Handbag.com (2006)
Lost star Matthew Fox talks about what it’s like being a celebrity again, and how skinny-dipping is a great way to bond with your workmates!
You found fame on the US TV show ‘Party of Five’ which ran from 1994 to 2000 - what did you get up to between that finishing and ‘Lost’ starting?
That first experience with ‘Party of Five’ was really amazing. It did a lot for me as an actor. But I was also really new to the business at that time. ‘Party of Five’ was so successful in the US and the attention that was put on me at the time, I was a little uncomfortable with it and, you know, I just didn’t really know how to deal with it. There was a process in I which I had to go through sort of figuring out how I was going to approach this business and what the whole sort of celebrity aspect of it was going to mean to me and how I was going to play that.
I kind of dropped out a little bit after ‘Party of Five’. I felt it was important that I put that character and that story behind me a bit and let people sort of forget about Charlie Salinger. I wanted them to sort of forget about that and then come back doing different roles. ‘Party of Five’ was the first thing that I really did, everybody was advising me to jump on the wave. You know, you gotta get it while you’re hot, and I didn’t feel ready for that at that time. I didn’t feel ready as an actor. I felt I was still pretty green at the time, and I had a lot to learn. And I didn’t feel ready personally.
I went back to the theatre and did a couple of plays and just kind of really made it small and focused on the craft of the work, which I love and respect so much. Then I did a series called ‘Haunted’, which was a really calculated choice. I mean creatively, that show, I’m very proud of it. I thought it was very well done. I thought it was incredibly scary. But it was also a role that I chose to do because he was so dark and edgy and really a man of action. You know, commercially, it didn’t do well, and that was fine. It didn’t really upset me.
So how are you coping with the level of fame you’re at being on one of the biggest shows on TV?
I’m enjoying it completely. I’m really, really having a great time. I’m having more fun in the business and the work than I’ve ever had. And it’s very surprising to me how much the show has blown up so quickly. I always believed that the show was amazing, that it would do very well, but you know 22 million people are watching our show, so it’s, like, on a scale that I’m not used to!
So how has it been moving to Hawaii for ‘Lost’?
It’s fantastic. You know, I have a family. I have a wife and two children. I just pick the spot where I’m going to be the most, and that’s where everybody’s going to be. I couldn’t do it any other way. You know, it’s tough, my daughter had to change schools and those are things as parents obviously that become the most important issues that you’re going to be up against. Is she going to make the transition well? Is she going to adjust well? And she’s been fantastic.
How old is your daughter?
She’s seven. Seven going on 25!
Do you think Kate and Jack are ever going to consummate their attraction for each other?
I think, clearly, that’s something that the show’s going to work towards. You know, there’s a lot of obstacles between that, just who they are as people. But there’s obviously a really deep attraction that neither one of them can get past. So I think that’s something that will be worked towards on the show. I guarantee it. But the thing that I think that we’re always conscious of on the show is that the whole idea of romance in these circumstances is something that has to be really carefully dealt with. I think the minute this show veers into too much romance, in this big sort of epic scope, you know, it starts to feel a little bit untrue. It’s tricky.
There’s something really interesting about people that are in really intense circumstances needing that kind of physical thing and needing those relationships. I mean the stuff between Jack and Kate is, like, there’s so much going on. Jack’s got so much on his mind and trying to control so many things and deal with so many issues. But he’s drawn to her, so it’s tricky. It’s just tricky. You have to be delicate with it when it starts to feel a little forced.
What were your initial theories of the creatures on the island?
I don’t have any idea! You know, I really love it that way. I think J.J. and Damon are really, really smart about keeping the actors in the dark. They don’t want us to know any more than our characters would know. Somebody asked me that this morning whether I had a physical picture in my head of what this creature looks like. I’m the kid who my parents told me, ‘Your Christmas presents are in our closet and will be there for the next three months. Don’t look there,’ and I said, ‘Okay.’ And I never ever thought about it again. I never thought, ‘I should go and look.’ Never. It is like, okay, you told me not to look. I won’t go look. J.J. and Damon said, ‘It’s a monster. It’s a thing. We’re not going to tell you. Don’t think about it. Don’t worry it. You’ll find out eventually.’ And I went, ‘okay. Gone. Gone from my head.’
So how long do you think they can last without revealing the monster?
I think they can go the whole way without revealing the monster! And I think that if anybody’s watching the show because they’re just dieing to find out what the monster is, they’re in for a very, very long haul! Literally. The monster is there. Fear is created by the unknown, and so the minute we get to see the monster and the minute we get some sort of solid picture of what the monster is… I mean the monster is in everybody’s imagination now. Everybody is creating their own picture of what this thing is or what these things are, you know. And so that’s where the most amount of tension and fear is created, and the minute we start to give them a picture that’s spoiling their imagination, then we’re not telling story the way we should be telling story.
So, we hear you like skinny-dipping…
I like to take my clothes off! What can I say? You know, we’re in Hawaii! I mean I’ve always been somebody that just enjoyed warm-water conditions and also instigating other people to skinny-dip. And I think that’s really fun and sort of a bonding experience, obviously, and sort of a trust experience in some way and it’s just fun. And we’re in Hawaii. I mean come on. There’s no better place to do that kind of thing! And this is a show in which we were all sort of thrust into a really dramatic situation and having to bond and create personal relationships both on-screen and off-screen pretty quickly. And I felt that that was always a good thing to sort of get things going. There’s a method behind the madness. Trust me!
