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Episode: - "I Do"
Commentators: Carlton Cuse, Evangeline Lilly & Josh Holloway
Commentary[]
Evangeline Lilly: This is Evangeline Lilly, this is I Do.
Carlton Cuse: Hi, this is Carlton Cuse.
Josh Holloway: This is Josh Holloway. Good morning.
Carlton Cuse: And we're here to talk about Episode 306 of Lost. Give you a little insight as to what went into making this episode. Or lack of insight as to what went into making this episode. And, uh, here we go. Wow, who's this mysterious person?
Josh Holloway: l don't know. But, the music's kind of flirty.
Carlton Cuse: Oh, could that be...
Josh Holloway: A gift for me?
Carlton Cuse: ...Kate Austen? She's... Ah, there we go.
Josh Holloway: Oh, goodness.
Carlton Cuse: So, obviously this is a Kate flashback episode.
Evangeline Lilly: Obviously. In the... In the scene coming up, in the moment coming up where l run out the door and jump on the cop, um, there's actually one scene where l was so vigorous with my jumping that l accidentally... [chuckling] ...knocked him into the wall. And he almost fell over.
Carlton Cuse: Nathan Fillion, is the uh, you'll see him in a minute here... ...well known from Joss Whedon's Firefly, and, uh...
Evangeline Lilly: He was great to work with. He was so much fun and so professional, he was such a gentleman. He was sort of the character in so many ways because he's that guy that instantly you felt you could trust. He was really a good man.
Josh Holloway: Look at you, you look like a 1 950's airline stewardess. l love it. What you got going on there? Right? Betty Crocker watch out. Oh, It's a tree frog! Oh, my goodness.
Carlton Cuse: Man, can you slam dunk? You had a lot of elevation there.
Evangeline Lilly: That was where l threw him against a wall on one of the takes.
Carlton Cuse: So, anyway, we sort of... Damon and l wrote this episode as a mini-season finale. When we originally aired these episodes, the first six were aired in one block, in the fall, with the idea being the other 16 hours would air in spring. And we knew that this was gonna be the last episode of the first block, so we tried to really create a cliffhanger. This was also really the episode that kind of brought to an end this whole story of our guys in captivity. A little bit of it carries over into the next episodes, this was the episode we viewed as the climax of that story, where finally we were going to resolve what was happening to Kate and, um, Sawyer here in captivity.
Josh Holloway: Carlton, could you please not talk while I'm onscreen? Thank you, thank you... no. [all laughing]
Evangeline Lilly: One of the coolest things about this whole storyline in the cages, l really adored, and I've been trying to work it out for a while, because the cages were a unique acting experience for me, l realized after a while was that we, Josh and l, were playing scenes more intimate than anything we'd done on the show before. And yet, we had to play them from a physical proximity that was so far away. So we were projecting intimacy across a yard.
Josh Holloway: Yeah, that was interesting. Had to find a way to... ...figure out that puzzle.
Evangeline Lilly: Yeah. And l think that made it really, um... ...really intense, as actors and hopefully onscreen. Because instead of the intimacy being played with a physical touch, or with physical intimacy, getting close to each other, it all had to be in our voices and in our eyes, sending messages, which was...
Josh Holloway: At the same time, you had to watch out for the trap of being the same shot every time, pinned against the bars looking at each other. So, you had to work around the same, uh... ...where you're drawn to is the bars to see each other, so you had to work around that, um, to add some dimension, which was interesting.
Carlton Cuse: I'd never had an experience where an actor like Josh would call me and say "l want to rehearse these intimate moments with Kate, with you." As a writer, it was very flattering and... [all laughing] And yet, it was strangely... ...it was very...
Josh Holloway: Just because l wanted to switch out so Kate could watch what l do while l kissed you, doesn't mean anything, Carlton. I'm a strict professional.
Evangeline Lilly: And l love the stuff inside, as well, where there's that physical barrier, not a yard between them, but glass between them. They're playing scenes that are so intense if they could touch, there would be this instant explosion. But, they can't. There's something being held back and yet, thrown forward with more verve, they have to get it through that glass without being able to physically break that boundary.
