Thanks to KeepingAwake for the heads up on this article with Nestor
Even though I’m trying to remain unspoiled, I’ve heard that you may have already taped a Richard flashback episode. Hypothetically, if that did happen, did it hypothetically turn out like you thought it would?
I think we can safely say that I did shoot one. I obviously can’t go into detail as to the nature of the episode, but the writers delivered a script that I was really blown away by. I’ve been wondering for three and a half years who my guy is, and I’ve been writing my own history to justify what I did; when I finally got it, I realized how off the mark I was, but I was really blown away. It’ll come in at the midpart of the season, and it’ll answer not just questions about the origin of my character but really also the mythology and the real nature of the island. It’s a big reveal, and it wildly exceeded my expectations.
Is it the sort of thing where the writers will let you know that your episode is coming up, or does it just arrive on your doorstep and you’re like, “Oh shit! This is my episode!”
They gave me a bit of a heads-up, and I can’t say why, but there needed to be one. I knew it was my episode about two episodes in advance, and [co-executive producer] Carlton Cuse also called me and said how excited he was about the episode and how much it would reveal. When he called me, I said, “Oh my God, I can’t wait to read it now,” and then when I read it, it blew my mind. Part of me always wondered, “Do I really want to know everything about this guy? Do I want it to remain a little bit of a mystery and not get a full backstory?” But when I read how they handled it, it was really quite amazing. They revealed quite a bit, but there’s still some questions I don’t fully know, and I’d imagine we’ll get some of those answers. The bigger questions about him, though, they do tackle.
Source: Full Interview @ movieline
