Matthew Fox shares thoughts on divisive Lost ending in rare interview about hit series
Matthew Fox has issued rare comments on the hit US drama Lost, 15 years after it ended.
The actor played heroic spinal surgeon Jack Shephard on the ABC series that follows survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 whose plane crashed on a mysterious island.
Lost became a ratings winner upon its release in 2004 and, over six seasons, generated a cult fanbase to rival that of Star Trek and The X-Files.
Fox, who this week returns to TV in Kick Gurry's Australian comedy show Caught, has now reflected on his time starring in Lost during a rare interview with The Independent.
'I've never actually watched the show all the way through – I've seen episodes,' the actor, 58, admitted.
'At that time in my life, I was not keen on watching myself on screen. I felt like it was somehow going to corrupt my work. I don't really feel as intensely now about that as I did.'
Fox's character was at the centre of some of the show's biggest twists and turns, and the actor recalled how he'd be blindsided by such developments while speaking to the show's co-creator Damon Lindelof ahead of each season.
'I would always have a conversation with Damon at the beginning of each year and he'd sort of map out Jack's arc for the season.
'He wasn't mapping that out for me to get notes; he was just mapping that out, kinda like, 'This is what your journey's gonna be.' And inevitably, there'd be stuff coming along in the script, 'cause he hadn't given me a beat-by-beat play out of the season, where I'd be like, 'Woah, holy s*** – that's a turn that I didn't see coming.' And all kinds of other storylines I wasn't involved in.
He said he had 'faith' in The Leftovers and Watchmen creator Lindelof's vision, stating: 'I trusted that it was all gonna work out and it was all gonna make sense.'
The show's finale, which aired in May 2010, led to many incorrect assumptions about the fate of the show's ensemble. While the ending has its supporters, some viewers decried the fact that some key questions weren't answered, which has made it one of the most divisive conclusions to a show in TV history. But Fox counts himself as a fan.
'That was clearly Damon Lindelof's intention. He wanted it to be something that could be interpreted by every single person's relationship with the show. The people that were frustrated by the fact they weren't given the answers to why there was a polar bear on the island are missing the point a little bit.
'But for them to believe that six years of mysteries and asking questions were going to be wrapped up in the final two hours of the show, or even the last half of the last season – that's not how Damon wanted to do it'
Fox, whose other credits include the Wachowskis adventure Speed Racer and violent Western Bone Tomahawk, said that his feelings about the show remind him of his children as he and his wife Margherita Ronchi relocated to Hawaii when they were much younger
'For me, when I look back on it now, it feels like a chapter in my life where the thing I remember the most about it is where our kids were during that period of time.
'When we went to Hawaii, they were really young – our son was two and our daughter was eight – and they were moving from southern California to an island in the South Pacific. So they're still really connected to that place. It was almost a foundational part of their life and so that's mainly how I reflect on it.'
However, he acknowledged that the 'legacy of the show is pretty incredible' and said he is continually 'blown away' by the fan response.
'I do think it's a show that will stand up over time,' he said. 'Considering where it takes place and what it's really about philosophically, it feels like it doesn't get dated quickly. I'm so grateful to have had the experience. It was great and I'm glad people are still finding it.
'With the way streaming works and the way you can find these shows on these platforms, there are new groups of people coming to the show constantly and I think that's going to continue. There are new people finding it all the time.'
Caught is released on ITVX on 1 June. Lost is also available to stream on ITVX as well as Netflix and Disney+.