Carlton Cuse: Thematically, what we were trying to explore here was the notion of Kate's ability to commit. And we've established her as a character who, who likes to run, and not just literally running as a fugitive, but also running from difficult emotional situations. And we sort of see in her flashback, this story of her marriage, which we had mentioned in a previous episode. Hinted she had briefly been married. We thought, "OK, now let's tell the story in which she actually did get married." And we see her kind of getting close with this guy and, you know, in love with this guy, but there's just something in her DNA as a character that will not allow her to stay with him. And obviously circumstances are also very difficult. She is a fugitive married to a cop and, you know, it's not going to have a good ending. In the meantime, the parallel on the island is Kate and Sawyer who are the two characters who obviously are really... ...there's an incredible thing happening between them and yet both of them are afraid of intimacy and connection. They're drawn to, and afraid of, the feelings they have between each other.
Evangeline Lilly: l love the contrast between the two stories because every element of them is completely opposite to the other's. So, when Kate is with her husband in the flashbacks, she wants it so badly, and yet she knows she can't have it. And... And yet, with Sawyer, she so desperately doesn't want to go there, doesn't want that thing to happen, she can't seem to stop it from happening, because there's this momentum and this chemistry between them that she can't really help. And, where she's relatively free in the flashbacks to make it happen, she's not in a cage and she's not being forced to do labor every day, it's actually more difficult for her to stay in that house and cook breakfast and be a little housewife, then it is for her to break rocks and work in a quarry and sleep in a cage. There's these contrasts that happen that l just love. l think the island represents who she truly is in her heart. And the flashback represents who she wishes she was.
Carlton Cuse: Right. That's cool. So, what is your process when you get a script like this? How much work do you do in preparation? Do you do it the night before? What's your methodology?
Evangeline Lilly: My methodology is to read the script the first time as an audience member. So, l read it sheerly for the entertainment. l remove myself from the character and pretend l don't have to play those scenes. React to them emotionally, see how they make me feel. So that l know what l want to project to the audience. l know what l want to make them feel. And then l go back and l re-read it as the character. l try the scenes on while I'm reading it, l try reading them out loud and seeing how they feel emotionally. And if there's anything l come up against that feels like a wall, then l will explore that. But, if anything that feels natural and just seems to flow, l will try very hard then to tuck that away and pretend like I've never read it. l know on the day, it's going to instinctively come out the way it most purely should. But, if l come up against a wall in the script then I'll work through the scene and I'll try it on in a few different ways until it seems to fit. And I'll write down a note as to how it fit and why it fit and where l found the motivation. At that point, l put the script away. l wait till l get to set, l don't memorize lines until l get to set so when they come out, it feels spontaneous the way it does in life. if it feels like I'm trying to come up with the words as I'm saying them, as human beings do in every day conversation.
Josh Holloway: l just grab it and go. Cause I'm just that frickin' good, you know what l mean? It's tough.
Evangeline Lilly: Do you remember this scene? When l decided to be Paul Bunyan and l burnt a hole in my shoulder carrying burning hot logs back and forth? l still have a scar from it. Those logs l threw on the fire at the beginning of the scene, Throw them in the fire, take them out, put them back on my shoulder. Throw them in the fire, take them out, back on my shoulder. Nice one! Oh, got him with a rock. l love how dirty we get in these quarries.
Josh Holloway: What's so funny is that... ...we're three time that dirty. It doesn't even read, you have to put so much on. I'd come home and Yessie's like, "Where'd you come from, a coal mine?"
Evangeline Lilly: [chuckling] Yeah. Scrawn, she' so great.
Josh Holloway: That's her nickname. Scrawn.
Evangeline Lilly: Tania.
Josh Holloway: That nickname there is Cleavie.
Evangeline Lilly: Oh, you had to. [laughing]
Josh Holloway: Whoops, had to do that.
Evangeline Lilly: Hey, l didn't choose the outfits.
Josh Holloway: Oh, goodness.
