CusickGallery.net: Henry Ian Cusick

Huge thanks to Wendy for transcribing the interview for us!!

ODI: Appreciate you all coming back, and today we have the wonderful Henry Ian Cusick who plays Desmond, the time-traveling flash-sideways-traveling character. How’s it going, Ian? Thank you for joining us.

Ian: Thank you for having me. It’s going pretty good.

ODI: I know you’re a busy guy and you’ve been busy traveling through time so we really appreciate it. I must say that your portrayal of Desmond, for me, and I know for a lot of fans, has just been awesome, and I know you were initially signed to be I think only on the show for a few episodes, but that grew to of course this role. Did you have any sort of clue, did they indicate on any sort of level that, hey, you’re gonna have a much larger piece of the puzzle than just playing a guest role?

Ian: No, no, um, I was signed up for three episodes way back whenever, three, four, five years ago, and that was it, and that was all I expected, and the part has grown into this…to what it is now. It happened not only for me but for Michael Emerson. I think it happened for him. I don’t know how many he was signed up for, but for me no, it was just three episodes and it was just one of those fortunate things for me that everything seemed to click, um, I enjoyed being on the island, I enjoyed working with the people I was working with. It just seemed like one of those strange, easy fits and, um, there was a rumor of me coming back, and when there was I was just delighted that it worked out for me, and in a strange way I kind of think that I sort of, I wanted it so much or I thought about it so much or I dreamt about it that I sort of helped make it happen I think. I do believe in visualization of things and I sort of feel that I, my wife and I sort of made this gig happen. This is a dream job. You don’t get jobs like this very often and I’ll be sad to see it go but I’ll still remain, live in Hawaii. I love living here, and it’s just been a beautiful part of my life.

ODI: Good, yeah, a lot of fans were wondering what your plans were, were you planning to stay in Hawaii…

Ian: Yeah, we’re gonna stay. Yeah, I love it here, you know, and there’s no point leaving yet unless I have another job to go to, which I don’t, so I’m just gonna stay here. My family’s here, my boys are very happy at school, we’re all happy with life here, and should anything turn up then we’ll make that decision about when we’re gonna go. I think we’ll stay for another year, certainly until my eldest son finishes high school, graduates from high school.

ODI: Good. So no plans currently right now for after, post-Lost, any other…

Ian: No, no, nothing. You know, there were a couple of things that came through but because we were all tied in to the schedule that we’re tied in to we couldn’t, um, I think not only for me but for a few other actors offers had come through but timing-wise it just didn’t work out. I’m so delighted the way it’s worked out, that I’m here at the season finale and getting to work on the final episodes of the show, I’m just very proud.

ODI: How about a spinoff with Desmond traveling through alternate timelines? I think that would work really well.

Ian: You know, um, sometimes I sort of wonder could they do that, or carry on certain characters. I think that you know this character, and all the characters from this, are finished with Lost, and it’s time to move on and do different things. You know, look back on this and say you know I think it’s time to move on. Much as I’ve loved playing it…

ODI: I think the fans just dream for wanting to have the show somehow continue in some form. Now, Desmond and Penny’s relationship seems to be probably the one romance that stands above and beyond all the other romances and couples, and very similarly your Desmond-centric episodes also stand above and beyond at least for fans and myself in general. How does it feel to have a relationship that is so well-received and stronger, and yet you guys have hardly played any time on screen together?

Ian: I think that’s a really interesting question, and it’s not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about for fear of jinxing it. If I try and analyze it too much and think, “Well, what did we do?” and then trying to recreate that. A lot of the things that just happened, it’s been down to the writing, it’s been down to Sonya and [my] relationship, where we get on well but it’s never, you know, it’s just, we’re friendly and everything, but I was never aware of the chemistry. People would say, “That’s great chemistry,” and I’m thinking, “Really? Wow, we’re just nothing off camera, we’re just, you know we’re friendly but,…,” so it’s one of those things that I’m scared of talking about or discussing because I think, oh if I have to do something else, will I be thinking about it, will I jinx

it, will I ruin it? As for the Desmond episodes, I’ve been super lucky. I guess I haven’t had much screen time, as much as other characters have had screen time. My episodes have been not only well-received but extremely well-written I think, especially I was very impressed with the writing of “Happily Ever After.” I think it’s very subtle, and I think, I really enjoyed that they gave me somewhere else to go, which again was a very subtle thing. It wasn’t the old Desmond with his eyes popping out of his head, although there was a little bit of eye popping at the beginning, but a lot of it was more introspective, and he didn’t seem,…, he was a very shallow, unhappy for most of it until he finds his love Penny at the end, but I think the episode was just very subtly written with a lot of clues in it, and the writers have always done this for Desmond’s character. I have no idea why, but, you know, I’m very thankful, and it’s been a great role to play.

