Post by Forever Xena on Jul 29, 2005 5:33:02 GMT -6
Scott's Spotlight
Damon Lindelof Interview
By Scott Juba
Published: July 28, 2005
With the derivative entertainment that pollutes much of network television, very few TV writers deserve to be described as creative geniuses. “Lost” co-creator and executive producer, Damon Lindelof, is the exception to that rule. A man of seemingly unlimited creative capacities, Lindelof’s perfectly penned scripts and savvy production skills make “Lost” the most enthralling television drama in years.
A series about a group of plane crash survivors stranded on a strange and mysterious island full of secrets and mysteries, “Lost” explores themes of redemption, fear, love, vulnerability, and companionship. Part of the reason behind its astronomical success is how deeply it has infiltrated American culture. In fact, Wikipedia, one of the world’s largest online encyclopedias, has numerous pages of information dedicated to “Lost.”
One of the show’s most talked about elements is a mysterious hatch on the island that cannot be opened from the outside. Season One ended with the characters using explosives to blow open the hatch, only to reveal a long tunnel that descends deep underground. “They are definitely going into the hatch in Season Two’s premiere, and I think what’s in there is very cool,” Lindelof tells me. “Hopefully viewers will be surprised and intrigued. There will be an answer to one question, which is, ‘What’s inside the hatch?’ Hopefully that will present some new, intriguing questions as well, which we will spend the better part of the first three episodes answering.”
Another major element of the plot centers on a series of numbers (4,8,15,16,23,42) Jorge Garcia’s character, Hurley, used to win the lottery that have since plagued him with bad luck. In the Season One finale, Hurley discovered that the same series of numbers is imprinted on the hatch. Several fans have suggested that these numbers refer to specific Bible verses that can be used to provide insights about the secrets of the show. “Anything is a possibility,” Lindeolf says of the speculation. “To me, it’s always more interesting to not take away any legitimate theories from the audience. I would not say that the numbers definitely do not refer to Bible verses, but I wouldn’t say that they do either. Some people look at those numbers and say that they’re all numbers of retired New York Yankees baseball players, which if you look it up, is true. That’s not why we chose them, but then again, that is a pretty strange coincidence. Maybe the numbers have a life of their own.” Lindelof adds, “To answer why we chose those numbers would give up a big chunk of mythology that we are not ready to reveal yet. All I’ll say is that the selection of those numbers was not arbitrary.”
Fans of “Lost” have also been buzzing over reports that one of the major female characters will die by the mid-point of Season Two. Lindelof, however, downplays that rumor. “I think that rumor was born out of a rumor under which Maggie Grace was supposedly going to do X-Men 3. When I read about it in the trades, I immediately called her and said, ‘What’s this?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. I haven’t agreed to do anything.’ It turned out to be a completely erroneous rumor that just was untrue. I think when people read that, they thought if Maggie Grace is going to do the next X-Men movie, we were obviously going to kill her off of Lost. They drew their own conclusions.”
Does that mean that no major characters will be killed off this season? “All I can confirm is that Maggie Grace is not going to be in X3,” Lindelof responds coyly. “I try not to comment on which characters will or will not be leaving the show, because it doesn’t create a very healthy working environment for the actors in Hawaii.”
Lindelof makes it no secret, though, that reports of Samuel L. Jackson joining the cast are false. “I can categorically deny that Sam Jackson is joining the cast,” Lindelof emphatically states. “Michelle Rodriguez is joining the cast, though. We saw her meet Jack in the airport before the plane took off [in one of the flashbacks in Season One]. We know that she was on the plane, but she can only be somewhere else on the island other than where the other people have been.”
When asked about his inspiration for the characters, Lindeolf admits that he incorporates his own personality into each character. “There are different facets of my personality that are reflected in different characters. The character that I identified with most last year was Jack, because he was thrust into a leadership role that he wasn’t fully ready to take on. He had to make a series of hard decisions that weren’t necessarily popular decisions. Entering the foray of being the executive producer of a television show, I could identify with his life situation more than I could with any of the other characters’ life situations. But I also feel that I have a cynical sense of humor that is reflected in Sawyer’s dialogue, and I have a vulnerable side that I always think about when I’m writing Kate. I have a happier, hippier, dippier side that is reflected when I’m writing Hurley.”
While Lindelof may be a household name, his success comes after many years of persistence in the face of setbacks. “For me, it was a long road that led through feature development,” he recalls. “I worked for a producer at Paramount. All that time I was writing, but I never felt like I actually wrote anything that was worthy of anybody else reading. Ultimately I had to take a significant risk and quit my job to become a writer’s assistant on a television show, which was called Wasteland. As a result of doing that, I was in the right place at the right time, and they made me a writer on the show. The show was cancelled three or four weeks after I got my promotion, but that moment of heat around me drew the interest of talent agencies.”
Even though Lindelof has now reached the pinnacle of success, he still has his sights set on accomplishing more, discussing the possibility of branching out into feature films. “I’d love to get involved in movies,” he remarks. “That’s sort of where I got my start, but on the other hand, there’s also such a beautiful aspect of writing for TV where you really get to develop your characters over a much longer period of time. Also, when you write something for TV, a week later it’s getting shot. The development of a movie moves at a considerably slower pace. However, I’m definitely interested in getting back into features, but I don’t know how and when that’s going to happen. It all depends on how well Lost does this year, I guess.”
Based on that criteria, it may be awhile before Lindelof tackles a film project, because considering the caliber of his talent, and the impressive cast and crew he has to work with, there’s little doubt that “Lost” will continue to be a television phenomenon as long as it’s on the air.