Carlton Cuse: We had another scene in the storyline which did not make the show. Which was the scene where we explained what they were doing out there. Which was building a runway.
Evangeline Lilly: Right.
Josh Holloway:Right.
Carlton Cuse: So, that was one of these little... You can hear about it online, we showed a clip of it.
Josh Holloway: There was an explanation, wasn't there?
Evangeline Lilly: Yes.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah.
Josh Holloway: l just said it again in a previous episode, one just recently and l was like, "Didn't l say that before?" But, it was never used.
Evangeline Lilly: That happens often on this show where we'll film a scene, and then it'll be cut out and a few episodes later, we're given the same lines, you think, "l said that all ready." And l get "Well, we never used it."
Carlton Cuse: There was particularly...
Josh Holloway: Kiss her. Kiss her.
Carlton Cuse: The whole thing where you and Alex basically... ...uh, she says, "Where'd you get that dress? Looks good on you, it was mine." We did that four times and kept cutting it out.
Evangeline Lilly: l know.
Carlton Cuse: You must've been like, "What is going on here?" It was a gag we kept wanting to do, but ended up cutting out of the show. We'd write it into the next episode and the next.
Evangeline Lilly: That line, "You think I'm gonna put it over my head just because you said please?" l could not get that line out for the life of me. It was like takes and me bursting out laughing 'cause l couldn't say it right. And Elizabeth has to say, "No, l want you to put a hood over your head," and she started stumbling. We ended up having to loop the line.
Josh Holloway: It's really a man's line. Just put the hood over your head.
Evangeline Lilly: Say that six times fast.
Carlton Cuse: We love the design transition from the hood going over Kate's head to her in her veil. And the original idea was she was going to lift up her veil and look at each other, but that wasn't the setup. You know, mothers-in-law aren't supposed to be so nice. Um... [clears throat]
Evangeline Lilly: Oh, and that dress became an issue. My little sister watched this episode when l was ADRing it. She was on the stage with me. And she just kept going, "You look ridiculous. Who is that?" Because she could barely recognize me.
Carlton Cuse: Oh, you look beautiful.
Josh Holloway: It's great, 'cause you can look so different. Here.
Evangeline Lilly: This dress was a nightmare. l had to go into a rental shop in Hawaii to try to look for a dress, we couldn't find anything. Eventually, we ended up bringing this one in from England, from a designer who said he'd like to make it for the show. And then, the morning that we shot this scene, l was in my trailer and they were literally cutting off pieces, sewing it onto my body because it needed to be altered but we had minutes to alter it before we started shooting.
Carlton Cuse: The problem is basically, everything we do in an episode we're not that far ahead of the show in terms of writing the episodes, so we'll finish a script five or six business days ahead of when it actually films. Then it gets sent to Hawaii and the actors read it, and the actors, really, are kind of at the same... ...they don't know what's coming up, either. They get the script, read it, study it. l think it really makes the show great because it makes it very present. The actors are acting in that moment. They don't know what's happened in their past, it hasn't been told yet or what's going on in the future. l think that's a good thing.
Josh Holloway: l love it.
Evangeline Lilly: It works both ways. Sometimes it can be a hindrance. There are time when you're like, "If I'd known l did that, l would've played this scene really differently." But, most of the time l think it gives you that true-to-life experience of not always referring to things that have happened in your past, or knowing what's going to happen in your future.
Carlton Cuse: l think it really makes the show feel like everybody is in the same moment. The same moment the audience is in, experiencing the story as it's told. This is the first scene in six episodes where Kate and Jack have seen each other. This was a really big moment for us, uh, just because we'd been telling the story and it was so segmented. Jack, Kate and Sawyer are all in the Hydra station that the Others have constructed on this Alcatraz island. But, Kate and Jack, this is the first moment in these first six hours where they actually see each other, when Kate discovers that Jack is actually here and that's he's OK. Obviously, there's a developing romantic triangle... There's actually a quadrangle.
Evangeline Lilly: Definitely a quadrangle.