ODI: Well, I want to talk a little bit about “Happily Ever After,” but before we get to that, “The Constant” obviously is one of the fan favorites, it pretty much ranks at least on several fans either at least top five if not the best episode. For me personally it’s one of my favorites, and I think the phone-call scene is what sealed the deal. The emotion and the buildup, the fact that it was something unique and different and new. How was it to film that scene? I know you guys were not on screen together really to do that.

Ian: No we weren’t. When I,…, what’s interesting about that, when I played that scene it was near about the end of the day I remember. We were…there was a slight sense of pressure because we were getting to the end and we really wanted to get that scene done, and I was reading my lines with a script supervisor, Diane, and I remember Tommy Lohmann was filming and Casey was doing the dolly, and when I was filming it I could hear Tommy talking to Casey. “Move this way.” “No, move…” Because, you know, we do that, they do that, you know, sometimes they might actually physically move you, or they’ll whisper things under their breath. So it was a scene where I remember shooting it thinking this isn’t ideal, or the way I’d like it to be done. I would much rather have it with Sonya and to be quiet, and not have the pressure of knowing it’s the end of the day. But that’s the thing about acting, and the thing about Lost, it’s just, it all just came together. I saw it, somebody sent me a link to it, they wanted me to see it, it was dubbed into Spanish and–Elena from Lost punto net sent me, and she said look at this, the Spanish actor, and he did a great job in dubbing it, I think, “How does he…?,” because I stutter so much when I speak, but how on earth did he manage to mouth it, sync it with me? But anyway I saw it recently, and I hadn’t seen it for a long time, and the way it’s edited, and the music, Michael Giacchino’s music comes in and it plays beautifully, and then it’s edited with Sonya doing a great performance, and these things just come together. I mean, I knew when I did it, after I filmed it I was happy with what I did and with the pressure, it was just one of those things, we were very fortunate to get it. Everything came together to make that scene, and I did like it when I saw it again, um, when I first saw it, it was a little bit schmaltzy but looking back on it I thought it was right, as schmaltzy as it was, but I’m still very proud of it.

ODI: Well it’s a testament to both of your guys’ acting, of course the writing, and then of course the editing and the whole crew in general just put that scene together and it worked really well. Now, I want to talk about “Happily Ever After.” It seems to me and a lot of fans that at this point Desmond seems to be very enlightened at the end of this episode, and he’s pretty much one, if not the key to solving this big mystery and winning the game. My question is, do you think that the alternate-timeline Desmond that we see in the limo and then now the one that’s on the island when Sayid [go away], do they have some sort of bond in the sense like if you gain information of what you’re doing on-island, will it automatically be in the alternate Desmond’s mind as well? Is that what we should believe and assume now?

Ian: I think what happened was, when he was hit with the electromagnetism on the island, he’s thrown into the sideways, and where he discovers in the sideways, you see him how he discovers the island life. So now he’s aware of both. He’s very aware that something is wrong, something’s not right, and he’s on a mission now, not only in the sideways but on the island, to do what he thinks is best. To do what he thinks is the right thing. Whatever that may be.

ODI: So if he learns something in one world, will his other world immediately know? Is it two Desmonds that are bonded together?

Ian: I don’t think that they’re aware of every single thing, you know what I mean? You know, he’s not aware of things that have happened, but I think he is aware that they’re working together. It’s the same person, but they’re working together to know what they have to do to fix this thing that they have to fix, but they have to do what they think is right.

ODI: So what is his ultimate game plan here then? I mean, we know he’s on a mission. He wants the flight manifest. I assume and we assume that he basically wants to do what Charlie did to him and do it with the other Losties. Is that what we pretty much are led to believe, that this is his mission now, he wants to make them remember what love is, or that they have a different life that was on the island?

Ian: I think that’s about right. I think he wants to wake them up in a certain, to a certain extent, and to show them, he wants to show them something. But whether it’s the island or whether it’s something else, he just wants to show them, he knows something. What’s,…, with that [awakening] that he’s had, he’s felt something. He knows that something is wrong and he has to fix that wrong. He has to do what he thinks is right. Now whether it’s him showing them the island or showing them what,…, but whatever it is, you find out, and he’s on that mission to do that.

