In a cast as expansive as ABC’s Lost, it takes more than just a decent acting performance to stand out from the rest. Jorge Garcia, who portrays Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, has seen his character go from middling comic relief in season one to one of the primary pieces of the show’s main story in the fourth season.
TV.com caught up with Garcia to talk about the season so far, the three-hour finale, and how he’s just as much a fan of the show as we are.
TV.com: Let’s get to the nitty-gritty. How does one move an island?
Jorge Garcia: Yeah. I am not totally sure how one moves an island. In fact, I was poking around [the set] because I think they are shooting that today. They definitely wanted more out of a scene of moving-island stuff. I was poking around and looking at different set pieces and different big rooms trying to figure out what they were, because I don’t work in the studio a lot.
When I go to the studio, I always like to look around and see what’s set up. And you’ll find like the engine room from inside the freighter is set up in one spot. And there’s stuff that I didn’t [recognize], and I say, “Ooh, I don’t know what this is but it’s a bookshelf with DHARMA books on it.” And I was like, “What’s this, is it another Marvin Candle movie?” I try to open doors, and I try to figure out what certain areas are. Then I get my phone out and I take pictures in front of stuff, and I just try and figure that stuff out.
TV.com: So, you get to poke around the set… You’re just as curious as all of us Lost fans?
Jorge Garcia: Absolutely. I’m really curious about that stuff. Then I wait until I see that same thing on the TV show, and I’m like, “Oh, there it is.”
TV.com: Right now you’re cruising the island with Terry O’Quinn (John Locke) and Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus), who are both Emmy nominees–they’re so much fun to watch together. You joined the dynamic, and you did it perfectly. It was awesome to watch all three of you in the same scenes. What was your reaction when you found out you’d be spending a little bit of time working literally right between those two?
Jorge Garcia: It was a blast. Michael and I had talked–”When is our moment going to happen where Hurley and Ben have their meeting of the minds?” And I thought that would be great to play it out in different ways. We thought it’d be really a fun thing to do. And I’m glad we got to do it. We had some great things together. And it was a blast.
They’re a lot of fun to work with. We let loose on those scenes sometimes, and it was a lot of fun to do.
TV.com: If you don’t mind getting in Hurley’s head a little bit, what does he currently think of John Locke and what does he currently think of Ben?
Jorge Garcia: I think he believes in their purpose. I think the whole reason he decided he’s going to go with them is definitely a big deal. He knows that saving the island is important, and going to find Jacob is a big deal. He has a moment there when he says that he’s going to find this guy that’s going to tell us how we can save everybody. And that’s where that’s really the deciding factor that Hurley says, “I think I’ll stay with you,” instead of just the fact that it was dangerous to leave.
And I thought that was a big moment–a moment where Hurley kind of steps up, and he knows that he has a higher call right now, and that’s kind of what makes him act that way.
TV.com: I think it was the premiere episode of season four where you tell Jack post-island that you made a mistake of going with Team Locke instead of Team Jack.
Jorge Garcia: Yeah.
TV.com: Are we to assume that something inevitably goes very wrong?
Jorge Garcia: I don’t know. I was thinking about that in other moments that I’ve shot since–how [Hurley] gets that moment because [Jack]’s not the only one who he apologizes for going with Locke to. I was like, so if he apologizes to other people, does it really take him that long to apologize to Jack, or is it just at this stage he wants to say it again to Jack? I have replayed that moment in the basketball court a couple times with some of the information that I’ve gotten with the rest of the season.
TV.com: Speaking of that premiere episode, Hurley got to lead off the fourth season. That’s kind of like being the cover model for Sports Illustrated. What did you think about that?
Jorge Garcia: It was a little scary. When you come back from the summer, you’re a little rusty. And so to come back and own it right away, there’s a little pressure in that. It’s a big deal, but I definitely thought it would be unexpected to our audience. And it would be a pleasant surprise for them as well. So I thought it was a good idea, and I liked the story and I like the setup of the Oceanic Six and how it just starts to shoot in with the questions as to, OK, so we know half of them now, who else is in the group? And stuff like that.
We had opened a season that was very reminiscent of season one, where we had no idea where we were going, and also there are certain things I like that we knew–we started finding out who was getting off [the island], yet realizing that right now, on the island, they are nowhere near each other. How did these people become [the Oceanic Six]? I thought that was a good puzzle they have to answer as well.