Carlton Cuse: You know, you have Josh, you have Sawyer on the other side of it, you know, just the symbolism of them stuck between this glass here, was also an interesting part of the thematic storyline because there are these walls and barriers that exist between Kate and the men in her life.
Evangeline Lilly: Yeah, and they're all very invisible, which l love. But the glass, the cages are a clear barrier, but the glass is invisible and it distorts things and it gives you an implied sense of intimacy that isn't actually there. That is totally the story of Kate's life with anyone she ever tries to get close to. Even including her mother, which is so tragic. That she doesn't seem to ever really be able to connect or be one with other human beings. l think she's really a tortured soul because of that.
Carlton Cuse: l think some of those things are at the core of why all these characters are on the island in the first place.
Evangeline Lilly: The island seems to represent that missing link, um... All of these people have issues with intimacy, have issues with their own redemption, with their own love for themselves. The island is that barrier, the island has sequestered them from the world, and the rest of humanity.
Josh Holloway: I'm sorry. l was just watching. This commentary thing's tough. I'm just sitting here checking it out.
Carlton Cuse: Did you ever see this episode, Josh?
Josh Holloway: l did. Yeah, it's wonderful, actually. I'm crying right now. Stop it, Kate. You're supposed to love me. [Lilly and Holloway laugh]
Carlton Cuse: But, she does.
Josh Holloway: It's awesome.
Evangeline Lilly: That's... That's actually something I've done a lot of searching to play the triangle. Because there's the cliché of the triangle. But then there's the reality and the fact that this woman actually loves two different men. It's not just that she decides to cheat on one. or that she lusts after one and loves the other. l believe she loves both of these men for different reasons. And I've really done a lot of searching to find how to play those two things without them being the same. You can't play your love for one person the same as your love for another.
Josh Holloway: It's interesting, because we're kind of two halves of the same type of person. Which makes us, Jack and l, naturally connected. It's a love-hate thing. We can't help but be intrigued by the other one. Because we're the opposite end of the spectrums.
Evangeline Lilly: Yeah.
Josh Holloway: And our core, l believe, is probably the same.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah, because there are sort of, uh... you know, good and bad qualities in both guys. And each guy is capable of heroism, but also has his failings. It's interesting because there's a real split in the fan base between the Skaters and the Jaters. [Lilly laughs] It is a raging debate who Kate should end up with.
Evangeline Lilly: l think what Josh said about them being two halves of the same whole, is why she is so torn. Because, really, ultimately, what she needs is a completely different man who incorporates both of them instead of one or the other. [laughing]
Josh Holloway: It's the new millennium. Can't she have both? She's spry.
Carlton Cuse: Move to Utah.
Josh Holloway: She's energetic. Move to Utah, exactly. Not a problem.
Evangeline Lilly: Now, Fred, the guy who plays the marshal, is the first actor that l ever acted with... um... in my entire career. My first scene on Lost was my first scene as an actress. It was on the plane during the crash and Fred was who l was acting opposite. l thought, because he gets hit by the suitcase and dies pretty much in the pilot, l thought l would never see him again.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah, 20 episodes later, it's like, "Oh, my God." The only thing about this show is you work more if you're dead.
Evangeline Lilly: It's true.
Carlton Cuse: If your character's killed, you're much more likely to show up. And so the marshal character was originally killed in the pilot, then Damon and J.J. felt...
Josh Holloway: He was killed in the one right after where l shot him and missed.
Carlton Cuse: The idea was he was just going to die in the pilot, but then it was like, let's keep him alive for episode one and then he ends up dying in the first episode. Now, all of a sudden, in flashbacks.
Josh Holloway: Which is incredible, by the way, let's just get to Sawyer's aim for, you know... During the pilot, he takes out a polar bear at a full run with a nine millimeter.
Carlton Cuse: After about nine shots.
Josh Holloway: But after that, he can't even get his gun out. He can't hit anything, he can't hit a guy not moving.
Carlton Cuse: That was why, literally, it was because of that we're sitting there and l was like, "He's myopic." l mean that's gotta be the problem. he doesn't have... he can't see. So, that was how the idea came up to have Sawyer have glasses.