ODI: OK. Now, the underwater scene that you guys did with Dominic obviously brought back a lot of memories to the previous season when he had that “Not Penny’s Boat.” But this time around it was so much more chilling, and yet it was also a very big reveal. I just want to commend both of you guys for doing that scene. How was it to film that scene? We have a lot of spoilers and set reports on our site, and there [was] a lot of set reports that, OK, this car does go into the marina, but nobody knew what took place under the water, so it was a great scene to have play out on the show.

Ian: Right. Well, yeah, when we did the stunt, Mike Trisler, he got kind of injured actually. It was kind of a scary moment. The first time we did it, the car was supposed to land on its wheels and sink that way, but what happened was it flipped over, and it was very dark. Mike couldn’t find his exit, and it was kind of the first time I’ve ever seen a stunt where I was actually scared for the stunt guy. For a second I thought, “Oh my God, this is not how it was supposed to be,” and Mike’s been under there a long time. As it turned out, Mike couldn’t find his regulator, and he managed to get out ’cause he can hold his breath for like four minutes or something, he’s a normal stunt guy, but it was kind of a worrying moment, but the rest of the scene we shot in the tank at the studio. Dominic is a certified diver. What we did was, we went, and he was, Dominic was great in the scene. He, basically, you’d go under the water with a regulator, take a breath, give the regulator to the divers who are around, and then shoot the scene. I don’t like being in enclosed spaces so for me getting in there was a little bit scary, but once it was in there it was fine. We’d spent a lot of time doing it. I spent, it felt like a long time under water, you know coming back, up and down. It was only about 12 to 15, 12 feet I guess up and down. It was quite a tiring day, but it certainly made me want to get my certification for diving. I think I’d like, that’s the next thing I’d like to do.

ODI: Well you’re in the perfect place.

Ian: Oh yeah, I am.

ODI: A lot of fans had sent in questions, and one was, was it satisfying to you as it was for us to watch you smashing Widmore with the IV stand over the head? I mean, he’s been so mean to you over the several seasons.

Ian: [I only went], because it was the least mean he’d been to me. I mean, he was actually very reasonable. You know, he was really being kind of sincere, saying I’m sorry I brought you back to the island but, you know, and then I hit him over the head with the IV. The way I was looking, I was looking at it purely from a technical point of view, and thinking I wanted it to be more aggressive, uh, I really wanted to have that moment when he says that, when I snap and just hit him as hard as I can with that thing. I thought it was gonna be a little more guttural, I don’t know, something more,… But yeah, it’s hard for me to watch it in that sense, you know, I’m watching it for other things.

ODI: It came across really well and I think all of us as fans were like, “Nice. Awesome. Finally, Desmond gets some payback.”

Ian: Thank you.

ODI: Now, with you being kind of absent over the last season, and the beginning of this season, now with Desmond on a mission we’re really hoping to see him a little bit more the rest of the season. Are you able to confirm how many more episodes you might appear in, or should we expect as fans to see a lot of Desmond as, you know, Desmond fans are hoping for?

Ian: Right. I think, you know, I certainly turn up again. We have what, five or six episodes left. I turn up again both on the island and in flash sideways. It’s spotted all over the place. It’s not gonna be another “Happily Ever After,” obviously that was my centric episode and that’s the bulk of what I do. From here on in there’s other characters that will step up and we’ll see what they have to do for us to get to where we have to get to, so it’s gonna be about, it’s not about one character, it’s about the whole, all of us getting to where we have to get to.

ODI: OK. So, one of the biggest questions that fans always send in and write in about is the vision that Desmond had about Claire leaving in the helicopter…

Ian: [I did the lines.] I know, this is one of the things, uh, I remember when we jumped in the helicopter, I remember when Daniel Faraday brought all the survivors to the freighter, and Yunjin came up with the baby, and Claire wasn’t there. I remember thinking, “There’s something wrong here.” I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, ’cause we were getting in the helicopter, and I thought, “Oh, I, ’cause I said to Charlie, Claire will get on the helicopter with the baby,” and the fans jumped all over that one. And I don’t know if that will be…I don’t know how…did Desmond lie, or did he get it wrong? To be honest, I just do not know, and I don’t know if at this stage of the game, it’s that important. We have bigger fish to fry. I mean, maybe if we could get something that would be great, but if not, let’s move on, and you’ve gotta…it’s like life, maybe I got it wrong.

ODI: So, there’s a couple of fun questions that were sent in. One was sent in saying, what does McCutcheon’s taste like?

Ian: It tastes like colored water.

