The Verge Q+A: Emilie de Ravin Talks About the "Lost" Finale

An interview from GQ.com

Sure, "Lost" is over, but the conversation over the last, somewhat controversial, purgatory-inspired episode still hasn't died down. Emilie de Ravin, who spent five seasons playing Claire Littleton (both the sane and crazy versions), shares her thoughts on why it was the right way to end. - By Jesse Lee and Raha Naddaf


Now that it's all over, what did you really think of the last episode?
Well, I gotta go back to when I was reading it. The whole last script was printed on dark red pages so that it couldn't be copied, and we didn't get the last ten pages until the night before shooting it. I was so moved by it. It wasn't like, Oh, it's the end of Episode 5. It was like, Wow, this is the last time I will ever read a "Lost" script again. That had major resonance.

Some fans weren't as moved.
I don't think everyone is going to be satisfied with the end of every show or every movie, especially something complex like this where you can't answer every question. That's one thing I heard: Why didn't they answer everything! But it's sort of boring to answer everything. You'd need another 500 episodes to do so. And I thought it ended in such a beautiful way.

Were there any questions that you had that went unanswered?
I would have liked to know more about what happened with Claire and her mother and their relationship.

I was always curious about why Claire's baby daddy's paintings were in Charles Widmore's office.
Me too! I thought the dad was going to come back in some way. And the mother.

Did you like playing crazy Claire?
I did. I really did. It was nice to do something different after four seasons.

She had gone from being someone who's always holding a baby in the scenes—
Yeah, I couldn't be involved in the activities. Just standing on the beach, saying, See you guys!

Then you became a gun-wielding badass.
It was great to be able to do such different things. It wasn't a show about five people doing the same thing every day.

It's no "Friends."
Yeah, it was creatively stimulating. I don't think I could have done a show for that long if it was the same thing every episode.

Is it tough saying goodbye to a character you've known for so long?
It is. But maybe crazy Claire shouldn't hang around in my mind for too long. That could be dangerous.

Speaking of crazy, as we learned from the Jimmy Kimmel "Lost" special, Marilyn Manson is a huge fan of the show.
He is. He did a painting of Terry O'Quinn, and then he had given Naveen Andrews a baby's skull to give me, like it was Aaron's skull. It was funny to me, but I was worried that people would think that I was some kind of baby killer. Then I'd have to go and do a PSA about how much I love children.

Did you get to keep the creepy "squirrel baby" from the show?
No! I think Damon and Carleton took it. I was so pissed. We were all getting asked this in interviews last year—What's the one thing you want to keep?—and I was like, Definitely the squirrel baby. But, nope. I didn't get it.

Did you at least get to keep the crazy tangled wig?
I decided that I didn't want to ever see that again in my life, actually.

It was messy.
Yeah, where was my soap!

You've had an interesting track record with your acting roles. In the TV shows "Roswell" and "Lost" and in movie Brick, you played a pregnant woman.
I must have some sort of maternal draw to me. I do love children, but I don't really talk about that in auditions. Hi! I really love kids! Book me! But I keep reading scripts that are like that, too.

Is that something that happens a lot with actresses?
I think men get the same offers as well (laughs). There was a rumor in an Australian tabloid about Robert Pattinson that said he was pregnant. I remember him telling me this. I just cracked up. What has the world come to?

Are you worried that you're going to be answering questions about "Lost" for the rest of your life?
No, I really think it's great.

And now you don't have to hold back and be coy when answering. That must have been annoying.
Yeah! Damn you, interesting show!