TV.com: How do you react when you find out that you have a Hurley-centric episode coming up? How does the rest of the cast react?
Jorge Garcia: You kind of brace yourself. The workload is pretty dramatically increased during that time. So you want to mentally prepare and prioritize your time. And it took Michael [Emerson] by surprise because the Michael flashback focused more on Michael as a child played by someone completely different, [but he still had a lot to do]. So when Emerson had his show, he was like, “Man, I can’t believe how much I’ve been working this week.” He was just freaked out. And I was like, “Oh, yeah, welcome to having your own episode.”
TV.com: We’re here to tease the finale, which airs tomorrow night. Lots of stuff going on. Do you have any scoop for us, or what can the fans expect?
Jorge Garcia: I don’t know if I can specifically say what it is, but a big question that came up in the last finale will be answered in this finale.
TV.com: Maybe it’s who Kate’s with? How they get off the island? You don’t have to tell us…but you should.
Jorge Garcia: Well, how we get off the island is–I guess you get to see how the Oceanic Six is going to become the Oceanic Six for sure. But definitely, something else is going to come up that people have been buzzing about. And you’ll get that answer. I’ve been told what the answer is, but because I didn’t hear it directly from Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, I’m still in the stage where I’m like, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
TV.com: Not much has been said about seasons five and six. Do you know what direction it’s going to go in, or are you also completely in the dark?
Jorge Garcia: I’m in the dark.
TV.com: Do you prefer it that way?
Jorge Garcia: There’s a certain freedom about being in the dark, having plausible deniability, especially for the summer, to not have any extra information and just kind of be free of it. But yes, we were talking about it. When we were doing some Oceanic Six work, we were talking like, “Man, does that mean next season, we don’t have to be dirty and sweaty?” And just how different the dynamic of doing the show is going to feel when we’re doing so much off-island stuff, which we believe is what we’re going to be doing.
TV.com: You’ve joined in with Lost fans about theorizing about what’s going on in the show. Do you have a latest?
Jorge Garcia: I’m really big on the theories. I don’t usually come up with theories myself. I just read what fans come up with, and say, “Oh, that’s interesting.” And there’s a big one–there’s a theory out there saying that Claire’s actually dead already–like she died when her house blew up. And [there's things] about why she ended up taking off with Christian. It’s a crazy thing because Sawyer carried her and passed her to me, and I carried her into the bedroom. And I’m like, that’d be really creepy if that was just some dead entity that we believed in enough, like Jack’s dad. So, I don’t know.
TV.com: Were you relieved when you found out you were one of those on Oceanic Six? That’s kind of job security, isn’t it?
Jorge Garcia: Well, is it? I don’t think anything is job security. I mean, there is a coffin at the end of season three with somebody in it. So I don’t think it means anything security-wise, but I do appear to be alive at the end of this season, and that’s really all they’re telling me. So at least I’ll be starting the next one.
TV.com: You watch the show just like we do. Do you have any favorite characters?
Jorge Garcia: Well, I’m a big fan of Locke and Ben and to get an opportunity to play Hurley amongst them was definitely a blast for me this season. I’m becoming more curious about the guys from the freighter who are the good guys…Lapidus and Faraday are definitely characters I’m curious about. And I still want to know more about Widmore. I’m into what this whole game thing is between Widmore and Benjamin [laughs].
TV.com: Now that we know the show’s ending in 2010, have you thought about your post-Lost plans?
Jorge Garcia: I have not. I’ve been kind of afraid to face it. I mean I know I’ve got to start really thinking about it because it’s going to come sooner than I know. But I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to do it. That’ll be a good thing to do this summer.
I definitely would love some free time, see the world more now that I have a little more money at my disposal. After the show ends, [I'm thinking] of going back to California and buying my first house.
Beyond that, I don’t know. Movies would be great, but TV would be great, too, I’d love if we can get close to something that we created with Lost that was just a really good quality TV show, where we were aiming to make a movie every week. And I wouldn’t mind entering either realm as long as it was something that I was proud to be a part of.
TV.com: Speaking of the money bit, I promised my coworker I’d ask a question. He wanted to know if Hurley is still worth millions off the island in the flash-forwards?
Jorge Garcia: Well, that is going to be mentioned tomorrow, I think. So, he just has to wait and see.
TV.com: We’ll definitely be watching. Thanks Jorge.
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