Josh Holloway: Interesting.
Evangeline Lilly: But he could see a big, white ball of fur. Because that, he'd be able to see that.
Carlton Cuse: How many shots did it take to kill that bear? So, you know, eventually you'll...
Josh Holloway: Get lucky.
Carlton Cuse: Exactly, you get lucky, eventually.
Josh Holloway: l love that. l love the fact that he starts out like "Wow, he's really a good shot and everything." From then on, every time he reaches for his gun, he gets shot or he gets hit by a girl or he gets whacked with a stick. He never gets his arm around, he's like the slowest draw in town.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah. l will say that Josh was awesome. He suffered an enormous amount of abuse in these first six episodes in this cage.
Evangeline Lilly: It's not just then. It was like the whole show. l finally reached a point where l would find myself feeling like the sister, running up, going, "You can't throw him on the ground again!" Not Kate, but Evie. "You need to re-work that scene so he's not thrown on the ground again!" 'Cause he's just destroyed physically.
Josh Holloway: That... That was... l love physical scenes and I'm a physical actor so l enjoy that. But, after a while, playing also the mental side of that, it gets rough after awhile, that sort of beat down. You feel it, take it home with you. And I'm like, "Baby, give me a hug," when l get home.
Carlton Cuse: Sawyer really has gone through a lot of, you know, a real evolution over the course of this year. From being victimized at the beginning, then coming back and getting strong, then also some fun stuff with Sawyer, then the dark turn at the end of the season.
Josh Holloway: Absolutely, it's been quite a wonderful journey this season. And l've enjoyed the evolution of this character, and what the island has done to him.
Carlton Cuse: What's really interesting is when we did the, um... right back the beginning of the show they did all this testing, and Sawyer's character tested almost at the bottom of the likability scale.
Josh Holloway: Nice! [Lilly laughs]
Carlton Cuse: They rated all the characters, "Who do you like the most," and, uh, obviously, you know, characters like Jack were at the top, 'cause Jack was a hero from the get-go. Then, they do it a couple of years later, now Sawyer's up at the very top. It's interesting to see how you can change an audience's perception of a character as you get to know him. Obviously, all the things that have happened to Sawyer and all the things getting tossed down, beat up and put through all these things, seeing all the personal angst and all the issues that have led Sawyer to be the guy that he is, the audience then finds that incredibly relatable. They're drawn to this guy and completely fall in love with this guy.
Josh Holloway: You guys are brilliant the way you're able to... ...play that line, because that's the reality. lf you're gonna be the smart-ass, you gotta take it. You gotta be able to take a beating. [chuckles] And that's what's so fun about him, because he's gonna say all those things he's gonna do his self-centered type behavior. And you know... ...every man for himself kind of thing. He's gonna take a beating for it and that is why people can relate. Because we all have that side of us, that want to... ...be the "Sawyer."
Carlton Cuse: Then, there's moments like this where's he's saying, "Take care of yourself. Get out of here." lt's so wonderful the way Sawyer kind of embodies these kinds of... He can be selfish and selfless moment to moment. And he has the potential to be so good in his heart, but then there's this self-loathing that causes him to be self-destructive. Those two things are coexisting...
Josh Holloway: That is the evolution of his character. Those things don't work anymore on this island. That's what he's being faced with throughout, is his own humanity. And he can't... he doesn't know how to deal with that. So, he'll lash out in the only way he does know, in the way that he has learned to survive in society. But, we're not in society... ...on the island. So, he's faced with that constantly, which l love. Cause he doesn't know what to do with it from moment to moment.
Evangeline Lilly: That's one of the things we were discussing the other day, everyone has to find their place and who they are on the island, because who they were in their previous life doesn't work here. Just, you are no longer that person. And, that's one of the things about this show. What we wanted to explore was how freeing it could be. To be released from the person you are expected to be and to start clean and be whoever you want to be. And, then the reality of there's something inside you, an essence that you can't deny, so that's gonna come through. No matter what you do, where you are, no matter who you try to be, you will be you.
