Nestor Carbonell Interview

Thanks to Jeremy for the heads up.

A small moment that stood out: Richard's crazed giggle when, on the beach, Ilana asks him, "So Richard, what do we do next?"
Aw, [laughing] thanks man. It's interesting, we shot that scene last. And I can even see it on TV that I had lost some weight during the episode. I was like, "Damn, I look thin." So I do remember that moment thinking, God, you know, the character's been through some stuff in this episode, it would be nice to go the opposite way and just completely lose it. I've got to say, the work of Tucker Gates, who directed this episode, was just amazing. We went on this journey together.

Then Richard tells Jack that he's dead and in hell — pretty much the opposite of what Jacob explained to Richard.
It really is. Richard has lost so much faith in all things Jacob — and you saw some of that in the previous episode I was in, where Richard tries to commit suicide. At that point, the fact that Jacob had dangled this carrot over him for years, that there's a real purpose to everything he's doing, and yet he's not able to reveal it to him after he dies. So Richard is left with no answers himself and no purpose: an eternity of immortality and nothing to live for. I think it's really an emotional reaction to how frustrated he is that he didn't get the answers from Jacob. And then Jack presents himself as potentially a man with answers, but, at the campfire, when it's time for the next steps to be taken, no one has any clue, including Jack, where to go. Then they all point to me, at which point I just lose it.

Ricardo really did have a pretty mean priest. "You want forgiveness? Nah, sorry, you're still going to hell."
That was one tough priest. I couldn't crack that priest — nothing. And I begged. You saw me, I was on my knees ... and nothing. That was so painful. That was a painful scene to shoot and certainly to look at. I watched it [Tuesday] night and thought, Wow, that's rough, man. It was manslaughter! It wasn't murder. He failed to see the nuances of that.

There was a split second in that last scene with Richard and his dead wife that it appeared Hurley was about to channel Oda Mae Brown from Ghost and say, "You can use me, dude."
We thought about it [laughs]. That's very funny. It was great to shoot that scene with Jorge, he's amazing. It added another great color to the episode. For him to be the whisperer, the go-between, was a real treat.

Along with Richard, we learned quite a bit about Jacob, too. He wants to find someone to take over the island without getting too involved. He's kind of like Willy Wonka without the candy.
That's a really good point. Without the chocolate bars, exactly. I can't reveal too much because there will be many more answers to come. You do get a sense of what's at play between [Jacob] and the Man in Black. Again, without getting into details, there will be answers to other great questions about those two characters.

And it does appear Jacob is the good guy in this story, but that doesn't mean he's also not kind of a dick.
It's a good point. I think the writers do such a good job of layering every character, even one that seemingly is pure and good as Jacob. To recognize the villain may have an ounce of goodness in them and, vice versa, for the heroes to have flaws.

Source: Full Interview @ NYMag