TVGuide.com: How much have the producers told you about Zoe? Sheila Kelley: A lot. I've shot six episodes so far. We're shooting Episode 16 and I love this character. I find her absolutely intriguing and interesting. I love the technique that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse choose to work with their actors. It's kind of like what happens when you're dropped into somebody's life. I have to make up my own back story and balance out the things that aren't on the page to support what I'm acting. I find it challenging and fun.
TVGuide.com: Do you know whether she is good or bad? Kelley: I love not knowing what the next move is going to be. Just when I think she's evil, she's not. And just when I think she's not, she is. The whole show right now is so much about the epic mystical story of good versus bad, and it just swings by a thread. She really believes what she is doing is the right thing to do and you'll understand that more when you see the upcoming episodes.
TVGuide.com: Well, what is she there to do? Kelley: She is there on the island looking for somebody and she's looking for something. She will know who it is when she finds that person. She also believes she has the answer.
TVGuide.com: How did she come to work with Charles Widmore? Kelley: She is a geophysicist. I think that she's very brilliant and loves what she does. She is a maverick in her field and believes there are more answers than the status quo is willing to buy into. So she wants to bring the concrete world of physics and geology into much more esoteric happenings, like time travel and the energy of the island. She's bridging the gap between science and belief. It's a strong theme throughout the whole show.
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TVGuide.com: Is she loyal to Widmore to a fault? Kelley: Very. That's a powerful question for this character.
TVGuide.com: Does Zoe play a larger role in the mythology of the island? Kelley: The first thing I did was looked up the name Zoe, and it means "life" in Greek. It's a very strong mythological name and there's a lot of mythology on the island. So yes, she does.
TVGuide.com: Has she been to the island before? Kelley: This is her first time, but she's a strategist and very cunning. She prepared very rigorously to come to the island for what she needs to do, and what she needs to do is huge. She's 20 steps ahead all the time... or she likes to believe she is.
TVGuide.com: Will we see her off the island in the alternate universe? Kelley: Possibly. Her job is very much in the present. She's very aggressively going after what she believes will be the answer.
TVGuide.com: Last week's episode set up a lot of double-crossing. What can you say about that? Kelley: Who aligns with whom and who's good and who's not is part of the journey that will be so incredible and radically different than anything [you'll see] on TV in the next coming months.
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TVGuide.com: Are the choices of alignments bigger than Widmore vs. Ben or Jacob vs. the Man in Black? Kelley: If you think there's only two... [Laughs] It's big. It's really about life. It's about the choices you make in life. Think of Lost not as a two-sided coin, but as a diamond of choices.
TVGuide.com: Have you seen the final script? Do you know what's coming in the end? Kelley: I actually haven't read the finale. I've only seen it in the hands of the director. I don't even know if I'm in the finale.
Thanks to Judy for the heads up.
Us: You're currently filming the second-to-last episode. What's the vibe on the set, considering that the end is near?
It's very...impending. Everybody feels like there is something coming. Like, this will lead to better things. There's a little sadness as well. I was on L.A. Law for five years, and my husband was on The West Wing for seven years. I know this is a huge transition for everybody. So you can feel that uncertainty. Like the last week of high school!
Us: So who's the homecoming king of the cast?
That's got to be Matthew Fox. And Josh Holloway is the bad boy. I have crushes on all them. I have never been around more attractive men in my life.
Us: Was it weird being the new girl?
It feels like Sandy in Grease. I came to a very well-established set. It was a little nerve-racking, but the character that was written was so intriguing and multi-faceted and a little bad ass. That made things easier. I've had an amazing time. These are such open-hearted people.
Us: What else can you tell Us about your character, Zoe? Other than the fact that she wears glasses.
She is Charles Widmore's right hand. She does all his dirty work. But she has her own strategy and agenda as well. In one script, I'm going in one direction. In another script, I'm going 180 degrees the other way.
Us: That's not enough information. What else you got?
She is looking for someone on the island.
Us: Anything else?
Maybe this will make sense to you: This beautiful journey of this entire show, between good and evil, between science and faith, lies within Zoe. After I got the role, one of the first things I did was look look up what the name meant because there is so much mythology to everything. And I learned that "Zoe" is Greek and it means life.
Us: Give a cryptic clue that means nothing right now yet means everything in the long run.
Ok. Here is Zoe's clue: Zoe has the answer. Zoe knows. That's as good as it's going to get.
Us: Have you seen the final script yet?
I've seen it, but I haven't read it. I'd held the pages. It's red. My name is on every single page of it. I feel like I won the lottery! But the producers are very protective. And I totally respect that. After all, what is left in the world that is new and that exciting for people?