Tue, 2 Feb '10

GCD Exclusive Interview: Lost’s Terry O’Quinn

With the season premiere just hours away, the veteran actor reveals some clues for the show’s final episodes

GCD: When did you find out that Locke coming back from the dead was actually, presumably, Jacob’s nemesis?
Terry O’Quinn: I found out when I got the script that explained who I was and what I was. Jacob did say to me at the end of the last season, “I see you’ve found your loophole.” So he’s speaking as someone that we, as an audience, assume is the man in black. The John Locke that we knew is in fact dead and gone. That was a more of a gradual realization over the course of the summer that I don’t think I’m going to be that person any more.

GCD: Was that a tough thing? This was such a big role for you.
O’Quinn: It wasn’t a tough thing because I’m still employed. [Laughs] I’m still working with the same people and I’m still, in fact, playing a version of that person and so it’s an exciting possibility to be playing the same body and the same voice and get to incorporate another personality as either subtly or dramatically as I’m willing and prepared to try.

GCD: How would you compare this upcoming season to last season?
O’Quinn: This one has been different than any of them because I’ve felt a little bit more isolated than others. Not, in a bad way but, just character-wise. Not that I don’t see people. I mean, I went and had dinner with Michael last night and I can see people when I want to but the character is more isolated.

Want more insight from the actors on the final season of Lost? Click here for a GCD exclusive interview with Michael Emerson, aka Ben Linus.