What Have The Cast Of Lost Done Since They Left The Island?
When it first hit the airwaves in 2004, Lost was a groundbreaking concept for a TV show that people hadn't seen before and couldn't get enough of. Although its more surreal and mysterious elements likely took some inspiration from past bizarre spectacles like The Prisoner and Twin Peaks, Lost always kept its audiences guessing.
Although the plausibility of the show's central mystery spiraled out of control by its final episodes, Lost's opening plane disaster also provided the show with a robust and rotating cast of characters. Although some of its actors turned into stars, it's not so obvious as to where all of them went after it was all over.
Jorge Garcia (Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes)
Known for adding some much-needed levity to a show marked with sudden frights, intensely emotional drama, and maddeningly complex mysteries, Jorge Garcia played Hurley, one of Lost's most beloved characters. Although the show gave Garcia his most high-profile role, he continued acting and branched out into stand-up comedy when the show ended.
Although he secured some small parts in shows like Californication and How I Met Your Mother, his movie opportunities were relatively few. In between roles in the independent film Cooties, the Kevin Hart vehicle The Wedding Ringer, and the infamous Adam Sandler flop The Ridiculous 6, Garcia's most steady post-Lost work saw him play Jerry Ortega in Hawaii Five-O.
Yunjin Kim (Sun-Hwa Kwon)
Although Yunjin Kim was in nearly every episode of Lost, the show didn't stop her from continuing the film work she had secured in her native South Korea before it premiered. Indeed, she appeared in four of these movies while the series was airing.
That split in her focus likely made Kim busy during the 2000s, but it also meant she had steady work to return to after Lost was over. With the exception of a small role in the video game Sleeping Dogs and a substantial role in the Alyssa Milano series Mistresses, most of her work after Lost has consisted of Korean films and TV shows.
Terry O'Quinn (John Locke)
Veteran actor Terry O'Quinn found his start in the disastrously-received Michael Cimino film Heaven's Gate before securing a dizzying series of supporting roles in hits like Young Guns, Tombstone, Primal Fear, and The X-Files throughout the '80s and '90s.
However, the TV work he was increasingly picking up by the 2000s led him to his most famous role in Lost as the fan-favorite character John Locke. And while his later work didn't achieve that level of success, he nonetheless found recurring roles in shows like 666 Park Avenue, Gang Related, Secrets & Lies, Patriot, and Hawaii Five-O. Most recently, he's appeared in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah)
Prior to Lost, Naveen Andrews was primarily a fixture of the British film industry after getting his big breaks in the miniseries adaptation of The Buddha Of Suburbia and The English Patient. Yet while he had appeared in some American films before Lost, the show gave him a boost that afforded him high-profile appearances in Planet Terror and The Brave One.
However, his momentum slowed a bit after Lost's finale, as Andrews found his biggest roles in the maligned Princess Diana movie Diana and the sadly short-lived Netflix series Sense8. In the years since, he's had recurring TV roles in Instinct, The Dropout, and Fox's The Cleaning Lady.
Daniel Dae Kim (Jin-Soo Kwon)
Daniel Dae Kim had been acting for over a decade by the time he joined the cast of Lost as the paranoid and controlling Jin-Soo Kwon. He also appeared in Spider-Man 2, Crash, and voiced Johnny Gat in the popular Saints Row video game series when the show was running.
Kim continued to voice Gat after Lost wrapped up, but his most substantial gig saw him play Chin Ho Kelly in the successful remake of Hawaii Five-0. He has continued acting and voice acting ever since, with his most recent high-profile role being Fire Lord Ozai in Netflix's live action Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
Emilie de Ravin (Claire Littleton)
Not long after securing her first role in Beastmaster, Australian actress Emilie de Ravin made a compelling impression as the vulnerable Claire Littleton in Lost. While the show was on the air, she also co-starred in The Hills Have Eyes and appeared in the John Dillinger biopic Public Enemies.
Although de Ravin did some lesser-known movies after Lost ended, she also secured spots in 117 episodes of Once Upon A Time, where she primarily played Belle Gold. Most recently, she played Liz Hindmarsh in the TV miniseries True Colors.
Michael Emerson (Ben Linus)
Michael Emerson has been acting since 1990 but his most famous roles have seen him play deeply villainous characters. Although he received some notoriety for playing serial killer William Hinks in The Practice, the most famous and formidable of these characters was Lost's calculating Ben Linus.
