Comcast Exclusive Interview Transcript
Because I don't know how to grab it off the site, I typed up a transcript of the Comcast Exclusive interview. The interview is found here. They say "y'know" a lot.
Thanks for joining us.
You’re welcome. Very informal…
So Lost is notoriously one of the most secretive shows on TV, is there anything you can tell me about what’s coming up?
I mean, I can’t tell you specifics, to be honest. Um, you know I can tell you that obviously the show is going to continue in the way that it always has, which is that… people are going to fall in love, and people are gonna forge their relationships further, and people are gonna fight, people are gonna die, and it’s gonna be crazy, but um, I wish I could tell you specifics, but I’ll probably get uh, probably get myself some concrete shoes if I do that.
No doubt.
Yeah.
Well are you excited to be getting back to the, uh, to the beach in the coming episodes, that we are heading back to where the rest of the Losties are?
Yeah, that seems to be the plan. Yeah, sure, I mean it’s nice to be back in a place that we know, and with our regular characters again, and y’know it seems like it’s been away, um, [motions with his hands] on the other side of the island for a while, and now we’re gonna come back and see what’s been happening with the people that we know.
Right. And what about, y’know, just specifically, what awaits for Charlie… maybe not things that are coming up, but that are sort of… y’know, just a refresher on where we left him, and what might happen next.
Well he’s still trying to work out what his particular destiny and, and task is on the island, and what he’s supposed to do, why he’s there, y’know, what he, uh, what he is supposed to be contributing in his life. Charlie’s very unsure about where he’s supposed to be, and uh, who he’s supposed to be protectin’ and, and being wary of, y’know, so uh, as a, as a young guy, who’s um, not really sure where he’s at, I mean obviously being in a life-or-death situation can, can throw a lot of curveballs your way, so he’s… [more handmotions] he’s kind of ricocheting off all these, like, circumstances, and just trying to keep his head above water.
Sure. And he’ll probably have to answer to the whole kidnapping thing with Sun, right?
I would think at some point, she’ll put him in a headlock and punch him right in the, in the nose, hopefully.
So uh, so the fans can sometimes lately been frustrated a little bit, that it has been kind of all about Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, and the Others. What’s it like for the actors?
Um… Y’know, I’d rather be working. I… I, uh, I like workin’, I like acting, it’s something that I enjoy doin’ and I get a lot of enjoyment out of. It’s not my show to um, to dictate who gets screentime and, and who doesn’t. Y’know, that’s more of a question for the producers and writers. As far as I’m concerned, it means that when I have time off, I can come to LA and, and take care of other aspects of my, of my life, and of my business, and I can uh, surf and try to enjoy my life as much as I can, but um… I’d rather work five days a week than one day out of five.
Yeah. [Dom nods] Do you secretly hate the others for stealing your screentime?
[laughs] No, you know, we’re all kind of a nice little community, and they have no choice over it either, y’know. You just have to enjoy, enjoy what you get given. There are no small… No small actors, only small parts. No, it’s the other way around. There are no small parts, only small actors. [raises eyebrow like in the Hans Jensen introduction]
So, speaking of fans and sometimes they get frustrated, you know they’re out there, and you know they have very strong opinions. How much do you pay attention to what’s going on online and podcasts and all that kind of stuff?
Well I go online to a few, a few y’know… unofficial Lost websites and read the messageboards and see what people think about what’s comin’ up or what’s rumored to be coming up, um… at certain times in the show, y’know. So I’m aware of the kind of, um, furor that takes place every time that there’s an episode of Lost on the internet, and I think it’s good, I think the internet is a fantastic way for people to communicate nowadays.
Yeah. S’good. So uh, Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse recently, they talked about setting an end date for the series, and kind of similar to Harry Potter being seven books and that’s gonna be it. What are your thoughts on that?
I like it, I think it’s uh, only fair that we give the writers a chance to tell the story in the way that they have always envisioned it being told, y’know. I mean, it’s… it’s a, it’s a great… it’s a great show when it’s told concisely and it would be slightly diluted if it were to, kind of extend it a little too much, so it makes sense for me.
Sure. And do you think that would actually appease the fans a little bit, that, y’know, there is an end in sight?
