Matthew Fox shares thoughts on divisive Lost ending in rare interview about hit series
Exclusive: ‘I’ve never watched the show all the way through,’ actor admitted, but said its legacy is ‘incredible’
Matthew Fox has issued rare comments on the hit US drama Lost, 15 years after it ended.
The actor played heroic spinal surgeon Jack Shephard on the ABC series that follows survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 whose plane crashed on a mysterious island.
Lost became a ratings winner upon its release in 2004 and, over six seasons, generated a cult fanbase to rival that of Star Trek and The X-Files.
Fox, who this week returns to TV in Kick Gurry’s Australian comedy show Caught, has now reflected on his time starring in Lost during a rare interview with The Independent.
“I’ve never actually watched the show all the way through – I’ve seen episodes,” the actor, 58, admitted.
“At that time in my life, I was not keen on watching myself on screen. I felt like it was somehow going to corrupt my work. I don’t really feel as intensely now about that as I did.”
Fox’s character was at the centre of some of the show’s biggest twists and turns, and the actor recalled how he’d be blindsided by such developments while speaking to the show’s co-creator Damon Lindelof ahead of each season.
“I would always have a conversation with Damon at the beginning of each year and he’d sort of map out Jack’s arc for the season.
”He wasn’t mapping that out for me to get notes; he was just mapping that out, kinda like, ‘This is what your journey’s gonna be.’ And inevitably, there’d be stuff coming along in the script, ‘cause he hadn’t given me a beat-by-beat play out of the season, where I’d be like, ‘Woah, holy s*** – that’s a turn that I didn’t see coming.’ And all kinds of other storylines I wasn’t involved in.
He said he had “faith” in The Leftovers and Watchmen creator Lindelof’s vision, stating: “I trusted that it was all gonna work out and it was all gonna make sense.”
The show’s finale, which aired in May 2010, led to many incorrect assumptions about the fate of the show’s ensemble. While the ending has its supporters, some viewers decried the fact that some key questions weren’t answered, which has made it one of the most divisive conclusions to a show in TV history. But Fox counts himself as a fan.
“That was clearly Damon Lindelof’s intention. He wanted it to be something that could be interpreted by every single person’s relationship with the show. The people that were frustrated by the fact they weren’t given the answers to why there was a polar bear on the island are missing the point a little bit.
“But for them to believe that six years of mysteries and asking questions were going to be wrapped up in the final two hours of the show, or even the last half of the last season – that’s not how Damon wanted to do it”
Fox, whose other credits include the Wachowskis adventure Speed Racer and violent Western Bone Tomahawk, said that his feelings about the show remind him of his children as he and his wife Margherita Ronchi relocated to Hawaii when they were much younger
“For me, when I look back on it now, it feels like a chapter in my life where the thing I remember the most about it is where our kids were during that period of time.
“When we went to Hawaii, they were really young – our son was two and our daughter was eight – and they were moving from southern California to an island in the South Pacific. So they’re still really connected to that place. It was almost a foundational part of their life and so that’s mainly how I reflect on it.”
However, he acknowledged that the “legacy of the show is pretty incredible” and said he is continually “blown away” by the fan response.
“I do think it’s a show that will stand up over time,” he said. “Considering where it takes place and what it’s really about philosophically, it feels like it doesn’t get dated quickly. I’m so grateful to have had the experience. It was great and I’m glad people are still finding it.
“With the way streaming works and the way you can find these shows on these platforms, there are new groups of people coming to the show constantly and I think that’s going to continue. There are new people finding it all the time.”
Caught is released on ITVX on 1 June. Lost is also available to stream on ITVX as well as Netflix and Disney+.
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