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Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
'Gibby, meet Freddie' revisited: Joe Davis on broadcasting and calling an epic World Series
Joe Davis isn't sure if it will ever fully sink in that his voice, much like Vin Scully's on Kirk Gibson's iconic blast, will forever be the soundtrack to one of the biggest moments in World Series history. Even seven months later, it still does not feel real. "I'm still the kid from Potterville, Michigan, who dreamt of doing this," the MLB on FOX broadcaster said earlier this week. But the more time that passes, the more Davis recognizes the magnitude of what transpired in Los Angeles on the evening of Oct. 25, 2024, when Freddie Freeman — 36 years after Gibson made the impossible happen — wrote a new chapter in Dodgers lore with his Game 1 walk-off grand slam. When people see Davis now, Freeman's hit and his call — "Gibby, meet Freddie" — are what they want to talk about. The same way that Freeman grew up dreaming of coming through in a moment like that, Davis grew up dreaming of narrating it. "The more distance I get from it, the greater appreciation I have for where the moment — and forget what I said or the call or anything — just where the moment stands in baseball history," Davis said. "It was impossible to fully appreciate that in the immediate aftermath, but the more distance I get from it, the more mind-blowing it is that I got to be in the chair for that moment. I'm, more and more, appreciating what that moment was." With the Dodgers and Yankees reuniting this weekend for the first time since the Fall Classic, and with FOX Sports celebrating its 30th season of MLB coverage this year, Davis discussed the call, the aftermath, Gibson's reaction, how he critiques and learns from his broadcasts, why a picture in his office reminds him that every night could be the one people talk about forever and much more. (Note: Some questions and answers may be edited for brevity and clarity.) Has it hit you yet that the same way we associate Vin's call on the Gibson homer, your voice and your call now will forever be linked to one of the biggest moments in World Series history? JD: "I don't know if it ever will. I swear, man. And I think that that's a good thing. That's kind of how I want it. I never want, and I talk to my kids about this all the time, too, let's never take for granted how cool it is to have the things we have and to do the things we do. I think that's a great example of that, where I can kind of practice what I preach to my kids. I'm still the kid from Potterville, Michigan, who dreamt of doing this. "In the same way Freddie stepped into the box and might not have thought to himself, 'This is the moment I've prepared my whole life for,' but you ask him now, yeah, that's the moment every baseball player dreams of having. I even said that right before he stepped in, on the broadcast, in the same way that that was the moment that he grew up dreaming of, as he stepped into the box, that's the moment I grew up dreaming of, too. So I don't lose that perspective. Because of that, it's hard to really wrap my mind around logically where that moment stands and what it means to be tied to that moment. I don't allow any of it to feel real. It's too crazy, too preposterous, for me to really allow it to feel real, even with the distance that we have." You mentioned using this moment kind of as a life lesson for your kids. As they get older, do they have an understanding for how big that moment was and an appreciation for what their dad got to do? JD: "Well they have the T-shirt, the 'Gibby, meet Freddie' T-shirt. Charlotte turns 9 in a couple weeks. Blake is 6, and Theo turns 4 on July 1. I think they see me get recognized a little bit more, and still it's often followed by the question, 'You know him?' More and more, they're like, 'Wait, no, they know you, don't they, Dad?' So, I think they see a little bit more of that. My daughter, she's always been mature for her age, so even when I got the World Series job in the first place, she seemed to have an appreciation — she was in like kindergarten at this point — she seemed to grasp what it meant to daddy to live his life dream. My son, the 6-year-old, is baseball obsessed. So, he gets what a big deal it is that I get to do the World Series. He gets it from that perspective. But I always tell them, too, 'Hey guys, this stuff's cool, but I'm just your dad. This is something I do, but this is not who I am. This stuff is amazing, we're so lucky that we have it, but I'm just your goofy daddy, right?' And the other thing is, they get it with their friends at school, 'I saw your dad on TV," and Blake's Little League teammates and things like that. But it's possible to embrace it and love it and realize how fortunate we are while at the same time be like, 'It's no big deal.' That's what we try to do." Everyone remembers the "Gibby, meet Freddie" part. I don't know if everyone caught the "she is gone" nod to Vin before it as well. It seemed like a pretty perfect call, but as someone who I'm sure is a perfectionist with this sort of thing, and now with months to reflect, is there anything you would have done differently? JD: "It's a great question. I stayed up, not through the night but lost a little sleep laying there asking myself that question —and this got blown out of proportion a little bit I think in the immediate aftermath when I did an interview talking about this — going back and critiquing it in my head. I'm always going to do that. That didn't mean I went back and was like, 'You stink, that wasn't good.' I just, I'm always going back trying to think about how maybe it could have been a little bit better. In the immediate aftermath, the one thing I had thought to myself was I know on Vin's call of the Gibby home run, his line that everybody talks about — 'In a year that has been so improbable' — that came after Gibby had rounded the bases. It was just, 'She is gone," and then a long layoff while he rounded the bases and even began the celebration at home, and then came Vin's line. So I thought to myself for a bit, went back and rewatched it, rewatched