes a lot of luck and perfect timing.
EVANGELINE LILLY: There are actors like Robert De Niro and you know... other actors in your age group, right?
MATTHEW FOX: She's always teasing me about my age.
R: Do you know a lot of people who are afraid of flying?
EVANGELINE LILLY: Especially on our show.
R: ...those scenes are pretty horrifying.
EVANGELINE LILLY: Well, let me put your mind at ease. I was a flight attendant. I bine, hai sa va linistesc. Am fost insotitoare de bord.
R: And there I was wondering if you've ever been afraid of flying. Have you always enjoyed it?
EVANGELINE LILLY: Always. I never had any problems with it. I know that the chances of something like that ever happening in real life are... slim. I know the statistics and I know how it all works. Actually, the fact plane crashes are so rare is a big plus for the show because ours is an accident that happened for a reason. Little by little you'll come to realize that there's a reason for that plane going down the way it did. Planes crashes are not very common in real life and when they do happen, there's a very high survival rate. I know the emergency procedures and first aid and everything that goes on when there's an accident, so I'm not scared at all. Our job involves so much flying, you can't be scared. The wife of one of the actors is afraid of flying and he... well, everyone on the cast told their partners to avoid The Pilot because they're going to be scared out of their wits. Some were tempted to come to the island by ship, rather than board a plane.
R: Flight attendant. It's not in your CV.
EVANGELINE LILLY: No, it isn't. A lot of my jobs aren't, because I've had so many of them. I've had lots of jobs since I was 15 and when I turned 18 I think I had like 5 jobs and I was in college. I've done it all. I was a mechanic and a flight attendant, so I've got it all covered.
R: What's your take on Kate? All these characters are so mysterious. She's certainly mesmerized both the hero and the jerk (laughing).
EVANGELINE LILLY: I think it's something all women have. If we look deeper we'll see that she's that girl who wants the bad guy, but she wants to have the hero's strong arms around her too. [Which is plain greedy if you ask me, but considering how hot they are...] I like that she epitomizes everything women want to be, because she's tough, she can take care of herself, but she's also vulnerable, sweet and compassionate. And you know... There are moments when she stands by the hero and moments where she chooses the bad guy; sometimes she rises to the challenge and surprises everyone and sometimes she fails miserably and falls to her knees and asks for forgiveness. She's such an interesting character and I'm so lucky to be working for a guy like JJ Abrams who has an innate ability of writing female characters. His female characters are amazing, he makes them real and strong and they never fit the "damsel in distress" or the "heroine looking for a guy" pattern. Women don't need men in his shows.
R: Do you think Jack and Kate will ever act on their mutual attraction? How much are you allowed to disclose and what would you like to see?
MATTHEW FOX: I think that's definitely where the show's heading. There are a lot of obstacles on the way, but they're obviously attracted to each other and they can't get over it. It's something we'll get to when the show ends. I can guarantee it. But I think everyone working on this show is aware of the fact that when you have romance in this context it has to be handled very carefully. If the show pushes the romance aspect too much, we risk losing everything we've been building so carefully, the whole story line loses credibility if people come out of such traumatizing and terrifying circumstances only to get into a relationship.
EVANGELINE LILLY: Then it gets...
MATTHEW FOX: It's complicated.
EVANGELINE LILLY: ... gets too superficial for our liking.
MATTHEW FOX: Yes. These things have to be earned. There's something very interesting about people who find themselves stranded in difficult situations, they need relationships like that. I think that's how relationships will progress on Lost, at least in the early stages. Jack has a lot on his plate and he's trying to control a lot of issues and to deal with many problems. And he's also drawn to her, so it's very complicated.[And that's just the way we like it, don't we?] You have to handle situations this carefully or else it'll seem a little forced.
EVANGELINE LILLY: I couldn't agree more with what he said about needing each other. "Their first meeting is not like: "Hey, I'm Jack!"... "Hi! My name's Kate." Their first meeting is ‘Help me, please. I really need your help." And it always starts with two people who are trying to survive and they eventually become drawn to one another, whether for support or safety or something else. It can't be just "I'm attracted to you. You're cute. I like you" and that's it. It has to be more.
Evangeline LILLY: If he [Jack] becomes superficial [concerned only with the obvious or apparent; shallow], than so will I [Kate.]
FOX: I must say that the whole thing is done in a highly interesting way in regard to their relationship. Like the relationship between people who find out of a half-blood connection [not in the literal sense; just in a way that a person is so related to another, on a deeper level.] In these conditions, people cry out for such relations. Understand the relations in "Lost" - you have to have started from the beginning to form such a special bond. Jack has many things on his mind and they [the writers] try to work through them, starting with the oldest problems. And then, he is attracted to her [Kate] because she is so complicated. Be due to the delicate season, resolving this "problem" falls into a constrained time frame
R: What were your initial theories about the island creatures?
MATTHEW FOX: I don't have the slightest idea.
EVANGELINE LILLY: Neither do I.
MATTHEW FOX: Actually, I like to think that I don't. J.J. and Damon are so very good at keeping a secret. They don't want us to know more than our characters would now.
R: I'm sure there's been speculation
MATTHEW FOX: Someone asked that question this morning. He said: "You must have some idea about what the creature looks like" and I said: "You know what? When I was a kid, my parents said: 'Your Christmas presents are in that closet and they're going to be there for another three months. Don't look in there.' And I said: "Fine." and I never thought about it again. I never said to myself: "I should go take a peek." Not ever. I felt like hey, you told me not to look, I'm not going to look. I've been told it's a monster, a creature. It's... we don't know. We're not going to tell you. Stop thinking about it and don't worry, you'll find out eventually. So it just vanished from my mind. The only thing I know for sure is that it's not a dinosaur. That's all we know.(laughing)
MATTHEW FOX: It's most definitely not a dinosaur, they've been pretty clear about that.
R: How much longer do you think they can go on without…
MATTHEW FOX: Revealing the monster?
R: Yeah.
MATTHEW FOX: I think they can keep it up till the very end. And I also think that if you're watching the show just because you're dying to see what the monster is, you're in for a painful wait. (laughing) [I just know he's giggling and it makes me all giggly] The monster is there. Fear springs out of the unknown, so if you see the monster and get a clear idea of what... I mean, the monster is in our imaginations right now. Anyone can create their own image of what these creatures are and the tension and fear is greater than what you'd get if you saw everything. If we were to reveal everything, we wouldn't be doing a very good job as storytellers. So I think they can keep it up for a while. And if viewers only want to check out if the monster has made an appearance, they're going to be disappointed.
EVANGELINE LILLY: Yes, just like Matthew said, I think that what keeps our viewers coming back it's the relationship they start developing with these characters. You start to really see that after the first couple of episodes. I don't think people only watch Lost for the science-fiction aspect or for the adventure, although those are amazing sides of this show. The writers are doing a very fine job and I'm not that into sci-fi and still the story keeps me wondering: "Whoa? What? What's going on?" But if you follow the show, you get to see a new character each week, you get to really get into their background. And the connections between that and their life on the island and the fact that you know things about them that the others castaways don't, it makes you live the lives of fifteen different people coming from fifteen different worlds. You start to wonder: "Is she thinking about it because of what happened to her ten or five years ago?" Nobody else on the island knows that, they're all seen as they want to be seen and they can project whichever image they want. And then they, along with the viewers, come to learn the real story. It's extraordinary.