Josh Holloway: You're naked.
Evangeline Lilly: Shut up. [all laughing]
Carlton Cuse: This was such a big moment, obviously, in the show, for these characters to finally culminate their relationship. And It's funny, that last scene, l was telling Evangeline, the one and only time the person from Standards and Practices came over to the editing room and we had to sit there and go frame by frame just to make sure there wasn't too much... ...being revealed. You know, we live in cautious times.
Josh Holloway: That was very important to us as actors, as well as characters. Because it had been so long, the payoff needed to be something special. So we talked about that before. Evie and l decided to really take our time and really take moments in there. And hope that that came across differently. And, l feel like it did.
Carlton Cuse: It was great, think about it, you know, in a show, in a television show, to basically go 55 hours before two characters who are...
Evangeline Lilly: It's beautiful.
Carlton Cuse: ...in love with each other actually, finally culminate and make love. lt's really amazing. l think it's all the better for that. And l think as a starting point to that relationship, kind of deepening and existing on a different level, it was really a great scene. And now we see that in contrast with Kate and this other man who she loved. But, obviously is very torn because she's keeping a deep secret, so...
Evangeline Lilly: My favorite thing...
Carlton Cuse: This was my favorite scene to rehearse with Josh. [all laughing]
Josh Holloway: You are an incredible snuggler, l tell you.
Carlton Cuse: l don't know why we had to do it 30 times.
Josh Holloway: You're like a snuggle bear, l can't help myself. [laughing]
Evangeline Lilly: l was actually surprised and really pleased with the writing when l read there was this postcoital scene, because l felt like for it to be really clear, that Kate and Sawyer didn't just have a weak moment of lust, where they gave in to their desires, but they actually had physically realized something that was inside of them emotionally. l thought this scene provided that. And it supported what we were trying to show, in the previous cage scene, it was really nice to read it and feel like they were honoring the emotion.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah, and just having Sawyer say, "l love you, too," to Kate was such a huge moment for us on a writing level because just that acknowledgment from him was such a hard thing for that character to get to that place.
Josh Holloway: That was tricky, too, to play because it so... ...cannot not be melodramatic. And it's a fine line.
Carlton Cuse: And the way he kind of tosses it off without committing to it... ...without having to... ...doing it obliquely.
Josh Holloway: She's not looking at me, so l can kind of do it and see how it fits. [chuckles]
Carlton Cuse: Exactly, try it on.
Josh Holloway: See how it lands. Did it land or not?
Evangeline Lilly: Again, in contrast to the flashback where she's got this man who is doing the exact opposite. He's really, really heartfelt and intense and intimate about the way he will look her in the eye and say, "l love you." Really sort of what you imagine the traditional idea of falling in love with someone being like. And then, here on the island she's got a guy who's kind of throwing it out there flippantly while she's not even looking at him, and it seems to mean so much more.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah. It's cool. Of course, this is the scene where Jack ends up seeing them on the monitor and... And realizes what's going on.
Evangeline Lilly: And l thought he played this so perfectly. Because it was such a difficult thing. If he had overdone it, if he had overplayed his hurt or his anger, his reaction to seeing it at all, um, l don't think it would have felt as horrific. l just think the way it's so simple, and it's so quiet, it's within him, that you just see him be wounded. Your heart just breaks for him. Rather than feeling, "Get over it. Obviously, it was gonna happen." You feel like, "Oh, God, no! That poor guy."
Carlton Cuse: Yeah. This moment ends up informing his motivation towards Kate for the rest of the season. It is a huge, pivotal moment that takes us right to the end. Oh, and Michael Emerson, you know, he's, it's hard to imagine the show without Ben at this point. It just doesn't have... He's so juicy.
Josh Holloway: He is juicy. Good word for him.
Carlton Cuse: Oh my God, he can deliver it all without it being like you know, twirly-moustache cliché. But he just gives everything his own little spin that's just, you know...
Josh Holloway: He's such a classy guy, too, such a nice guy.