it, rewatched it, should 'Gibby, meet Freddie' have waited? Did I talk over the crowd? Did I talk over the moment? But that's just how I always am on my calls, whether it's that or something that happens this time of year. I go back and have fun looking at it that way, kind of picking it apart. I think what I decided is that having it right there, having the 'Gibby meet Freddie' line follow the 'She is gone,' it probably worked that way. Not that it wouldn't have worked otherwise." So, do you go back often then to listen and learn from your calls? Or, with so many games in a baseball season, do you prefer to kind of put it away afterward? JD: "Every night I watch the highlights, just to calibrate where I'm at energy level on them. I may, just to see, 'OK, I felt like I was really getting to the level I needed to be on Ohtani's home run today.' So, let's play the highlight while I still have that feeling fresh and let's see if it matched up. Let's see if the way I felt making that call translated, and if I was maybe a little flat or over the top, I take the memory of that feeling and try to apply it the next day. So I do the highlights each day, and I try to — once every week to 10 days — go back and do a deeper critique of myself and go back and listen to several innings of a game and take notes down, and I'll bring that piece of paper with those notes on what I want to work on, what I want to focus on and have that sit right in front of me for the next week up until I do the next critique." Freddie talked about this right after it happened. You have this big moment, but you need to win three more games or no one's going to care anymore. For you, you have this big moment, you mention you're laying in bed thinking about it, how do you unwind after something like that? And how odd is it to then immediately have to turn the page to another game? JD: "Yeah, so it was unique because it came in L.A., which is where I live. And I went back to my house, whereas usually in this business we're going back to the hotel. I went back to my house, and in my office there's one piece of artwork, and it is a picture of the moment Kirk Gibson leaves the on-deck circle to head up for his game-winning home run in '88. And you can see in the backdrop the umpire reaching into his shirt to pull out the line-up card and make the change, and the bigger backdrop is just the wall of people at Dodger Stadium. I've had it in my office as long as I've had my office, because it represents everything I love about the job. The next moment could be the moment. Big crowd in the background, thinking about the noise they make. So, I love that picture, and it's always been there. But to come back home and walk into my office, thinking like, 'Wow what just happened?' I hadn't thought about it on the drive home, what I was going to see when I sat down in my home office. But I sat down and looked up and was like, 'Oh man, that's right. Holy cow, that just happened again… I was there when it happened.' I didn't sleep great that night just because of the energy of having done that game. And then to your point, I'm up early the next day, 'OK, let's get ready for Game 2. This is amazing, but now let's go get ready for Game 2, and what's going to happen tonight?' But that's the core of what I love about this job, getting ready for the next game not knowing what you're going to see, knowing tonight could be the night you talk about forever each time." Do you know what Gibson thought about the call? Or what's the coolest feedback you've gotten since that moment? JD: "Oh, man, people have been so nice. Texted with Freddie that night, just the kind of guy he is, he probably had 9,000 text messages but he thought to text me. I talked to [Gibby on] Opening Day when he was there, and I actually had a couple people who had talked to him to do stories on the connection who had talked to him who then reached out to me and said, 'Hey, you should know, Gibby really thought your call was cool.' That's up there as far as the most special things I heard coming out of that, the fact that Gibby appreciated the call and took some enjoyment out of it. That was really neat." What are the difficulties that come with calling a World Series when you've been the broadcaster all year for one of the teams involved? JD: "The hardest part is kind of unlearning, or at least rewiring, everything I know about the team I cover every day. Because the way of presenting that team is totally different when you get to the national audience, especially in the postseason and the World Series, than it would be covering a regular season game. So reframing in my mind how I know that information and present that information takes time. Yeah, it's not a fun thing that everybody thinks you hate their team, but it's part of the territory. Then it gets amplified when one of the teams you cover on an everyday basis. So, I think that part of it, it stinks, but it's as big of a deal as you allow it to become, and I think the only way I know how to handle it is sort of bury my head in the sand on it. I know no matter who the teams are, it comes with the territory that half the audience is going to think you don't like their team and half the audience is going to think you don't like their team, and that's OK, right? These are the biggest games, where emotions are heightened. And it's what makes sports great, that people care that much. And, you know what, fine, if that's the tax you gotta pay to do this gig, I'm totally fine with it." I've gone too long without congratulating you on winning a sports Emmy for your play-by-play work. Now I've got to ask, winning an Emmy or having that World Series moment, what's the bigger accomplishment? JD: "Ooo, I don't know. I don't know if I win that Emmy if that moment doesn't happen. That's something in this business, specific to play-by-play announcing, there's a certain amount of luck in it in that the moment has to happen in front of you. I can't create that moment. I just have to be the lucky son of a gun that's sitting there when it happens to happen. Like we said earlier, what is going to go down as one of the great moments in sports history, I