It probably would, but then you can’t please everyone. I’m sure if we, if we said that we were gonna end at a certain time, a lot of the fans would say “we don’t ever want it to end,” y’know, it’s the frustration of, y’know, of you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t, so… They just have to try and tell the story the best way that they can and hopefully leave behind a great piece of, of television.
Sure, sure. And y’know, speaking of, by the time it’s all said and done, you’re gonna have been part of obviously the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is a huge, y’know, piece of motion picture history, and Lost, which I think will be a huge piece of television history, by the time it’s all done, and how does it feel to have been part of two such grand pieces of work?
It’s, it’s great, y’know? It’s like, where do you go from here? What do you do next? You have to find the other things that kind of stimulate you, outside of kinda commercial success. Because I thi-I don’t think you can find the kind of commercial success that you found in Lost or Lord of the Rings again anytime soon, so… Just have to get enjoyment out of your life, and um, y’know, continue to plow on, and, and I have a whole bunch of things that I want to do with my life outside of acting, and also I have things in the acting world that I would like to do outside of Charlie, so [shrugs] if I get a chance to continue to do that, then I’ll be… I’ll be pretty pleased.
Great. And lastly, I just wanted to ask you what you think about the time change, moving to ten pm, sort of away from American Idol.
Right, is that why they did it? [interviewer laughs] You know, it’s a beast of a show, American Idol. I’m a big fan of actors, I’m a big fan of, um, bringing back the actors. I think this kind of fascination with everyone being famous for kinda fifteen minutes is a little done, and reality TV is, is not my favorite medium in the world, although there are elements of reality TV that I like, y’know. Like… [hand motions] you know, I don’t know, Celebrity Big Brother is kind of good fun every so often. Um, but I-and Survivor, Survivor’s fantastic. But you know, um, it’s kind of an adult content show as well, so I think the time slot kind of… tells you a little bit about where we’re going with our show, you know, there’s a certain amount of violence and a certain amount of intimacy that, that might work better for ten o’clock than it would do for nine.
Sure. Well, alright, I can’t wait to see it and good luck with the rest of the season, and thanks for spending some time…
Thanks, Victor.
Thanks for joining us.
You’re welcome. Very informal…
So Lost is notoriously one of the most secretive shows on TV, is there anything you can tell me about what’s coming up?
I mean, I can’t tell you specifics, to be honest. Um, you know I can tell you that obviously the show is going to continue in the way that it always has, which is that… people are going to fall in love, and people are gonna forge their relationships further, and people are gonna fight, people are gonna die, and it’s gonna be crazy, but um, I wish I could tell you specifics, but I’ll probably get uh, probably get myself some concrete shoes if I do that.
No doubt.
Yeah.
Well are you excited to be getting back to the, uh, to the beach in the coming episodes, that we are heading back to where the rest of the Losties are?
Yeah, that seems to be the plan. Yeah, sure, I mean it’s nice to be back in a place that we know, and with our regular characters again, and y’know it seems like it’s been away, um, [motions with his hands] on the other side of the island for a while, and now we’re gonna come back and see what’s been happening with the people that we know.
Right. And what about, y’know, just specifically, what awaits for Charlie… maybe not things that are coming up, but that are sort of… y’know, just a refresher on where we left him, and what might happen next.
Well he’s still trying to work out what his particular destiny and, and task is on the island, and what he’s supposed to do, why he’s there, y’know, what he, uh, what he is supposed to be contributing in his life. Charlie’s very unsure about where he’s supposed to be, and uh, who he’s supposed to be protectin’ and, and being wary of, y’know, so uh, as a, as a young guy, who’s um, not really sure where he’s at, I mean obviously being in a life-or-death situation can, can throw a lot of curveballs your way, so he’s… [more handmotions] he’s kind of ricocheting off all these, like, circumstances, and just trying to keep his head above water.
Sure. And he’ll probably have to answer to the whole kidnapping thing with Sun, right?
I would think at some point, she’ll put him in a headlock and punch him right in the, in the nose, hopefully.
So uh, so the fans can sometimes lately been frustrated a little bit, that it has been kind of all about Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, and the Others. What’s it like for the actors?
