Watch me disappear!
If you said, five years ago, that Ian Somerhalder would be starring in this fall's The Vampire Diaries, you would probably have made a killing at the track in the ensuing years, because you are probably a psychic. But back in 2004, you would have been laughed at. At the time, Somerhalder was a major character on that fall's biggest new show, Lost. He had previously starred in The Rules of Attraction and guested on Smallville. When Boone died at the end of Lost's season one, it seemed fortuitous that Ian could capitalize on his newfound success while also being free to pursue other projects.
Unfortunately, things didn't really work out that way. After a 2 year hiatus, Somerhalder found work on HBO's underrated Tell Me You Love Me, and appeared in a few little-seen movies. Now, he is returning to TV on what looks like an even soapier version of True Blood. So, a disappointing few years for Ian Somerhalder. Big deal, right? Wrong, because it seems that if your character dies on Lost, your career also dies. We think Lost is cursed!
Consider: According to Lostpedia, in 5 seasons, 105 characters have died. This includes extras, but does not include characters whose whereabouts are unknown, like Claire. For the purposes of this decidedly unscientific study, we looked at all the actors with recurring roles on Lost whose names and faces we recognized prior to their appearance on the show. The group includes Boone, Shannon, Michael, Ana Lucia, Paulo, Charlie, Libby, Eko, Ethan, and Naomi. It does not include characters like Aldo, (Rob McElhenney) or Regina (Zoe Bell) because despite being successful (McElhenney as creator and star of It's Always Sunny and Bell as an actress but mainly as a stuntwoman), they only appeared briefly on Lost. So, let's see what our 10 actors have been up to since their deaths on Lost.
Ian Somerhalder (Boone): Since Boone's death, 6 episodes of Tell Me You Love Me, several movies no one saw.
Maggie Grace (Shannon): Minor roles in 3 movies, one of which was a hit (Taken). 4 upcoming movies, none of which look to be blockbusters.
Harold Perrineau Jr. (Michael): Played Det. Leo Banks on The Unusuals, which got canceled after 10 episodes.
Michelle Rodriguez (Ana Lucia): Before Lost: Girlfight, The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil. After Lost: back to the well with Fast and Furious, which did ok, but nothing else. And Ana Lucia died in 2006.
Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo): Highlights since Paulo got buried alive: Che, which no one saw, and Post Grad, which got a 9/100 on Rotten Tomatoes.
Dominic Monaghan (Charlie): Your career's gonna dieeeee, Chaaaaaaalie. He was in Wolverine for about 10 minutes and got dead again, so will not be returning for any sequels.
Cynthia Watros (Libby): Since Michael shot her and cockblocked Hurley: several guest star appearances, and some pilots that didn't get picked up. Sad! We really like her!
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Eko): Um, GI Joe.
William Cruise Mapother (Ethan):
Tom's cousin who kept the family name was always more of a character actor than star. He's continued to pop up in things sporadically, but that includes on Viva Laughlin (canceled), K-Ville (canceled) and Prison Break (canceled).
Marsha Thomason (Naomi): Nessa from Las Vegas has gone on to play a sports agent in one episode of Make It or Break It and star in something called Easy Money, which, you guessed it, was canceled.
So, that's a very very rigorous 10/10. Look, the acting profession is hard. There's unbelievable competition for every role, and it's impossible to predict what will be a success and what will get canceled. And that's assuming you are supremely talented and everyone who has the ability to cast you likes you. But still, Lost is so cursed. A word of advice to John Hawkes, who will play Lennon on Lost's final season: don't let them kill you!
Comments (51)
Michelle R was in avatar.....that didn't do well did it?
Charlie's in Flash Forward isn't he?