just happened to be the guy lucky enough to be sitting there." Lastly, I know calling a World Series was a dream of yours. You've obviously accomplished that. Is there anything left now on the Joe Davis bucket list? JD: "I'm doing everything I dreamt of doing and more. For me, it's just been some soul searching for how to keep pushing and growing within what I'm doing. For so much of my life, it's been these big dreams and striving to get there. Now that I've gotten to where I've always dreamt of going, how do I, within the confines of those jobs, bring people joy? How do I make each night something that people look forward to tuning into? Baseball's such a wonderful thing because it's every day, and it's something people can count on. I just spend a lot of time thinking about how I can, in my role, look at that as a responsibility to make people smile and bring them some joy, bring them a distraction if they need it, give them something to look forward to. Whatever little role I can play in their lives like that, I think that's a pretty special gift that my job has in it for me. That's something that, no matter how long I do this, I can keep leaning into and can give meaning to this job. So, no, there is nothing else I want to do. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing right now and be the best I can be at it." Experience the excitement of the Los Angeles Dodgers' unforgettable 2024 postseason journey. From their intense showdown with the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, to their clash with the New York Mets in the NLCS, and culminating in their epic World Series battle against the New York Yankees, the Dodgers' run is etched in history as one of the most legendary in MLB playoff lore. Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner . recommended Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kasatkina delivers 37-year first for Aussies in Paris
Daria Kasatkina has overcome the same feeling of burn-out that sank her fellow Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur at the French Open and now feels rejuvenated by reaching the fourth round at her "spiritual" tennis home at Roland Garros. On the venue's famed Simonne Mathieu 'greenhouse court', Australia's newest tennis recruit Kasatkina was left thrilled how her stagnant game suddenly bloomed in humid conditions on Saturday at her favourite slam with a 6-1 7-5 defeat of former world No.2 Paula Badosa. Kasatkina's victory on the sunken court at Serres d'Auteuil botanical garden, surrounded by its glass hothouses, conjured up the rare but sweet smell of Paris success for her adopted tennis home as, for the first time in 37 years, there'll now be an Aussie in both the men's and women's last-16 draws in the same year. In 1988, Nicole Provis, who went on to reach the semis, and Pat Cash both made the second week. Now the onus is on Kasatkina and Alexei Popyrin, who plays his fourth-round match against Tommy Paul on Sunday. On Monday, Kasatkina will face the game's young whizzkid Mirra Andreeva, her 18-year-old French-based Russian friend who was trouncing Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-1 on Court Suzanne Lenglen at the same time. The vlogging pals ended up sharing an ice bath after their early showcourt progress, and Kasatkina, in her first slam under the Australian flag, sounded as if a weight had been lifted from her following a tough spell when her form and motivation slumped. Echoing the lament of de Minaur, who said he was burnt out and mentally fatigued after his shock second-round loss, Kasatkina admitted it felt like a "super important" win for her. "It means a lot especially the last couple of weeks were a bit rough for me. I couldn't find myself on court, I felt a little bit flat, like with emotions and stuff," said the 28-year-old, whose form hasn't been great since she gained permanent Australian residency two months ago. "I felt little signs of burn-out or something like that. I'm really happy I got back on track here in Roland Garros, one of my favourite tournaments." Of de Minaur's complaints about the overcrowded schedule, she added: "I agree with Alex, because our schedule is pretty rough." "We have a completely packed schedule. It's not normal, but it can happen that the person who is travelling all around the world all the time giving their best, living the life of tennis player, sometimes can feel he's tired, that sometimes you are just not super excited to go on court. "I mean, this can happen. This is our job but I think everyone can relate that sometimes you don't want to wake up to go to your job. "Yeah, we are super lucky at having this opportunity to do what we love and get paid for it and travel around the world. It's a nice life, but sometimes when you give everything to something, you feel tired and you need some rest." But the 17th seed reckoned she felt much better on court, dominating the first set against an out-of-sorts world No.10 Badosa before having to dig deep when the Spaniard, with more firepower but little of Kasatkina's all-court guile and superb defence, dragged her into a "tense" second-set scrap. This triumph, still greeted by a standing ovation from the largely pro-Badosa crowd, was comfortably Kasatkina's best since her allegiance switch as she powered out to win eight of the first nine games, then nullified Badosa's biggest weapons, frustrating her into many of her 41 'unforced' errors. Kasatkina smiled about how she gets transformed when returning to Roland Garros where she was a semi-finalist in 2022, quarter-finalist in 2018 and the girls' champion in 2014. "The courts, amazing, super-good quality, the atmosphere. I won here as a junior. When this happens, it just stays forever in you and automatically the place becomes special. World No.17 returns to the Roland-Garros Last 16 for a box office encounter with Mirra Andreeva 👀#RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2025 "It's my 10th professional Roland Garros, every time I'm coming here, I feel comfortable. I know every corner of the stadium. I don't know how it works, honestly, on a spiritual level, but somehow this place, it's been always nice to me."
