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...

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.

Juliet’s been able to calm down Sawyer, who rarely listens to anyone.
I’ve always enjoyed Juliet and Jack, because that’s where we started, but I was watching episode three and thought Juliet and Sawyer actually were listening to each other. I was telling him to calm down and stop yelling, because I knew his approach wasn’t going to work. But what came across was that [Juliet] was talking to a ten year old, which made me laugh, because that’s also how I talk to Jack when he’s being irrational.

Is there a future for Juliet and Sawyer?
I think since they’re both broken-hearted it’s possible it could go somewhere. There’s an expression, “What doesn’t bring people together is joy, but shared pain.” That’s what bonds people together. I definitely believe they will create some sort of partnership and we’ll see where it goes from there.

Are any upcoming episodes particularly Juliet-centric?
I think episode 8 (LeFleur) is particularly heavy for me, and there will be some twists and turns that make you go, “Oh, good lord!”

Are you feeling nostalgic with just over 30 episodes to air before the end?
I’m trying to treasure it, if that makes any sense. I know that I’ll never meet a group of people like this again.

Would you follow [creators] Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof to other projects?
I absolutely would follow them in a heartbeat. I’ve read some scripts that Damon wrote that have absolutely blown me away. His insight and the way he crafts relationships—the quips, the cleverness they come up with—is all written in there.

Will Juliet find closure on the island or elsewhere?
I really don’t know, she’s never had much luck before. The more they write for her, the more fascinated I am to meet her. They’ve written this woman who is intensely brilliant, kind, and in her own way somewhat charismatic, and at the same time she has this wonderful violent streak. I think she’d be a great wife…

You and Terry [O’Quinn] could use more screen time together—maybe she and Locke can get together.
I always thought Locke was much deserving of an onscreen life. Terry and I have talked about it. Juliet could possibly get together with [Daniel] Faraday, because he’s awfully cute, although he and Charlotte are very much together right now. And I happen to really like Miles a lot too—there’s years to go on the show, so you never know. She might have a little fun.

Any plans for you and your fellow Lost-aways to work on future projects together?
I would love to do something on stage with Michael [Emerson], anytime, anywhere.

You’re both so experienced in theater—after Lost is off the air you could take the show to Broadway.
Michael and I could have a singing duel! As long as there are a few duets in there and the lights go out on a wonderful swan song.

You two have unfinished business on the show—is he going to bust into the love quadrangle?
Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I said to him, “You know the best thing would be if Juliet forgets all these guys and just ends up with Ben.” That would be the creepiest, but best thing. He’s like, [imitates Ben] “Yes, well, they’ll never do it.” Stranger things have happened.

source : www.thedailybeast.com