Your listing really doesn't prove anything. Your key example: Somerhalder. Well... he's just a bad actor. Why would a bad actor get a career out of a 20-something minor appearance in a successful tv show with a very very large cast? He was probably killed off because he couldn't act his way out of a can of spam! There's no proof exposure of a bad actor in a good tv show will do anything but gain him a mild following of hormonal teen fans.Maggie Grace... same thing. she was bad. Marsha Thomason was in the show for two minutes when it was already starting to slip down 'what did that show become?!' lane and she's pretty bad too. Rodrigo Santoro... you're kidding, right? He shouldn't never have left the Brazilian soaps he's started in... he's just laughable.Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Perrineau... are two very talented black actors... need I say more? They have been very successful on OZ... they'll bounce back. Sadly, it's not as if black males could expect a glittering career on tv anyway.Watros and Mapother had very very minor parts. They were regular guest stars in anything and everything before, they'll go on.Michelle Rodriguez has been producing two movies, thank you very much.As for Dominic Monaghan, you're being ludicrous... he left last year and has done a noted indie Horror Comedy, a cool guest on Chuck and been cast as a regular in the most promising show of the new Season... Flash Forward... not bad for a year's work. I'm sure some actors with less talent would give their right arm to see their career 'die' that way.moreless
The Producers/owners of the stations, the recession, the writers' lack of creativity/plans, viewers/hollywood typecasting actors, etc contribute to TV ACTORS not making the major jump to 'major' films. MOVIES AND TV ARE DIFFERENT TO HOLLYWOOD! duh! TV is considered worse than Movies, so 'movie stars' stay in the movies, and 'lesser actors' or 'has-beens'/ people knocked off of their pedestals who get a second chance after they walked from the best deal of their lives (David Caruso), end up on TV. You'll never see Brad Pitt on a TV show. His career, ego, nor check checkbook, require it- unless he wants to do a cameo. TV people get typecast to quickly it's not funny, thus they almost have to stay there.
the question for some of these folks is more like: what trajectory was your career taking prior to lost? Maybe LOST is the high point, rather than the peak after which they fall. And as for Michelle Rodriguez... well... having to serve time for DUI might not be the best thing for your career.... And that monitoring bracelet is hard to work into most movies....
Also Dom's new show Flash Forward is probably going to be the best new show this fall and I wouldn't call Wolverine a flop, $363,360,426 at wolrdwide box office.
Michelle will be in the most talked about film of the year AVATAR how did you miss that TV.com bad research.
Maybe that's because they have no other role that their character in Lost and no savvy producer care about that show so they never been seen that anyone of interest?
Great
Great
Dominic Monaghan has just done a movie: I sell the deadImdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902290/Had quite good reviews :D
A lot of these so-called "flops" are really just a matter of opinion. And some not even that.
Ahh, bummer for Dominic Monaghan.
Charlie is going to be back next season and is appearing in Flash Forward. I really don't think he counts as having a bad career. I think he's doing really well. He probably just wanted a years break. And Harold Perrineu kicked ass in the Unusuals, which was awesome, even if it did get unfairly cancelled. He was also in Oz.
Ana Lucia will appear on Fast & Furious 7 :) !!
I don't know if Conor Griff reads these comments, but the article is rather stupid. "Che, which no one saw" What? The movie won an award at cannes film festival. It might not be as glamorous as an emmy, but it still counts in my book...Your research sucks......
Rodrigo Santoro was in "300." He was King Xerxes
Michelle R is one of the actors in Cameron's "Avatar" that releases sometime later this year. I am guessing that movie is going to do wonders at the Box Office...and presumably for her career as well...
maybe cause theyre all still under contract to come back in the final season
Dominic Monaghan was just in an awesome independent movie called Selling the Dead (I always get the title confused with another movie, so that might be off a little) that also had Ron Perlman in it. And he's gonna be starring in some new ABC show. And most of the others have never been huge actors, and will sooner or later land roles on something. Basically, what I'm saying is that this article is ***ed.
I didn't know William Mapother is Tom Cruise's cousin.
They just vanished from TV. If their works have failed that is not their fault.
I have to say I disagree with some of the actors whose characters died on Lost. For example, Michelle Rodriguez who played Ana Lucia, is now starring in James Cameron's AVATAR! And several of these actors are getting work, even though it's not Blockbuster films.