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
'King of the Hill' revival: Cast reveals what older Hank, Bobby, Peggy are up to now
'King of the Hill' revival: Cast reveals what older Hank, Bobby, Peggy are up to now Show Caption Hide Caption The most anticipated TV shows of 2025 USA TODAY TV critic Kelly Lawler shares her top 5 TV shows she is most excited for this year AUSTIN, TX – The 'King of the Hill' revival is really cooking with propane now. Hulu revealed that Season 14 of the former Fox series will debut Aug. 4, with all 10 episodes. The streamer also released an updated credits sequence illustrating what Hank Hill, his wife Peggy, their son Bobby and their friends in the fictitious Texas town of Arlen have been up to since signing off in 2010. The Hills moved, and their neighbors waited out a pandemic while social distancing in the alley. Later, the Hills returned, looking older from the years gone by. Co-creators Greg Daniels and Mike Judge, who also voices Hank Hill, joined executive producer Saladin Patterson and voice actors Pamela Adlon, Lauren Tom and Toby Huss onstage May 30 at the Paramount Theatre to tease the upcoming season during a panel for ATX TV Festival. 'Where it clicked for me,' Judge told an audience ready to yell memorable quotes, was "when we started talking about actually aging the characters and the idea of Hank, that they went to Saudi Arabia for a propane gig to retire off of. Ideas started coming in.' Seth Meyers grants closer look at his anxious writer brain: 'Always chewing its own nail' In a clip shared with fans, Hank is so happy to be back in Texas that he kisses the ground at the airport after his return flight. Now retired, Hank 'finds himself not having a job to go to every day,' Patterson said, so 'he's going to find things around the house to fix all the time, which may annoy his wife.' As for Peggy (Kathy Najimy), Patterson said, 'if there's a character who thinks that she can do anything and now she has the free time to do it, let's have some fun with what those anythings could be.' Bobby (Adlon), now in his 20s, is a successful chef at a German-sushi-fusion restaurant in Dallas. 'He's a hard worker; he learned from his parents,' Adlon said. 'It's almost like as an adult, he's become more centered and a little bit like his dad.' Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Hank's pal, Dale died in 2023 at 64. Hardwick will appear in six episodes of the revival, Judge told the crowd, and Huss is taking over the role of Dale. 'The fact that you guys trusted me to do his voice again is really humbling,' Huss said. 'And all I've been trying to do is − I'm not trying to copy Johnny as much as I guess as I'm trying to be Johnny. And hopefully Dale comes out through that. But it's with a lot of love and respect for that guy because he laid down a really wonderful, goofball character that… had a lot of weird heart to him and, and that's a credit to Johnny. So all I'm trying to do is to hold on to that Dale-ness… We love our guy, Johnny, and it's so sad that he's not here.' During the panel, Daniels highlighted the talents of Brittany Murphy, who died in 2009 at 32 from pneumonia. Murphy voiced the role of Hank and Peggy's niece Luanne. 'One of the people I would point out who was brilliant, who's no longer here is Brittany Murphy,' Daniels said. 'Brittany's a person who never read (the script) the way you thought it was going to be read.' Luanne married Lucky, voiced by Tom Petty. The singer died in 2017 at 66 from an accidental drug overdose. 'We found opportunities,' Patterson said, 'to let them be referenced in the show so that we know the importance that they had both in the characters' lives. And I feel in a very respectful way that people are going to appreciate.'