Emerson did a lot of voice work in the years immediately following Lost's finale, including a turn as The Joker in the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns animated movie. However, his most substantial post-Lost gigs saw him co-star in Person of Interest and play Leland Townsend in Evil. Most recently, he's appeared in the Fallout TV series as Wilzig.
Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume)
Shortly before playing the hunky and capable Desmond Hume in Lost, Henry Ian Cusick played Jesus in The Gospel Of John. Although Cusick played a handful of supporting film and TV roles during his time on Lost, that also largely characterized his acting career after the show.
Yet, after some work in Scandal and an appearance in The Girl On The Train, he found his second major role in The 100, where he played Marcus Kane for 80 episodes. That was soon followed by a turn as Russ Taylor in the MacGyver reboot series, and his most recent work has seen him juggle NCIS:Hawaii with voice work in The Wingfeather Saga.
Dominic Monaghan (Charlie Pace)
By the time he joined the cast of Lost, Dominic Monaghan was already a rising star thanks to his significant role in the Lord Of The Rings movies. However, his career took a significantly more muted turn after Charlie Pace was no longer in the show.
Although he had a substantial role in Flashforward by the time Lost ended, he largely took small parts in movies and TV shows in addition to starring in the short-lived anthology series The Unknown. He also appeared in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, but his most recent roles have been in Moriarty: The Devil's Game and Moonhaven.
Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson)
Even before joining the cast of Lost, Harold Perrineau has had a robust acting résumé that included playing Mercutio in Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet, Link in the latter parts of The Matrix trilogy, and Augustus Hill in the acclaimed prison drama Oz.
Although playing Michael Dawson fit nicely among Perrineau's accolades, he still had more to go. These included playing Marvel comic hero Blade in an animated TV miniseries, Damon Pope in Sons Of Anarchy, and Jack in the Oscar-winning film Zero Dark Thirty. More recently, he's secured significant roles in the TV shows, Claws, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, and From.
Elizabeth Mitchell (Dr. Juliet Burke)
Not long after securing a recurring turn on ER and co-starring in The Santa Clause 2, Elizabeth Mitchell gained further attention as Ben Linus' unexpected double agent in Lost. Although her more widely known work after Lost (other than The Purge: Election Year) was in TV, it included substantial roles in V, Revolution, and Crossing Lines.
Although she appeared to take a break from acting in the late 2010s, the following decade has already seen her return in a big way. Specifically, recent years have seen her co-star in The Santa Clauses and take a significant role in Outer Banks.
Matthew Fox (Dr. Jack Shepard)
Matthew Fox essentially jumped from his longest-running gig as Charlie Salinger on Party Of Five to take his most famous role to date. Fox served as the survivors' flawed leader, Dr, Jack Shepard, whose medical knowledge makes him a life-saving presence even in the very first episode.
After Lost ended, however, Fox took small roles in films like Alex Cross and World War Z after taking an extended break from acting in 2015. Screen Rant explained that Fox intended to focus on his family and other personal ventures, but returned to the small screen in 2022 to play Andy Yeats in Last Light.
Ken Leung (Miles Straume)
Ken Leung has been acting in movies since 1995, with some of his more popular work including Rush Hour, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Saw, and X-Men: The Last Stand. However, a role in 2007 episode of The Sopranos proved memorable enough to Lost's showrunners that they created Miles Straume just for Leung.
After acting in Lost during its last three seasons, Leung remained in high demand. He appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and played Dr. Topher Zia in The Night Shift for 35 episodes. More recently, he took supporting roles in the M. Night Shyamalan film Old and the thriller Missing and he now plays Commander Zhao in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix series.
Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert)
Although Nestor Carbonell has been acting since 1989, the biggest roles he had before he started playing Richard Alpert on Lost in 2007 were Luis Rivera in Suddenly Susan and Jonas Ray in Strong Medicine. However, Lost seemed to open the door for other high-profile roles.
Most significantly, Carbonell played Gotham City Mayor Anthony Garcia in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. He had a recurring role on the Sarah Michelle Gellar series Ringer in between these movies, but found one of his other signature roles in Sheriff Alex Romero in Bates Motel shortly after the latter. more recently, he played Yanko Flores on The Morning Show.
Josh Holloway (James "Sawyer" Ford)
After he played the gruff but complex Sawyer in Lost, Josh Holloway was able to keep his momentum going with supporting roles in major releases like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Paranoia. The remainder of the 2010s would see him return to TV, starting with a starring role in the short-lived CBS series, Intelligence.
