Elizabeth Mitchell: The Lost Interview

Lost’s seductive doctor diagnoses her character’s blood lust, blossoming affair with Sawyer—and her singing duel with Ben.

Your storyline is ramping up—you had a nosebleed caused by all of the flashbacks and flash-forwards. The island is hopping through time and messing you all up.

Yeah, how cool was that? I was watching it with a girlfriend of mine, and my nose started to bleed [on screen] and she leaned over, hit me and said “No! No, you can’t die!” I said, “Don’t worry, she just said had a nosebleed.” She said, “Yeah that means she’s gonna die!” [Laughs] What can you say, Juliet’s sick...

“You know the best thing would be if Juliet forgets all these guys and just ends up with Ben.”

It’s been implied that the character of Charlotte, who is also suffering from side effects, was born on the island. Could Juliet have been on the island before Richard Alpert recruited her?

I have no idea, that’s an awesome thought I haven’t heard before. Juliet was on the island for three years before the plane crash, so it may just be that, or it may be that she was actually from there. We don’t actually know anything about her parents.

Will the show delve deeper into her backstory this season?

I think they like to keep her fairly mysterious, that way she can be cool and conniving, and yet warm and patient.

How much scheming and anger is going on under the surface?

Everything [on the island] has gone horribly wrong and the only way to handle it is just to stay calm and figure out what to do next. She is very much subdued but still insanely angry and hurt and broken. I think Juliet has always believed in passionless, blood full violence. [This season] she is at the center of some violence, which is nice. We get to see the stuff that’s underneath her this season, bubbling away, and it’s not particularly pretty or easy to watch. For some people that will be a nice payoff, but others might want her to stay cool.