TV.com Interview: Grant Bowler of Lost, Ugly Betty

As Connor Owens on Ugly Betty

The name Grant Bowler may not immediately ring a bell with American audiences, but if he keeps doing what he's been doing the last few years, that will change fast. We first saw the Australian actor in his role as Captain Gault on Lost (he was the head cheese of the freighter before being relieved of command by Keamy the mercenary), and his current role on Ugly Betty as Connor Owens is definitely making a splash at the ABC hit.

Back in Oceania (he was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia), he's famous for his role on the wildly popular Outrageous Fortune and as the former host of The Mole, among other things. We chatted with Grant about the shake-up he's caused on Ugly Betty, his Lost days, and what's in store for him in the future.

TV.com: What drew you to Ugly Betty? What do you like about it?

Grant Bowler: I've been a huge fan of the show since the pilot, actually. I don't watch the beginnings of many series, I don't know why, maybe because I'm normally working. But I did see the pilot of Ugly Betty and I fell in love with it right from the start. I just think it has a style all of its own, you know, that's unlike any other television show. And it walks this beautiful line between quite broad comedy and really, kind of, delicate, lovely drama. I've always liked that about the show. It's very human and very real, and grounded and down to earth. But at the same time, you know, it's almost clownish in parts.

TV.com: So let's talk about this love quadrangle, or love square, whatever we want to call it now.

Grant Bowler: [laughs] Yeah, it's got many sides, hasn't it? It's like a Rubik's cube, a love Rubik's cube.

TV.com: What is it that you think attracts Connor to Wilhelmina?

Grant Bowler: I mean, apart from the obvious, which is the fact that she's drop-dead gorgeous, she's quite a powerful woman in the sense that she knows herself. She's unafraid, she's unfrightened. She's very successful and she's very good at what she goes. Those elements, I think, attract a character like Connor to a woman like that. I guess in direct opposition to what would attract him to Molly, which would be her kind of ease with herself which passionately includes a lack of ambition and just a general happiness with her life and her status quo. They're almost opposite each other, but they're both attractive [qualities].

TV.com: And likewise, what is it about Wilhelmina that attracts her to Connor?

Grant Bowler: I think almost the same things, you know. From what her character says, she finds him dynamic and good at what he does. [He has] an excellent business mind. She seems to follow very much down the track of him being an equal, as good at what he does as she is at what she does.

TV.com: I know you know the answer to this, but we're sitting here wondering what's going to happen with the future of these relationships. Can you give us a little teaser about what's coming up in the next few episodes?

Grant Bowler: The swap's already happened, where everybody's already handed off. So what happens now is the fallout [laughs]. It's easy making [those decisions] than taking the leap--a bit of what happens next is the consequence of everybody trying to figure where they go from here.

TV.com: Do you think we're going to see Molly and Connor try and get back together, or is this going to be the end?

Grant Bowler: I actually don't know the answer to that question. But I think that for at least a little while, we're going to see both of the new couples pursuing each other. So I think Daniel and Molly and Connor and Wilhelmina for a little while will be well and truly inveigled.

TV.com: Well Connor and Wilhelmina started off kind of secretive, are they going to continue that?

Grant Bowler: It's hard to keep a secret at Mode, let's put it that way.

TV.com: And how is this going to affect Connor and Daniel's relationship?

Grant Bowler: Good question. There are a lot of trials and tribulations with that friendship coming up very soon. Sorely tested, would be the phrase.

TV.com: Is there any chance you'll be back on Lost again?

Captain Gault on Lost

Grant Bowler: Look, I hope so. I'd love to go back on the series. I had an absolute ball on Lost. Again, a very successful show, tremendous show. So I'd love to go back on. I don't know, if they call me, I'll be there about twenty seconds after they call. But the thing with Lost is that you have no idea until 10 minutes after you were meant to be there, what's happening. I don't know anybody on the show who's not in the dark. So your guess is as good as mine. But if J.J. can hear me, really, I'm up, I'll go again.

TV.com: Actually, I just spoke to Damon and Carlton earlier this morning. I didn't get a chance to ask about you, I should have. I should have lobbied for you to come back.

Grant Bowler: Yeah, thanks, mate. Next time you get a chance, do, because I would love to. But yeah, no, your guess is as good as mine.

TV.com: All your scenes were on the freighter.

Grant Bowler: We were on a freighter and it was great. When we were shooting the final episodes, the last couple of nights we were out doing the stuff on the freighter, the seas got quite big. And we actually couldn't get off the freighter on my last night. We had to take the freighter--we couldn't get off the freighter onto the transport boat. So we had to take the freighter all the way back in. And I remember that as being one of the longest days I've ever had in my life, because the freighter took hours to get back in.

TV.com: Did you know how long your stay would be on Lost? Or did you just pick up a script and see that Keamy was going to shoot you?

Grant Bowler: I picked up the script and saw that Keamy was going to shoot me. Yeah, that was as much of a surprise to me as it was to anybody else. In fact, I was really enjoying the episode up until then. And that was hilarious, because I was sitting in the living room with my wife, and I went, "Ugh!" And she went, "What?" And I went, "I'm dead!" She went, "Oh, that's not good." And I said, "No, it's not!"

TV.com: What's your status for Outrageous Fortune right now?

Grant Bowler: I am actually sneaking back in the not too distant future to do a couple. I'm knocking over two episodes this season, but just quickly in and out because I've got other commitments.

TV.com: And what about your experiences on that show and how that kind of helped launch everything? Are you going to go back to New Zealand and do more acting in other programs?

Grant Bowler: Look, I hope to. I love working in New Zealand. It's just the most beautiful country I've ever been to. I was born in New Zealand, so I have a lot of family there. And I always love working there, I love the crews and I just love the sensibility of the place. So yeah, I hope to. I'm starting a theatre company in New Zealand with a friend this year. So we really want to put a show on, our first show next year with the Auckland Theatre Company, hopefully. But at the moment there's a lot of work for me in the U.S. And I'm really enjoying being in the U.S. So you play it by ear, you know?

TV.com: Do you have a preference of what kind of style you like to do? Comedy or drama?

Grant Bowler: More and more, comedy. It's funny, you know, when I was 25, if you had asked me the same question, I wanted to do all the really heavy drama. But the older I get, I think the more drama you get in your life, then the more you want to go to work and have a laugh. So these days, yeah, I like the lighter stuff and I like to have fun. Your taste gets a little more refined and you like to be a bit more deft.

TV.com: Aside from the theatre project you're working on back in New Zealand, what other future projects can we see you in?

Grant Bowler: Don't know. At the moment, I'm booked solid. So we're going to have to wait and see. I've got Ugly Betty in front of me at the moment. I'll run back and do a little bit more Outrageous Fortune in the sixth season of that. And then I'm narrating a television series in Australia called Border Security, I'm still doing that. So I've kind of got three projects on the go as it is. So as soon as I can free up a slot, I might look at something else. But that's a lot.

TV.com: What do you think about the American remake

Grant Bowler: I hope it goes really, really well. Good Behavior, it's called, isn't it? I'd love to see it work. I read the pilot script and I thought it was a terrific script. So I hope it does well, because it's a great concept and I'd love to see the show finally get the national success it deserves.

TV.com: Thank you very much for talking and we'll be keeping an eye on that love square, rectangle thing.

Grant Bowler: [laughs] Thanks, Tim. I appreciate it. It was good talking to you.

Ugly Betty airs on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.