ODI: Well that’s a shame. But that’s actually kind of funny because isn’t whiskey, what is it, water of life?

Ian: Uisge beatha, the water of life. Yeah, but real whiskey has more of a kick to it, and it’s very flat, no kick to it.

ODI: Right. Others have sent in the question, have you actually read “Our Mutual Friend,” the book, and will we see Desmond, is that something that you’d like to see happen, or will we see that happen, read “Our Mutual Friend”? I mean, hopefully not because he said that’s the last thing he’ll read before he passes on.

Ian: Right. Right, it’s a little bizarre thing, the last thing I do before I die is gonna be…what a strange thing to envisage that you can do something, the last thing,…, how do you know, when do you know you’re gonna, you know,…, he should’ve read it by now, don’t you think? You know, just be prepared. If that’s what he said, he should’ve read it by now. Oh, have I ever read it? No, I haven’t.

ODI: I see. Now, I have a couple of podcast partners, and one thing one of them always likes to ask of our guest is, if you were actually stranded on an island, and you, your character of course has a lot of experience with this, but if you were stranded, what three things would you bring to the island?

Ian: Matches, a two-way radio, and, I was gonna say my wife but I don’t think that’s very fair on her so,… a sailboat. Can I bring a sailboat? No, I can’t bring that,… and a musical instrument of some sort.

ODI: I see. Oh, that’s a good one. Now pretty much our final question, with the show ending, and we know that it’s pretty much wrapping here, are you personally as an actor satisfied with the ending that you’ve gotten for your character Desmond, or perhaps even the show? I know some of the characters, or some of the actors don’t even get all the script pages, so I’m not asking for the end of the show or anything like that.

Ian: It’s not that we don’t get the script pages. What happens is that we…all the actors have a script that goes up to, there’s 11 acts to it, and we have a script that goes up to the 10th act. No actor has the 11th act, to my knowledge, although strangely enough I think publicity do, so we don’t know what’s happening in the final act, which we’re gonna film I think soon. So far, it’s all great. I really like what’s happening, but we still need the final act for it to be resolved. We still don’t know how it’s gonna…and I’ve heard that even with the final act, you still need…no one has, there’s like a missing scene that explains everything. So it’s gonna come down to one final scene. So that’s how crazy this is, that it comes down to one scene.

ODI: Do you think that’s totally wild, that six seasons of a TV show come down to one scene still?

Ian: I just can’t wait to see the scene.

ODI: Neither can we.

Ian: I know. Can you imagine it? You’ll be looking at it and go, “Huh?” “Oh my God.”

ODI: What’s gonna happen after that scene is the Lost word comes on–Boom–and everyone’s gonna be like, Oh my God, what just happened? Well, I know you’re short on time, but this is your opportunity to really speak out to the fans. Our podcast [is] on a lot of fansites that pick it up. Is there some final words or anything you would like to tell the fans?

Ian: I want to say thank you to my fans. I have this group of fans, the sistahs, Mianne, Karen, I wish I could remember all their names. They’ve become like family friends. I get emails from them all the time, met a whole bunch of them, we’ve gone for lunch. They are just the most brilliant fans. I just want to say thank you to all of them. When there have been charities that I support, they’ve supported them. I wanted to help out with a theatre that I start…, I worked with back home in Scotland where I first started working that’s in danger of closing down. They were sending support for that. My wife is on the board of HTY, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and my fans have sort of sent donations, so I just want to say thank you to all of them. They’ve been absolutely fantastic, and they’ve been so supportive of me and everything that I’ve done over the few years playing Desmond. So I just want to say thank you to all of them.

ODI: Thank you. Really appreciate that. Now you mentioned a charity. Is that something you might want to mention to the rest of the fans out there, or something you’re working on as far as we can maybe get some support for that?

Ian: Well, it’s the Ramshorn. It’s a theatre. It’s called Strathclyde Theatre Group. It’s where I started doing theatre, and so did actors like David Tennant. This was before I went to drama school, and even after I went to drama school, and it’s in danger of closing down, and they’re trying to save the building. I don’t think–it’s not that they need money, they just need support and stopping people from shutting it down. Thank you for that.

ODI: You’re most welcome. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule. I really look forward to seeing how it all plays out, and for Desmond to have a huge role and to survive ’til the end, and maybe be a part of that secret final scene because it will be awesome, and thanks very much.

Ian: My pleasure. Thanks a lot. Good talking to you.

ODI: Nice talking to you too, Ian.

Ian: Thank you, mate. Cheers.

ODI: Bye bye.