Season Two of “Lost” begins filming today and will premiere on Wednesday, September 21st at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Damon Lindelof Interview
By Scott Juba
Published: July 28, 2005
With the derivative entertainment that pollutes much of network television, very few TV writers deserve to be described as creative geniuses. “Lost” co-creator and executive producer, Damon Lindelof, is the exception to that rule. A man of seemingly unlimited creative capacities, Lindelof’s perfectly penned scripts and savvy production skills make “Lost” the most enthralling television drama in years.
A series about a group of plane crash survivors stranded on a strange and mysterious island full of secrets and mysteries, “Lost” explores themes of redemption, fear, love, vulnerability, and companionship. Part of the reason behind its astronomical success is how deeply it has infiltrated American culture. In fact, Wikipedia, one of the world’s largest online encyclopedias, has numerous pages of information dedicated to “Lost.”
One of the show’s most talked about elements is a mysterious hatch on the island that cannot be opened from the outside. Season One ended with the characters using explosives to blow open the hatch, only to reveal a long tunnel that descends deep underground. “They are definitely going into the hatch in Season Two’s premiere, and I think what’s in there is very cool,” Lindelof tells me. “Hopefully viewers will be surprised and intrigued. There will be an answer to one question, which is, ‘What’s inside the hatch?’ Hopefully that will present some new, intriguing questions as well, which we will spend the better part of the first three episodes answering.”
Another major element of the plot centers on a series of numbers (4,8,15,16,23,42) Jorge Garcia’s character, Hurley, used to win the lottery that have since plagued him with bad luck. In the Season One finale, Hurley discovered that the same series of numbers is imprinted on the hatch. Several fans have suggested that these numbers refer to specific Bible verses that can be used to provide insights about the secrets of the show. “Anything is a possibility,” Lindeolf says of the speculation. “To me, it’s always more interesting to not take away any legitimate theories from the audience. I would not say that the numbers definitely do not refer to Bible verses, but I wouldn’t say that they do either. Some people look at those numbers and say that they’re all numbers of retired New York Yankees baseball players, which if you look it up, is true. That’s not why we chose them, but then again, that is a pretty strange coincidence. Maybe the numbers have a life of their own.” Lindelof adds, “To answer why we chose those numbers would give up a big chunk of mythology that we are not ready to reveal yet. All I’ll say is that the selection of those numbers was not arbitrary.”
Fans of “Lost” have also been buzzing over reports that one of the major female characters will die by the mid-point of Season Two. Lindelof, however, downplays that rumor. “I think that rumor was born out of a rumor under which Maggie Grace was supposedly going to do X-Men 3. When I read about it in the trades, I immediately called her and said, ‘What’s this?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. I haven’t agreed to do anything.’ It turned out to be a completely erroneous rumor that just was untrue. I think when people read that, they thought if Maggie Grace is going to do the next X-Men movie, we were obviously going to kill her off of Lost. They drew their own conclusions.”
Does that mean that no major characters will be killed off this season? “All I can confirm is that Maggie Grace is not going to be in X3,” Lindelof responds coyly. “I try not to comment on which characters will or will not be leaving the show, because it doesn’t create a very healthy working environment for the actors in Hawaii.”
Lindelof makes it no secret, though, that reports of Samuel L. Jackson joining the cast are false. “I can categorically deny that Sam Jackson is joining the cast,” Lindelof emphatically states. “Michelle Rodriguez is joining the cast, though. We saw her meet Jack in the airport before the plane took off [in one of the flashbacks in Season One]. We know that she was on the plane, but she can only be somewhere else on the island other than where the other people have been.”
When asked about his inspiration for the characters, Lindeolf admits that he incorporates his own personality into each character. “There are different facets of my personality that are reflected in different characters. The character that I identified with most last year was Jack, because he was thrust into a leadership role that he wasn’t fully ready to take on. He had to make a series of hard decisions that weren’t necessarily popular decisions. Entering the foray of being the executive producer of a television show, I could identify with his life situation more than I could with any of the other characters’ life situations. But I also feel that I have a cynical sense of humor that is reflected in Sawyer’s dialogue, and I have a vulnerable side that I always think about when I’m writing Kate. I have a happier, hippier, dippier side that is reflected when I’m writing Hurley.”
While Lindelof may be a household name, his success comes after many years of persistence in the face of setbacks. “For me, it was a long road that led through feature development,” he recalls. “I worked for a producer at Paramount. All that time I was writing, but I never felt like I actually wrote anything that was worthy of anybody else reading. Ultimately I had to take a significant risk and quit my job to become a writer’s assistant on a television show, which was called Wasteland. As a result of doing that, I was in the right place at the right time, and they made me a writer on the show. The show was cancelled three or four weeks after I got my promotion, but that moment of heat around me drew the interest of talent agencies.”
Even though Lindelof has now reached the pinnacle of success, he still has his sights set on accomplishing more, discussing the possibility of branching out into feature films. “I’d love to get involved in movies,” he remarks. “That’s sort of where I got my start, but on the other hand, there’s also such a beautiful aspect of writing for TV where you really get to develop your characters over a much longer period of time. Also, when you write something for TV, a week later it’s getting shot. The development of a movie moves at a considerably slower pace. However, I’m definitely interested in getting back into features, but I don’t know how and when that’s going to happen. It all depends on how well Lost does this year, I guess.”
Based on that criteria, it may be awhile before Lindelof tackles a film project, because considering the caliber of his talent, and the impressive cast and crew he has to work with, there’s little doubt that “Lost” will continue to be a television phenomenon as long as it’s on the air.
Season Two of “Lost” begins filming today and will premiere on Wednesday, September 21st at 9 p.m. on ABC.