Q&A: Jorge Garcia

Getting 'Lost' with an all-new season of Hurley

By Michael O'Connell

Special to Metromix

Last year, Hurley Reyes finally escaped the island (which is now totally M.I.A.), only to end up in a mental institution, playing chess with invisible, long-dead friends. If this were any other show but “Lost,” that might be a tough pill to swallow, but of the Oceanic Six who begin to make their way back to the island on this month's season premiere, his current arc isn’t even the most sensational.

We chatted with Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley to see how he likes his increasingly eccentric character, what he’s planning for a life post-“Lost” and if there are any nuggets of McInfo he can share about the new season.

Last season, Hurley hasn't been as lucid as we’re used to seeing him. How do you like playing crazy?
It’s weird. When Hurley is in the mental institution, there is a lot of license to play with the character. There are times when he’s lucid and together—like when Walt came to visit him—but then there are times when he’s just staring at the wall. There’s a whole range of things and it’s a little tricky because I wasn’t given too much explanation as to why he’d be one way in one scene and then different in another. That’s one of those moments where it’s like, ‘You’re the actor, you’re the one who has to make it happen!’

It affords you the opportunity to act with characters who have been killed off the show.
Absolutely. That’s been pretty cool. It’s always nice to have someone on the island again and see them again. It’s nice being the conduit for that.

What’s going on with the Hurley’s numbers? Are they ever coming back?
I don’t know. One thing I’ve noticed when reading the scripts now: certain numbers do come up, but they are different. Whether that becomes something, I don’t know. The old numbers showed up all the time and now I’m noticing ones just because I’m still pretty aware of it. It’s something that my mind picks up on.    

On the topic of lingering questions, what are you most interested to see resolved in the next two years?
What that smoke monster is. That’s been my number one since the pilot. Smoke monster first, four-toed statue second.

Do you have any theories about the smoke monster?
I loved how last season there’s this whole new added thing of Ben going behind that “Indiana Jones” door and unleashing it. It was just like, ‘OK, what does that mean?’ And I don’t know if it was noticed, but when we shot it, and Ben came out of that closet, he had all this black dust on his hands. I don’t think they dwelled on it too much, but that’s just another thing I’m curious about now.

Longevity has been a big issue on “Lost,” but as one of the only sources of comic relief on what could otherwise be a very somber series, do you think you have more job security?
I think part of what makes the show work—and the intensity of being there—is that no one is safe. So I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, but I also try not to dwell on the fear of getting killed off. Michael Emerson [Ben] once said, “All acting jobs are temporary,” so I’ll take it as long as I get to ride this wave and see what happens next.

Do you have any idea what happens next?
I don’t. I’m going through that search right now. I was trying to do it last summer, and I keep procrastinating. There’s a fear of facing it, in a way. As an actor, you go through the whole hustle for a while, trying to get something that’s not even remotely close to “Lost.” So now that you have “Lost,” where do you go from there? I’m still trying to figure that out.

Can you tell us anything about the beginning of next season?
I’ve been playing with what I feel is safe to say, but the next season picks up where the last season left off—like immediately. The last time you saw Hurley, Sayid was breaking me out of Santa Rosa after he killed that guy in the car. My story picks up there but the rest of this season—it’s the craziest stuff I’ve ever read on this show, for sure!

The new season of "Lost" premieres Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.