As we've seen each of the past couple of years, a new season of Lost brings with it a slew of new characters. Season 2 brought us the "tailies." Season 3 introduced us to a bevy of heretofore unseen Others. Season 3 figures to introduce us to the "not Penny's boat" people. But whoever the new characters are, the actors playing some of them have been identified.
Our friend Doc Jensen interviewed Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about the new cast members. Click on the title of the post for the full text of the interview, but here are some key excerpts about each of the new cast members (click on each name to see a list of the actor's credits, courtesy of the internet movie database (imdb.com):
Jeremy Davies
Cuse on Davies: "He's one of those incredible opportunities. He's a guy who only does movies, and for him to do a part in our series, it was exciting. He's one of our favorite character actors — a complete chameleon. We both really responded to what he did in Solaris; the way he spun that character was engaging."
Lindelof on Davies: "He's a real actor's actor — there's an intelligence you glean from this guy. He's usually the smartest guy in the room in any part he plays — that transformative quality, plus the tremendous intelligence that seems to emanate from him, sort of seemed perfect for this particular character."
My take on Davies - the actor will always resonate most for his key role as Cpl. Timothy Upham in "Saving Private Ryan," the character from whose perspective the movie's story is told. But beyond being the serious version of R2D2, Upham experienced (as we experienced) the horrors of war, how it can reduce a man to crippling cowardice (remember how he cringed in the fetal position as Adam Goldberg's character was slowly killed by a lone German just up a flight of stairs) and astonishing wrath (when he brutally executed the same German who had been taken prisoner later in that battle). This range of emotions solidified Davies as a masterful actor, even as bigger names (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Ed Burns) got most of the credit for the film's power.
Rebecca Mader
Lindelof on Mader: "What was really cool about Rebecca's [audition] read was, she did it on tape, but the producer who was with her asked her, ''All these things on your résumé are from the BBC — are you British?'' She said yes, and we asked her to read it again, this time as a Brit, and it opened up another dimension we hadn't foreseen. Now [her character is] English."
Cuse on Mader: "She is a beautiful young British actress. We auditioned actors for this part, but she won us over with her charm and presence and charisma. People compare her to a young Nicole Kidman — she has that strength, beauty, effervescence, and accessibility."
My take - although Ms. Mader was in "The Devil Wears Prada," which I saw twice, I have no memory of her. Still, Damon and Carlton have spotted some real talents in relative unknowns (Evangeline Lily stand out), so I'm eager to see what they do with this woman.
Ken Leung
Lindelof on Leung: "Literally, the morning after
his episode of The Sopranos aired, I said to Carlton, ''Have you seen that episode? There's an actor on this show — I'm not going to tell you who he is — and I wonder if he has the same impression on you that he had on me.'' The next morning, Carlton came in and he had seen the episode and said, 'Ken Leung?' And I said, 'Bingo.' We were still [in post-production] on the finale when that aired, in mid-May, so we immediately did an outreach to his people, and we found out he was a New York actor, and that he was getting a lot of interest. So when we came back from our hiatus, we called and luckily he was available and interested. The part he's playing — it's a character we wrote very specifically for Ken. Nobody else read for it. It had to be him."
Cuse on Leung: "In fact, given the construct of the character, it wouldn't have been the same if we didn't have him in the show. It is so specifically geared to what we thought he could do as an actor [that] if he had said no, we would have had to scrap the character and rewrite him and come up with a different one."
My take - speculation on who Leung might play has been rampant on the message boards and blogs. Some think he could be the way flash-forwarded son of Jin and Sun (suggesting she survives the pregnancy). Others note his passing resemblance to the actor who plays Drs. Candle/Wickmund/Hollowax, and suggest Leung may be the pre-Dharma flashback version of the orientation film star. One thing's certain - his edgy role as "Kid Omega" in "X3, the Last Stand" and his even edgier role as Junior's would-be nuthouse protege in "The Sopranos" tells us Leung's character is certain to be a force to be reckoned with.
Lance ReddickCuse on Reddick: "We had been interested in Lance back when we were casting the Mr. Eko part, but he was unavailable due to The Wire. When a window of opportunity arose after the recent season of The Wire, we jumped on it, with a part that seemed right for his complete focus and intensity."
Lindelof on the character Riddick plays (described in casting calls as a "corporate recruiter": "Around here at the Lost offices, 'corporate recruiter' means something entirely different than corporate recruiter. Let's just say that part of the character's skill set is coercion. If people are reading into that that he is an Other, or has the same job as [Nestor Carbonell's character Richard] Alpert, we would encourage that speculation, but we wouldn't confirm or deny it."
My take - I know this is sacrilege for a hard core TV-watcher to admit, but I've never gotten into the Wire. That said, Reddick is a frequent guest star as an uber-intimidating g-man type on all sorts of police procedurals, and if Lindelof says he will be all about coercion, I suggest we watch this character with wary suspicion.
Jeff Fahey
Cuse on Fahey: "The Lawnmower Man and The Marshall [a 1995 TV series starring Fahey] are personal faves. And he has the most intense eyes of any guy out there, and I say that as a non-gay man."
Lindelof on Fahey: "Fahey is one of those actors who feels like he fits into the Lost model: He's enormously talented and will be vaguely recognizable to some people, but he'll be able to land on our island without most people going, 'Oh, I know who that guy is.' And especially for the part we cast him for, he has exactly the right sensibilities."
My take - Fahey has always been a perforer who burns with intensity, whether it's the man-child turned psychotic terror in "The Lawnmower Man" or his rugged Bo Derrick-shagging adventurer in the Cinemax classic, "Woman of Desire." The beard suggests a possible flashback Jacob, but Fahey was apparently cast before the beard sprung out, and the producers claim not to know if they'll have him shave it before filming starts.
So those are the new cast memebers. Others wonder whether recurring actor Nestor Carbonell, who plays the only recognizable Other to survive the finale (Richard Alpert) will return, now that he has landed a series-regular role on the Jimmy Smits-starring "Cane." I have to believe that Damon and Carlton can make this work with Carbonell, given that most of the season will be written and well into production before the first episdoe airs (i.e., there is time to go back and film a missing scene even after the cast and crew has gone on to other episodes, in order to accommodate Nestor's schedule). As an intriguing and apparently ageless character, I for one hope he returns with a somewhat prominent role.
So what do you think, Lostophiles? Impressive additions to the cast? Annoying distractions from the characters we care about? Comment away...
