January 2005
'Lost's' Boone and Locke Become
Buddies
(Sunday, January 02 12:06 AM)
By Kate O'Hare
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Having grown up in the bayous of Mandeville, Louisiana,
Ian Somerhalder has been a bit frustrated in his role as rich-boy Boone on ABC's
freshman hit drama "Lost," airing Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, which focuses on
survivors of a plane crash on a tropical island.
"All we knew about Boone is he followed his sister a lot," Somerhalder says,
"she griped at him a lot, and
they were these spoiled rich kids. No one likes a spoiled rich kid, and I
thought to myself, 'That's not who they are.' Boone is a guy who's about to
learn a lot about life really fast. I almost felt pity for him, because he
didn't know the things that I, Ian, knew about surviving.
"I grew up in Louisiana. We had horses and land. You learn how to survive. You
understand the way things work in the woods, if you need to build a fire, tie a
rope, make a rope out of something else. He didn't know any of these things. He
was very fragile in that environment, where I wouldn't have been.
"Do you know how hard it is to stand around and have everybody say, 'Do this, do
this,' when I know, Ian
knows, that's what you do. Basically there's an arc for Boone. Very soon,
there's a big change."
Apparently the agent of that change is John Locke, played by Terry O'Quinn.
Locke was a paraplegic when he got on the plane, but found, after the crash, he
could miraculously walk.
Since then, the former office worker and game-board warrior has refashioned
himself into a hunter and sage philosopher (by the way, John Locke is also the
name of a British philosopher of the Enlightenment).
"Locke takes Boone under his wing," O'Quinn says. "He almost becomes a disciple
or something, but I don't know if I'm doing Boone justice. He helps Boone out to
a little self-realization, which Locke seems to have a tendency to do with
people. He helps them realize things about themselves. They start an adventure
together that the others don't know about."
As the season has progressed, the histories of different characters, both on the
airplane and before,
have been revealed in flashbacks. The episode currently scheduled for Jan. 12,
"Hearts and Minds,"
written by Carlton Cuse ("The Legend of Brisco County Jr.") and Javier
Grillo-Marxuach ("Jake 2.O"),
reveals, as a press release says, "the shocking truth" about Boone and his
sister, Shannon (Maggie Grace).
"Locke and Boone find something in the jungle," Somerhalder says, "that's going
to change everything.
Boone's growing admiration for Locke is going to essentially get him into
trouble."
Somerhalder says the episode may also change opinions about Shannon, who thus
far has seemed shallow and self-centered, to the point of giving herself a
pedicure in the midst of the wreckage on the beach.
"I'm sure most of the public thinks, 'Oh God, there's that yappy blonde and the
other dude,'" Somerhalder
says. "Hate her all you want, because it only gets better. You start to
understand why these two people
act like they act, especially toward each other. It's a great thing to have that
payoff and that tie-in, and
you go from there.
"The island is starting to change people, and I think I'm the first one it's
changed. All the things I
didn't like about Boone, I now understand, and I'm looking forward to learning
more."
But, Somerhalder says, don't expect easy answers. "I will tell you this, every
question you have, there are
five answers, and that's what's great."