Well come on. These are all actors, as am I. That is the way it is in this business. Sure, many of them have not gone on to star in hit TV series or big movies, but they have continued to work. Work is the operative word here. Even if nobody saw it, as you say, which is probably not true. Somebody saw it, and it could have a second life on cable or HBO, etc...They are lucky to have gotten the work they have and to continue to work. This is a crazy business and you may not work for a while and then work a lot. You never know, but one day one of these folks might wind up in some huge blockbuster or on the next big, long running TV series. I am sure that they are all happy just to be able to continue to do what they love and also make a living at it. the general public really has no idea about how hard it is to get to a point in your acting career where you get paid well, have some creative satisfaction, and can just rest on your laurels. It is a tough business and quite a game. I wish them all the very best of luck.moreless
I haven't seen it yet, but I have high hopes for Monaghan's upcoming movie "I Sell the Dead". It looks like a side-splitting indie comedy...with zombies...and Ron Perlman
Harold Perrineau Jr. was in 28 weeks later. That was after he left the island but before he came back on the boat. I think this counts since noone is guaranteed to come back in this show.
wow your so right i like charlie on lost.
but he was in an episode on chuck.
Too bad we don't see Michelle Rodriguez. And they killed her in F&F. That was very sad.
haha good article! That is why many are returning for the final sixth season since they have very light schedules.
no need to die on lost, many careers stopped when actors leave a show or when the show ends: Buffy (sarah michelle Gellar...) Veronica Mars, ER (Noah Wyle...), Friends, NCIS (sasha alexander), Seinfeld and so many other actors, of course there's little exceptions for a few (often after many years of inactivity). It's not LOST who is cursed, it's normal
Well Now we know what Boring people do... Write crap lol..
The smoke monster kills careers!!
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Eko): Um, GI Joe. and an episode of Monk!
Lost is just lame, that is all there is to it, I bet the rest of the actors have an equal hard time once if they live to see the end of the show.
I dont think their characters dying has anything to do with anything. Even the actors with still living characters aren't really staring in many movies like you might think they would be. Evangaline Lilly or Josh Halloway should be huge in those Katherine Heigl/Matthew McConaughey type movies by all rights but for whatever reason none of them seem to do much. I know they shoot a tv series but this one specifically has huge gaps between film production that would easily allow a movie.
OMG the evidence seems irrefutable, people try to stay alive!!!
- "The Vampire Diaries" will probably be a hit for Somerhalder. - Despite iMDB listing it after her Lost stint (due to her guest appearance in "Expose"), Maggie Grace did "The Fog" after LOST as well. So that's two fairly profitable movies. Plus, nobody would have said "Taken" would be a hit prior to its release either.
- Michelle Rodriguez is going to be in James Cameron's "Avatar" and Robert Rodriguez's "Machete" (co-starring with Robert De Niro). She just had a hit with Fast and Furious...what more are you looking for? Should she be freaking Johnny Depp or something?
- Isn't Dominic Monaghan going to be in "Flash Forward?" One of the most hyped shows of the fall?
- So Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is in a hugely profitable film and that counts against him? You're just grasping at straws in order to make your "Lost Curse" work.
The mere fact that these actors are even still working is good for them! You can't knock Steven Soderbergh's "Che," and "Post Grad" is still a freakin' theatrical release! (so I guess when it's a movie "no one's seen" you change it to "the movie sucked" to allow your theory to fit) Also, you "accidently" forgot Kiele Sanchez, who just stared "The Perfect Getaway." This article = EPIC FAILmoreless
I noticed that the actors who died on Lost also vanished from TV. That is strange!
same thing happened to those 6 characters in Friends.
I never paid attention to the people who's characters died on Lost... but yeah thats convincing that Lost is cursed!
Actually dimushi, Prison Break was cancelled by the network.
Michelle Rodriguez is going to be in Avatar! Which is destined to be a box office blockbuster!
OMG so "LOST" so now i understand why the show is call "LOST" because, after a character is killed, get "LOST" from this plent
XO XO
:):):):)
You're right about Ian. I had also believed that he'd become ever more famous after Lost.
I don't believe a second that Lost is cursed but this article is a great idea. I couldn't help laughing at Charlie's fate. It reminds me of South Park. Also let's hope Shannon will bounce back because Maggie Grace is hot and her character was quite interesting. In fact when I first saw season 1 I hated her but recently I watched the episodes again and realized that Shannon wasn't just a pretty babe. Don't hesitate to read my reviews ;)
LOL ! ~ nice one dude. Loved it .
that's what LOST do to PpL ! ~ .