Last week we asked, “
Are the 'Lost' Casting Scoops Much Ado About Nothing?” This morning, via an interview with Entertainment Weekly,
Lost producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof
gave the definitive answer to that question as they discussed the five new actors coming to
Lost in season 4.
The
scope of our piece was not so much are the casting announcements newsworthy, as much as do they reveal anything of consequence
about the show. As information began to dribble out, imaginations were fired across the web and before you knew it fan
sites were dripping with story details and character names all derived from the casting sheets. As it turns out, none
of that is true.
“We actually [have] the actors read fake [scenes] and give them fake character names because
those casting [pages] travel so widely, there's no way to maintain secrecy. So we basically have to come up with fake but
analogous scenes that will show us qualities of an actor but won't give away what the role is. So yes, the stuff out there
is not totally accurate.” Carlton Cuse told EW's Jeff Jensen.
A frustratingly bitter pill for hungry
Lost
fans to swallow, for sure, but not exactly new medicine. Every season of
Lost is buffered by tons of false
and inaccurate information from the Internet. In the end, of course, all that matters is what ends up on the screen.
While
the interview at Entertainment Weekly illuminated more about the ‘why' than the ‘who,' ‘what,' and ‘when'
of the new additions, it did reveal some unique trivia with regards to a past casting choice. “We had been interested
in Lance back when we were casting the Mr. Eko part, but he was unavailable due to
The Wire.” Cuse said, with
regards to Lance Reddick joining as a ‘Ruthless Corporate Recruiter.'
And, just what does a ‘Ruthless Corporate
Recruiter' do in the world of
Lost? Is this a reveal after all? Damon Lindelof says “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.” Yeah, we didn't think so.