Um… Y’know, I’d rather be working. I… I, uh, I like workin’, I like acting, it’s something that I enjoy doin’ and I get a lot of enjoyment out of. It’s not my show to um, to dictate who gets screentime and, and who doesn’t. Y’know, that’s more of a question for the producers and writers. As far as I’m concerned, it means that when I have time off, I can come to LA and, and take care of other aspects of my, of my life, and of my business, and I can uh, surf and try to enjoy my life as much as I can, but um… I’d rather work five days a week than one day out of five.
Yeah. [Dom nods] Do you secretly hate the others for stealing your screentime?
[laughs] No, you know, we’re all kind of a nice little community, and they have no choice over it either, y’know. You just have to enjoy, enjoy what you get given. There are no small… No small actors, only small parts. No, it’s the other way around. There are no small parts, only small actors. [raises eyebrow like in the Hans Jensen introduction]
So, speaking of fans and sometimes they get frustrated, you know they’re out there, and you know they have very strong opinions. How much do you pay attention to what’s going on online and podcasts and all that kind of stuff?
Well I go online to a few, a few y’know… unofficial Lost websites and read the messageboards and see what people think about what’s comin’ up or what’s rumored to be coming up, um… at certain times in the show, y’know. So I’m aware of the kind of, um, furor that takes place every time that there’s an episode of Lost on the internet, and I think it’s good, I think the internet is a fantastic way for people to communicate nowadays.
Yeah. S’good. So uh, Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse recently, they talked about setting an end date for the series, and kind of similar to Harry Potter being seven books and that’s gonna be it. What are your thoughts on that?
I like it, I think it’s uh, only fair that we give the writers a chance to tell the story in the way that they have always envisioned it being told, y’know. I mean, it’s… it’s a, it’s a great… it’s a great show when it’s told concisely and it would be slightly diluted if it were to, kind of extend it a little too much, so it makes sense for me.
Sure. And do you think that would actually appease the fans a little bit, that, y’know, there is an end in sight?
It probably would, but then you can’t please everyone. I’m sure if we, if we said that we were gonna end at a certain time, a lot of the fans would say “we don’t ever want it to end,” y’know, it’s the frustration of, y’know, of you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t, so… They just have to try and tell the story the best way that they can and hopefully leave behind a great piece of, of television.
Sure, sure. And y’know, speaking of, by the time it’s all said and done, you’re gonna have been part of obviously the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is a huge, y’know, piece of motion picture history, and Lost, which I think will be a huge piece of television history, by the time it’s all done, and how does it feel to have been part of two such grand pieces of work?
It’s, it’s great, y’know? It’s like, where do you go from here? What do you do next? You have to find the other things that kind of stimulate you, outside of kinda commercial success. Because I thi-I don’t think you can find the kind of commercial success that you found in Lost or Lord of the Rings again anytime soon, so… Just have to get enjoyment out of your life, and um, y’know, continue to plow on, and, and I have a whole bunch of things that I want to do with my life outside of acting, and also I have things in the acting world that I would like to do outside of Charlie, so [shrugs] if I get a chance to continue to do that, then I’ll be… I’ll be pretty pleased.
Great. And lastly, I just wanted to ask you what you think about the time change, moving to ten pm, sort of away from American Idol.
Right, is that why they did it? [interviewer laughs] You know, it’s a beast of a show, American Idol. I’m a big fan of actors, I’m a big fan of, um, bringing back the actors. I think this kind of fascination with everyone being famous for kinda fifteen minutes is a little done, and reality TV is, is not my favorite medium in the world, although there are elements of reality TV that I like, y’know. Like… [hand motions] you know, I don’t know, Celebrity Big Brother is kind of good fun every so often. Um, but I-and Survivor, Survivor’s fantastic. But you know, um, it’s kind of an adult content show as well, so I think the time slot kind of… tells you a little bit about where we’re going with our show, you know, there’s a certain amount of violence and a certain amount of intimacy that, that might work better for ten o’clock than it would do for nine.
Sure. Well, alright, I can’t wait to see it and good luck with the rest of the season, and thanks for spending some time…
Thanks, Victor.