Matthew Fox Gets Sporty

Matthew Fox, "Lost's" hunky castaway doc Jack Shephard, took some time to chat with us by phone from Hawaii during a break in shooting the popular TV series. We wanted to ask the tall, dark and handsome actor about his movie career which is getting a big boost with a co-starring role in the dramatic film We Are Marshall. Matt plays the assistant coach of a 1970 university football program that has to reorganize hearts and minds after losing the entire team and staff in a horrible plane crash.

Humm, is there something about Matthew and plane crashes? Don't worry, he plays Red Dawson, the coach that isn't killed in the crash and deals with that guilt and sorrow. Matthew has a lot or respect for the coaches, the real life town effected by the horrible loss and has affection for his new role. Check it out... Oh, and yes, he talks a bit about "Lost" as well. Hey, he likes working with "The Others".

TeenHollywood: How much did you actually get to talk with the real Red Dawson and what did you learn from him that really helped you get into the character?

Matthew: I actually got to spend four, five days with him. I was shooting the finale of 'Lost' last spring and I couldn't leave the island. So I called him and asked him if he would be interested in coming out to Hawaii and I fully anticipated [that he wouldn't] do that because he hasn't done a lot of flying in the past 35 years. And I was pleasantly surprised when he took me up on the offer and he came out and spent about four days just hanging out with me on set and spent some time with my family. And it was just an incredible experience.

TeenHollywood: Did you get any specifics from him that helped you with the role?

Matthew: Obviously, I thought that was absolutely crucial to have some time with him and to ask him about that year of 1970 and what it was like and what some of his memories were of it. I also anticipated him being reticent to talk about it. He hasn't been really open about that. He's not that kind of man. He sort of carries all this internally. The specifics of that are pretty private to him, and so I wouldn't want to go into those. It was difficult. We had some tough moments and he's just an amazing man and we've become very, very good friends.

TeenHollywood: Besides working with Red, what other research did you do on the story?

Matthew: Well, I didn't know about this event until I read the script and I felt like I had a whole catching up to do obviously. And, you know, aside from my discussions with Red, I immediately asked [the film's director] McG for all of his research materials and he sent me just gobs and gobs of stuff that he had collected over his preparation. I went through that as much as I could just to sort of get caught up on the facts and really get to know the story and what happened.

TeenHollywood: But Red, the real coach was always there for you?

Matthew: Most of my time was really consumed with trying to empathize with Red's position. And anytime I had really deep questions about that, I would call him and we would sort of go through that process and we'd try to figure out how he felt. It was an amazing experience.

TeenHollywood: You must be very busy on "Lost", why pick this project to do in your break from the show?

Matthew: Right. Well, it was the script. I mean, 'Lost' does take up a huge chunk of my year and I am reticent to fill my hiatus with other work unless it's something that I'm obviously incredibly passionate about and see almost like I have to do it. That's the way I felt about the story; very, very moved and it affected me. The way I choose things is always sort of a nebulous process that ultimately just comes down to the sense inside yourself that it's really important for you to do this part and be a part of this project.

TeenHollywood: So How was working with McG as your director? He usually does comedy/action films.

Matthew: I cannot say enough good things about him. I would work with him again in a heartbeat. It was my first big movie. It couldn't have been a more amazing experience and McG was an enormous part of that. He was so passionate about the story and just did a phenomenal job of creating environment that had a great energy. The entire project had a great energy.

TeenHollywood: Could you talk about your character's relationship with the head coach Jack played by Matthew McConaughey?

Matthew: Working with Matthew is amazing. He was really dedicated to the project and worked really hard. The two of us had a good time doing it. In the real world, I think there was some tension between those two guys. Red was really the coach that was left over after the crash. And he felt an enormous responsibility to honor those kids and people that were lost and had this coach coming in from the outside that wasn't from that community. And Lengyel's [McConaughey's role] philosophy was more about sort of pushing past it. I think there was a fundamental wrestling with this concept of 'do we hold on to what's happened and honor it or do we move past that'? It's a question about how to deal with grief. I think those two coaches were two sides of the same coin and ultimately what they both wanted was the same. Matthew and I had to find a way to have that and create a buddy dynamic in some way with two different people coming at the same problems from fundamentally different angles, but still find a way to be partners in it.

