Shows like Lost have transformed television for the better. The series became appointment viewing almost immediately, surprising everyone, including the cast. Collider’s Maggie Lovitt recently hosted a panel at FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention featuring star Ian Somerhalder. While fans recognize him from his role in <em>The Vampire Diaries</em>, Somerhalder first gained fame while stranded on a remote island in the hit series Lost. When a fan asked him about his favorite experience working on the show, Somerhalder shared his thoughts.
“Let me tell you about my not-favorite experience on Lost: dying,” Somerhalder said. “Getting killed. Because I was so proud. I was doing this panel thing with J.J. Abrams, and I was like, ‘I was the first one cast, and then I was the first one killed.'” Somerhalder elaborated on filming the hit series during a time when television was evolving positively. “In 2004, when this show premiered, ABC had a long [string] history of not many great hits. The guy who was running the network, Lloyd Braun, who I consider a brother and love dearly, was literally fired in the middle of us shooting our pilot for Lost.
However, Somerhalder noted that Braun had also greenlit three television shows during his tenure that would change television forever: Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, and Lost. “Three shows that literally changed network television, all on the same network, airing two nights around each other. You know what I mean? And he was fired in the middle of it. We were like, ‘Oh, what is going to happen to our show?’ At that time, Lost had the most expensive pilot ever made for television,” costing nearly $14 million to produce. Somerhalder remarked that this experience bonded the cast together. “We were united; there were 13 or 14 series regulars, no egos. Yet. [laughs] No, that was just an incredible bonding experience.”
Ian Somerhalder Recalls the First ‘Lost’ Table Read
Lost, for many viewers, was the show that made them fall in love with television. It became appointment viewing and continues to be discussed today. Even actors like Somerhalder, who appeared only in Season 1, are still frequently asked about it. Years later, Somerhalder vividly recalls sitting at the first table read for the series. “And I remember sitting there at the first table read, shooting the pilot with Damon [Lindelof] and JJ, […] people who feel like family, you know? They provided us with digital camcorders to film everything while we did this table read, and I thought, ‘Wow, we made it. This is… I don’t know how this thing is going to do, but this is huge.’
Somerhalder continued, “Then we launched this thing, but we weren’t scheduled for the fall season due to changes at ABC. The new guy coming in said, ‘Forget that.’ And Damon and JJ responded with ‘Forget you, we’ll go anyway. Put it on the schedule,’ so Josh Holloway and I were on his boat waiting for the call,” Somerhalder recounted. “We fished all day without receiving a call, thinking ‘Oh no, the show’s not going.’ Then we finally got it. And then this thing launched.”
Somerhalder describes the premiere of Lost as a two-part experience. Initially, he tried not to get “too excited” because the show could fail quickly. However, he noted that it just “built and built.” He explained that while filming together on an island with such a massive hit show, they didn’t hear or feel any outside noise because they were isolated on an island, and it was incredible. Shooting scenes with Terry O’Quinn, my brother Matthew Fox, and the entire cast was unforgettable. […] During one table read session, all our trailers were positioned on a mountain overlooking the beach. Josh Holloway remarked, ‘Damn man, I grew up in a freaking trailer wanting to move to Hollywood, and now I’m living in another one…but it’s on a mountain with an ocean view.’ And then the rest is history.”
How Did ‘Lost’ Help Ian Somerhalder Prepare for ‘The Vampire Diaries’?
The success of a show like Lost can easily go to anyone’s head, but Somerhalder’s character met an early demise in the series. Fortunately for him, he found his next big hit a few years later: The Vampire Diaries. With one successful show under his belt before moving onto this one, Lovitt asked Somerhalder how Lost prepared him for what would ultimately be an 8-season run on the hit CW show.
“It’s called eating the most enormous slice of humble pie. Humility is your best friend,” Somerhalder stated. “Think about Achilles. If you don’t see humility coming your way, it will find you eventually.” He recounted leaving Hawai’i to work on a major film with Harvey Weinstein, while Weinstein and his brother Bob Weinstein, were still managing their company. He reflected that everything went downhill from there but it led him to reconsider his network television roles. He returned to LA saying “Screw this network television stuff.” Ultimately though, that’s not how things turned out.
“I had to hunker down and take a massive amount of humble pie when my agent sent me this script,” he explained. The script was for The Vampire Diaries. Initially describing it as “Twilight on TV,” he eventually secured help from then acting coach Taylor Sheridan, allowing him to beat out 400 other actors for the role—and thus began his journey.
You can catch Somerhalder in Season 1 of Lost on streaming platforms. Stay tuned at Collider for more updates.
