“Locke may not leave the Lost island alive”

Thanks to Kat from http://www.terryoquinn.org/ for the following.

Terry O'Quinn, who plays Locke, tells Michael Deacon about the new series of gripping US drama Lost

Terry O’Quinn plays the enigmatic Locke in Sky One’s Lost, the American drama about plane-crash survivors stranded on an exotic island. As season four begins, he tells Michael Deacon that he’s not worried that his character might be killed off. He’s rather more troubled by nuns and skinny-dipping…

At the end of season three, we saw Locke kill another character, Naomi – and he’s now much closer to the sinister gang, the Others, than he is to the original group of plane crash survivors. Is he turning into a villain?

I think he’s just driven to find out what he’s supposed to be doing, and who he’s supposed to be, and what he means to the island, and why he’s there. It’s like he said to [heroic doctor] Jack, he believes they were all brought there for a reason. And that drive to find these things out is making him more mysterious, more unpredictable and more dangerous.

Lost’s writers have said that any of the characters can die – even the biggest ones. Does that make you nervous?

It did, at first. In the first two seasons. But now I think I’m in such a good place in terms of what Lost has provided for me, so if they let me go now I just hope it benefits the story and it’s exciting.

Then again, Locke has survived a plane crash, falling out of the window of a tower block and being shot. Is he immortal?

I don’t have expectations one way or the other. I wouldn’t be surprised if Locke died. I get the impression at this point in Locke’s development that he would never leave the island unless he was forced to. So he may not leave the island alive.
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What’s the closest you’ve come to death?

When I was seven my appendix ruptured and I had gangrene. I was unconscious for about four days. When I came to, there were nuns all around my bed. I thought, “Oh no, maybe I’m in heaven.” I hoped I wasn’t in heaven, because I wasn’t too crazy about nuns – they were figures of authority when I was a little boy. Personally I thought heaven should have a lot of slides and swimming pools and candy. Not so many nuns.

Locke’s an all-action character – do you find the physical scenes gruelling?

There’s a lot of running around the jungle. I remember one script where it said, “Locke runs through the jungle pursued by the ‘smoke monster’; he’s lean and fast.” I said, “Look, I’ll be lean and fast for two takes. Then I’m just going to be lean.” I don’t even go to the bathroom fast. After days like that, it’s a job just to get out of bed.

Your character’s an expert knife-thrower – did you take lessons?

I did, because I’ve got a lot of time to kill on the set and throwing knives is better than smoking cigarettes or eating doughnuts. I’m fairly accurate with that big heavy knife. I win a few bucks on the set. I tack a dollar bill to a tree and see if I can entice my crew mates into betting on whether I can hit it. I get five throws to hit the dollar bill from 30 feet. And most of the time I keep my dollar.

According to rumour, Matthew Fox (who plays Jack) likes going skinny-dipping with his friends in the cast. Is this true – and do you join in?

[firmly] I’ve never seen his willy. Actually, I’ve never really been to the [cast and crew’s] parties. I wasn’t drinking in the first season or two, and lost about 20 pounds. So partying was out. I was older than those guys anyway, so I imagine that their naked bodies looked better than my naked body.

Source: The Telegraph