Two years later, he took another starring role alongside Sarah Wayne Callies in Colony, which lasted three seasons between 2016 and 2018. Most recently, Holloway appeared as Roarke Morris in the smash hit series, Yellowstone.
Maggie Grace (Shannon Rutherford)
Maggie Grace had only been acting for a few years before she started playing Shannon Rutherford on Lost, but opportunities came quickly for her after that. In addition to co-starring in the popular Taken movies, Grace also played Irina in the Twilight: Breaking Dawn movies and Faith in Californication after Lost ended.
More recently, she found steady success in Fear The Walking Dead as Althea Szewczyk-Przygocki. Indeed, her character proved popular enough to inspire a short web companion series called Fear the Walking Dead: The Althea Tapes.
Malcolm David Kelley (Walt Dawson)
Malcom David Kelley has been acting since age five, with one of his first gigs seeing him play Lil Saint in You Got Served. However, he didn't rise to prominence until he played Michael Dawson's young son Walt in Lost. He immediately followed up this role by playing Finn Katins on Gigantic, but the period after this show saw Kelley switch gears.
For most of the 2010s, he focused on the discography of his hip-hop duo, MKTO, and his acting credits in this period largely consisted of the group's music videos. However, one major exception saw him portray Jerome Carter in Issa Rae's popular HBO series, Insecure.
Jeremy Davies (Dr. Daniel Faraday)
Jeremy Davies started acting in 1991, with his most memorable roles from that period including Ray in David O. Russell's Spanking The Monkey, Laurence in Twister, and timid rookie Corporal Upham in Saving Private Ryan. Before signing on as Dr. Daniel Faraday in Lost, he also took on some challenging roles in Secretary and Solaris.
Davies largely stuck to TV after Lost ended, with his biggest roles including Dickie Bennet in the Western series Justified and Malcom Dreyfuss in Sleepy Hollow. He also played Baldur in the popular God Of War video game from 2018 and appeared as Terrence in the 2021 horror movie The Black Phone.
Jeff Fahey (Frank Lapidus)
Although Jeff Fahey has been acting since the early '80s, most of his early work saw him appear in fairly obscure movies. Indeed, his most memorable roles before he played Frank Lapidus in Lost were Jobe Smith in The Lawnmower Man, Ike Clanton in Wyatt Earp, and J.T. in Planet Terror.
Although he played Booth in Machete soon after Lost ended, Fahey's career after the show can also largely be marked by short appearances in TV shows and more obscure movies. Yet, while Alita: Battle Angel didn't turn out to be the career boost he may have hoped for, the positive reception of 2024's Switch Up could signal a change in Fahey's luck.
Ian Somerhalder (Boone Carlyle)
Although some Lost actors can consider the show their most famous work, Ian Somerhalder was only getting started by the time Boone was written out of the show. Although Somerhalder played Adam Knight on Smallville and stared in the horror movie Pulse in 2006, he's not best known for these roles either.
Instead, his biggest claim to fame was playing Damon Salvatore in the long-running supernatural teen drama The Vampire Diaries. And while he followed up his 171-episode run as the rebellious vampire by playing Luther Swann in V-Wars in 2019, Somerhalder has essentially retired from acting since then.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko)
A veteran of both the British and American entertainment industries, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje broke through with 1995's Congo and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls before finding more prestigious work as Simon Adebisi in Oz. He also had supporting roles in The Mummy Returns and The Bourne Identity before gracing Lost with the fan-favorite character Mr. Eko.
Although G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Thor: The Dark World put his career on shaky ground after he left Lost, the 2010s saw him regain some prestige with appearances in Game Of Thrones, Trumbo, and Concussion. His most recent work has seen him return to the U.K., but also included a turn as Ogunwe in HBO's His Dark Materials.
Michelle Rodriguez (Ana Lucia Cortez)
Although Michelle Rodriguez has already co-starred in the first The Fast And The Furious movie by the time she joined the cast of Lost in 2005, the bulk of her work by that point had consisted of video game voiceovers and video game adaptations like Resident Evil.
After her final appearance in Lost's final season, however, Rodriguez's career was in a very different place. Her roles in Avatar and Machete — as well as her further entries in the Fast & Furious and Resident Evil series — ensured she stayed a household name. Although her role as Letty in the former franchise has sustained her in recent years, she also co-starred in the popular Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves adaptation.