Evangeline Lilly: Very kind. He's so... he's so warm-hearted, and so genuine and such a gentleman, and kind in real life, it's amazing that he plays such a good villain.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah, well, he has this kind of humanity and obviously in this story the fact that he's, you know, he is himself, suffering from a tumor and doesn't know why, as we learn later in the season, that he's not supposed to have cancer, people on this island don't get sick. That, you know, to see a guy who is a villain, but is also like everybody else on the island struggling with issues l think kind of dimensionalizes him in a way that makes him much more interesting. All right.
Josh Holloway: Oh. Who could this be?
Carlton Cuse: Oh, look at that! And this a big moment, obviously, in the story where she realizes as a character that her... this is the catalyzing event where she realizes she can't stay with this guy. When she realizes she's not... She's so fearful she could be pregnant she realizes this is where she's got to basically cut and run. And it becomes that complete manifestation of her commitment. So she makes him one of her famous "Kate iced-tea" cocktails. [Lilly and Cuse laugh]
Evangeline Lilly: Physically, we tried...
Carlton Cuse: She serves these at parties. It's fantastic! Everyone just falls down on the floor.
Josh Holloway: Boom boom.
Carlton Cuse: It's like, don't go to a party at Evie's house, that's all l can say.
Evangeline Lilly: In this scene, we tried physically, myself and the hair and make-up team, and wardrobe team, we had all said let's try to make it so that you actually physically watch Kate unravel and fall apart in this scene. She starts it really put together, like she's still playing that role, and by the end she's a mess, like a convict on the run again. And you see that other person come out in her before she walks out the door.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah, that was one of my favorite lines in the script, "Taco night? l don't do Taco night." It's like the perfect summation of Kate reverting back to who she is as the character. "l don't do Taco night."
Evangeline Lilly: l make fun of people who do Taco night.
Carlton Cuse: Exactly. And that's pretty much it. Party's over for...
Josh Holloway: Spanish fly, watch out. [all laughing]
Josh Holloway: It's on now. She's got him where she wants him.
Carlton Cuse: Oh.
Josh Holloway: Oh, there he goes.
Carlton Cuse: This is another great scene. Really great and emotional moment for Kate here. And, obviously, this is all kind of building to now we're heading into the end run of this episode which is the end of our mini-plot with Jack doing the surgery and basically doing it so Kate and Sawyer can get liberated here. l never did get an answer to my question, Josh. What is your process, what do you do to prep when you get a script? Do you...? What do you do?
Josh Holloway: Um... What I'll do once l first get the script back from my wife, who takes it from me and locks herself in the bathroom till she's finished... No, what I'll do is l like to take probably at least 1 5, 20 minutes to just sit and think about it. I'll grab the script, I'll read the first stage direction or setup and then put it down. Then l wait 1 5 minutes of thinking about what it could be, which, for me, creates a space for it. And then l sit down and read it and l get a better, cleaner first impression then. And, like Evie was saying, that's huge, l read it as an audience first to get a first impression, to get... ...see what happens to my emotions with it. And then, l love the fact that we don't have a lot of time to prepare, Carlton... [all laughing] l love the fact that we don't have a lot of time to prepare because now we know these characters and it is more real to life, we are more spontaneous and are able to do that with these characters. Because we know them so well. l can do it the same day. Give me the material, l run it through Sawyer now l know the door to get there.
Carlton Cuse: Good. That's liberating for season four, isn't it?
Josh Holloway: No, l said l could if l had to. Oh, my God, what have l done?
Carlton Cuse: We're recording this commentary during the shooting of the finale and it was about as behind as we've ever been. We literally had shot a couple scenes before we ever published the script of this thing because just the production realities and, you know, Damon and l wrote the finale in nine days, it's like writing a two hour movie, and literally, the first part we had to actually send down the first four days of scenes and Jack Bender, who's directing it, said these are the ones I'm gonna shoot first, we sent those down in a clump to him, while we're still writing the rest, so they had something to prepare. It was as behind as we've been, and yet, somehow it's all kind of working out.
Josh Holloway: You've trained us well. It does make a difference.
