CusickGallery.net: Henry Ian Cusick

Reminder to the fans and friends in the UK that Sky1 is simulcasting tonite’s finale – it will be on the air Monday morning at 5am!

Scots star of Lost admits he hasn’t got a clue as fans ready for climax

May 23 2010 Steve Hendry, Sunday Mail

TTHE end is in sight for Lost. After six mind-melting seasons, the cult show comes to an end with the finale now being aired in Britain at 5am tomorrow.

The simulcast – showing the two and a half hour episode as it is broadcast on America’s West Coast – is unprecedented scheduling by Sky 1. And it is being followed around the world by TV channels in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Turkey and Canada.

It means everyone will soon know the answers to the show’s mysteries… not least Scots star Henry Ian Cusick.

The 43-year-old actor has played the mysterious and charismatic Desmond Hume for five years, joining the cast in season two, but he admits he stopped asking questions about the show a long time ago.

He said: “I don’t try to figure it out any more. You just do your little bit and your character and concentrate on that.

“Early on I thought my character was a doctor and it turned out he was a monk, so that didn’t really help. It’s best to come at it with an open mind.

“I can’t tell you anything – and I probably would because I haven’t signed anything to say I can’t – but I really don’t know.

“I keep getting asked, ‘Does it answer every question?’ I don’t even know what the questions are anymore.”

While bleary-eyed fans will be glued to the TV screens – or trying to avoid any news until repeat showings at a more civilised hour – Ian, as he prefers to be known, will be counting his blessings for a series which has transformed his life.

He’s now an international star, key to some of the show’s biggest mysteries, with a home in Hawai i which he has no intention of leaving now Lost is over.

Five years ago, he was a struggling actor who had gone to LA for one lastditch attempt at becoming a star before giving it all up.

Then he landed a guest role on the show and it changed everything.

Desmond started offas a mystery man in the hatch frantically pressing numbers into a computer to stop disaster on the island which has become home to the crash survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.

In this final season he’s revealed to have an uncanny ability to survive electromagnetic catastrophes and is crucial to Charles Widmore’s plan for the island, whatever that may be.

Meanwhile, in a “flash sideways” plot to a parallel universe in which Oceanic 815 didn’t crash, Desmond is putting together clues to an alternate life, culminating in trying to kill island bogeyman Locke (Terry O’Quinn) in a hit and run.

Ian said: “Lost has asked a lot of big, interesting questions about faith and destiny. I’m not a big fan of time travel because it’s an easy escape. But Desmond is kind of travelling in his mind.

“I have loved doing the show but I am resigned to it ending. I’m looking forward to what Desmond has to do.”

Whatever Desmond’s destiny turns out to be Ian’s plans are keeping him rooted in Hawaii. When he landed his role as a series regular he moved his wife Annie and children Elias, 16; Lucas, 14; and 10-year-old Esau from Kent to live with him a few steps from a paradise beach.

He spent his own childhood in Trinidad and Tobago, where his father was a minister, until he moved back to Paisley at the age of 15, and he was keen to give his kids the same kind of sun-kissed experience he had enjoyed.

He said: “Before I got this job I wished I could give them what my father gave me, which was this sort of safe upbringing on an island. I only really appreciated it when we moved to Scotland and I thought, ‘Wow I had an idyllic childhood.’

“Now, by sheer luck, I have been able to give them the same thing.”

And it’s not just his boys who have benefited. After years of worrying where the next job was coming from Ian has finally learned to relax.

He said: “Before, I was always chasing the next job. Here I have been able to be with my family a lot more.

“I spend more time with my children than most fathers are able to and that has been important.

“I know all that will change when I have to start going to auditions. I don’t know if I will have this time again.”

But he is determined that his home will stay in Hawaii. Los Angeles is just a five hour flight away and he’s hoping he will be able to work in US TV and movies without uprooting his family.

He said: “I’ve got the luxury of being able to pick and choose jobs.

“Before Lost I had to take every job I was offered. Now I can go, ‘Maybe not’ but I still have to get a job.”

It’s been two years since he has been back to Scotland but he is planning to visit his family this summer.

But it will only be temporary. At the moment, even without Lost, Hawaii is where his heart is.

He said: “When I first came I fell in love with Hawaii pretty much immediately. People say you get tired of it so I am surprised I haven’t fallen out of love with it.”

Lost: The End is on Sky1 at 5am tomorrow. It will be repeated on Tuesday at 9pm and in its usual slot on Friday at 9pm.

Castaways adrift on an island of mystery series

Series 1

Oceanic 815 crashes on the island. The survivors, led by Dr Jack Shephard work together to avoid an unseen creature in the jungle, and the mysterious “Others” before finding a hatch buried in the ground and blowing it open.

Series 2

The survivors explore the hatch, which was manned by Desmond, discovering the existence of the sinister DHARMA Initiative. Michael betrays the other castaways to save his son Walt and leave the island.

Series 3

The survivors are captured by the Others and Jack is forced to operate on their leader Ben. At a critical point, he threatens to kill him to allow Kate and Sawyer to escape.

Series 4

The survivors deal with the arrival of a rescue group from a freighter who have come to the island with ulterior motives while Locke manages to moves the island at the request of the mysterious Jacob. The Oceanic Six – Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and baby Aaron – finally manage to escape the island.

Series 5

Ben tries to get the Oceanic Six to return to the island. Thanks to a series of time jumps they land back in 1977, where Jack is sets out to detonate a nuclear bomb. Locke, meanwhile, sets out on his own mission – to kill island guardian Jacob.

Series 6

Flight 815 is shown successfully landing in Los Angeles with no crash on the island and Jack, Kate, and Co resume their lives. At the same time, a parallel life back on the island after the bomb explodes reveals Locke to be the human form of Jacob’s twin brother, The Man In Black – and the smoke monster.