Evangeline Lilly (Kate Austen)
Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly had fairly limited experience by the time she took on the role of former criminal Kate Austen, but Lost and the opportunities she had immediately after the show ended made her into a star.
That's because she was able to straddle two massive film series in the 2010s, as she played Tauriel in The Hobbit movies and The Wasp in the Ant-Man films. The latter opportunity led her to appear in the world-conquering Avengers: Endgame and she's since reprised the role in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.
Cynthia Watros (Libby Smith)
Cynthia Watros got her start on Guidling Light and played Annie Dutton Banks on the show for 20 years across 111 episodes. That same period also saw her show her comedic chops as Erin Kirkpatrick in Titus and as Kellie Newmark on The Drew Carey Show. It also overlapped with her time on Lost, where she played the supportive and sensitive Libby Smith.
Although her post-Lost career included children's fare like Dog With A Blog and Video Game High School, it also saw Watros return to soap operas. She played Kelly Andrews on The Young And Restless and has logged well over 500 episodes as Nina Reeves on General Hospital since 2019.
Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana Verdansky)
After an ill-fated turn on the X-Files spin-off The Lone Gunmen and a prestigious role as Gaia in Rome, Zuleikha Robinson joined the cast of Lost during the show's final two seasons as Ilana Verdansky, a supposed bounty hunter with a hidden role in the show's mystery.
Robinson then sprung from one successful series to another, as she played Roya Hammad in Homeland for nine episodes. From there, her work has largely seen her in stray episodes of various TV shows and independent movies, but recent years have seen her play Vanessa Hadid in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Zeyara Lemos in Tom Clancey's Jack Ryan.
Sam Anderson (Bernard Nadler)
Sam Anderson has been a reliable character actor since 1978, with some of his more memorable roles being Forrest Gump's principal, Charles Patton in Slackers, and Dr. Jack Kayson in ER. The latter role overlapped with his time on Lost, when he played the protective husband and survivalist Bernard Nadler.
After the show ended, Anderson found some more recognition by playing Mr. Hyde in Water For Elephants and Lee Paxton in Justified. He has continued to serve as a character actor, wtih his most recent roles being Tate (in his 70s) in Where the Crawdads Sing and Raymond Sackler in Painkiller.
L. Scott Caldwell (Rose Nadler)
Since 1982, L. Scott Caldwell has been a character actress who has often been typecast as lawyers, judges and police detectives in movies like Waiting To Exhale and The Net, as well as in TV shows like Queens Supreme and Judging Amy.
She was part of Lost's original cast in 2004 as Rose Nadler, a woman whose cancer mysteriously vanishes upon arrival to the island. She continues to act today, with her most substantial role since Lost being Margaret Shakur in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. More recently, she played Olivia Dupont in Our Kind Of People and Carol Carter in Insecure.
Rebecca Mader (Dr. Charlotte Lewis)
Before her role in Lost, Rebecca Mader was perhaps most recognizable as Jocelyn in The Devil Wears Prada. And as she appeared in other curiosities like The Men Who Stare at Goats, she was a fixture of Lost's last three seasons as Dr. Charlotte Lewis, a scion of the DHARMA Initiative who doesn't exactly stick to her mission.
After Lost's finale, Mader would largely continue to be a TV character actress who also played a sweat shop agent in Iron Man 3. Although her most recent work has seen her play Faye Stone in Fire County, she also played Zelena and Kelly West in Once Upon A Time for 67 episodes.
M.C. Gainey (Tom Friendly)
M.C. Gainey has been a character actor since 1975 and although he played Lewis in The Mighty Ducks, he's largely been cast in tough guy roles in Con Air, Teminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, and Sideways, to name a few.
Despite the name, Tom Friendly from Lost was not a case of Gainey playing against type, as he's a ruthless antagonist in the show. He's played similarly tough roles in Django Unchained, Bosch, and Outcast, but amusingly also played the Captain of the Guard in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.
Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau)
Between the late '70s and the early '90s, Mira Furlan was a prominent actress in the former Yugoslavia before the nation's collapse prompted her to move stateside. Once she reached U.S. soil, her first big role saw her play Delenn in Babylon 5 for 111 episodes.
She continued working in the United States and Serbia before playing aggrieved mother Danielle Rousseau in the final seasons of Lost and continues to straddle the American and Eastern European film industries. The past decade has also seen her provide voice work for video games like Payday 2, Elite: Dangerous, and Uncharted 4.