Carlton Cuse: It is a benefit that you guys are, you know, so ingrained in the characters now. So...
Josh Holloway: And yet, it allows for... ...growth in the characters, because we're not preset in our emotions and what's gonna happen. We haven't really got a plan. Uh, So, it's nice when the characters do change. As they're evolving, it allows us to allow that. 'Cause a lot of times an actor would get in their own way of having an idea about something and hard to break the mold of that. And in this situation, we're not allowed that, which is nice. It works for me, anyway. l enjoy it.
Evangeline Lilly: Filming the finale, which we're doing right now, um, there's group scenes where the entire original cast are back together again. And Daniel made the observation that the environment now is so different, then what it used to be in season one when we filmed these group scenes. In season one, we were all very reverent and very serious and we were very committed in the scene. It was something we took very seriously Now, we're all goofing off and joking around and having fun, and he said part of that is because we now know our characters so well. We know the island so well, we can do it with our eyes closed, it's become second nature to us. Our characters are like an extension of ourselves now. And so we don't need to be as intense about preparing and thinking about how we're going to play a scene, we can do it, it just comes out of us.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Tucker Gates, who directed this episode, one of our visiting directors, Tucker's busy with other things, so he's not available to do a ton of episodes, he's really an excellent director. And it was actually Tucker's idea to do this last scene in the rain, which was one of these things we should've thought of ourselves, but it was really an element l think just added enormously to the intensity of this scene. Rain is metaphorically significant in our show. When rain shows up, bad things tend to happen and...
Josh Holloway: l remember this scene and l was so tired at this point of being beaten down. l fought with Tucker... uh... ...because l really felt like he needed to not lay down and just walk out of the cage and take it. So... we... ...we made that scene more dramatic to fight... ...not to die more significant. And it came out of that emotion of constantly being in that, being beaten down and not doing anything about it. Uh... l really dig Tucker for having to put up with my emotion there and... ...and helping us find a way through it that made sense.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah.
Evangeline Lilly: Yeah. Well, l think Kate and Sawyer are both fighters.
Josh Holloway: It didn't make sense that we would just lay down. So, we had to really amp that a bit.
Evangeline Lilly: And l think they also, both for the first time, maybe in their lives, have something worth fighting for. And that's what breaks my heart in this scene, is that, l think Kate displays some of the girliest qualities you ever see her display in this scene. She's kind of weak and whimpery about the whole thing. For me, where that came from, was that l just, for the first time, maybe ever, finally connected to someone and feel like l have something here something worth fighting for, living for and now you're gonna take it away. And l feel like Sawyer is again in the same situation, this was the first time ever in his life, where he's found someone who he can love. And now he's about to be killed.
Carlton Cuse: By the way, no one seems to learn a lesson, sex on an island... ...it's not a good thing to have sex on this show. [all laughing]
Josh Holloway: You know what? I'll take the good with the bad.
Carlton Cuse: So, here's the big... This leads up to the big cliffhanger moment. you know, which... ...which the audience had to live with for four months. l think we learned in hindsight the show works better when you run all the episodes together. Good to have one cliffhanger at the end of the year, and this was good. This was good, but painful for the audience to wait for four months to see this finally get paid off, and...
Evangeline Lilly: Well, l... l think that it was, uh... The only thing that bugged me was when we came back, they were airing previews for it a long time before we came back, and in the previews they showed Kate and Sawyer running in the jungle. So, you knew they got away. They gave away that payoff.
Carlton Cuse: Well, there it is. Well, all l can say is, l think I've learned something today.
Josh Holloway: I've learned something. I'm not very good at commentary in the morning.
Evangeline Lilly: I've learned about Carlton's process of seeing his writing through and performing it out with the actors. l didn't realize you guys rehearsed sex scenes together, good information.
Carlton Cuse: Has to be a carrot to go with the stick.
Josh Holloway: Now you understand why they're so tight. Yeah.
Carlton Cuse: Well, thank you guys and we'll talk to you again sometime soon.
Josh Holloway: Enjoyed it. Bye.