Question: What do you make of the boomlet of non-Americans playing American characters on TV? From Terminator's Lena Headey to Pushing Daisies' Anna Friel and New Amsterdam's Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, TV is full of fresh faces. Do you think this is the result of Lost breaking through with a largely unknown cast? I also have to give a shout-out to the sublime Alan Dale. He's clearly the go-to actor for evil, or at least gruff, corporate types. I miss him on Ugly Betty and thought that The O.C. started careening downhill around the time he left. I was watching Torchwood, and he showed up again, this time playing a Brit! He flawlessly goes from American to British to his native Kiwi accent. Why doesn't this strong utility player get his fair due?
Answer: The fact that you see Alan Dale everywhere tells me he's hardly hurting in the "fair due" department. He's a popular character actor and clearly a versatile one. As for the importing of lead actors from overseas, that is a curious phenomenon,
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Lost has been blowing my mind all season with those crazy flash-forwards: Kate's baby is who? Sayid's working for who? But the time-tripping went into overdrive with this week's brilliant episode, concocted by Lost's A-team: Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof on script, Jack Bender directing. Well done, blokes. There hasn't been an off episode yet, and each one feels more amazing than the last.If you've got complaints about time spent away from Ben, Locke, Kate, Sawyer and most of the rest of the folks left behind on the island, take them elsewhere. This episode worked beautifully as a showcase for Henry Ian Cusick as the tormented Desmond. It was almost a stand-alone episode, a Twilight Zone/X-Files-style adventure with a start, middle and killer finish. And yet it also advanced our knowledge and teased the mystery of what’s happening on the “rescue” freighter, while giving us a rapturously romantic climactic reunion (on the phone, but hey) between Desmond and his impat...
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