TeenHollywood: Did you play football as a youngster and were you up on the rules or did you have to research the coach part of the role?

Matthew: I played football for a huge portion of my life, all the way through college actually and so I know the game well but it was the first time that I've ever approached the game from the coaching perspective. Made me feel a little old. [he laughs]. But yeah, I know the game well and I had spent enough time with Red and I've had all of my own coaches in my life and I'm sure I brought some of the things that I knew about them into the way that I wanted to portray Red. I really documented Red well enough and I felt like I had a good idea of what kind of coach he had been as well, and how important the game was to him and how important the people in the game were to him.

TeenHollywood: What position did you play?

Matthew: I played wide receiver.

TeenHollywood: We Are Marshall is a sports-centered film. What sports do you follow?

Matthew: I'm a huge sports nut. I'm a big fan of the NFL and I'm a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. I try to follow them as much as I possibly can. This time of year, that's the team. I'm also a big soccer fan. So just last summer with the World Cup happening, my wife is Italian and we've been together for 19 years. We were rooting for the Italians all the way through the World Cup and that was incredibly exciting when they won it and so, yeah, I love sports and watch as much as I can.

TeenHollywood: How much extra pressure did you feel as an actor to get the story right because it is based on real people and it does affect so many people?

Matthew: I felt more pressured than I've ever felt doing anything. I mean, you know, when you're doing a purely fictional story and you're inventing a character in a story just in your imagination, you want to make something beautiful. You always set out to do that. But when you're doing that in conjunction with it being based on a true story and you're playing a man that you've become great friends with, all I really care about is that Red feels like I've done him right, you know? That was a huge part of what drove me every day. So there was a lot of pressure and I think everybody are involved in the making of the movie felt that.

TeenHollywood: Those 1970's clothes were pretty awful. How dorky did you feel wearing those duds?

Matthew: I felt great but that was definitely a very interesting time for fashion. But Mr. (Glicker) who did the designing of the wardrobe on the movie was just so well-prepared and just an incredible designer. I felt great in that stuff and wardrobe in something like that, it really helped with the part. And you feel like you're in that time so it was great.

TeenHollywood: "Lost " question. When you pick up the script there's always the chance that they're going to kill off a lead character. So are you worried that yours might be next?

Matthew: I think that's always an element it. I don't worry about it too much. I feel really fortunate to be a part of this project and I do, from an objective point of view, understand that that is an element of the show that's important.You can't create this sort of this island in which life is always in the balance and then not have people perish. I think that's just part of the show. So yeah, that's always in the back of my mind but I don't sweat it too much. If that time comes for Jack Shephard it's because that's what is meant to happen in the story and I have faith that [the show runners] are on top of that.

TeenHollywood: How do you feel about Jack being more involved with The Others this season? Are people missing the dynamic of the original cast?

Matthew: Well, I understand the audience missing some of those other dynamics. But, you know, right now we're looking at the story more from The Other's perspective than our original survivors' perspective. I think that's a really amazing thing that the show is doing. And I personally, because Jack is now part of those Others as being held in captivity there, I've gotten to work with new actors and create completely new relationships and dynamics and that's been really exciting for me.

TeenHollywood: Do you and the actors playing The Others make it a point to not hang out or joke between takes on set to maybe keep that animosity going?

Matthew: I wouldn't say that it goes that far. There's definitely a dynamic. I mean, the stuff that's happening between Jack and Juliet, and Jack and Ben and the relationships that my character has with The Others, I think there's an understanding between us as actors, that, on the day that we work, there's a certain dynamic that we strike but I'm getting to know them both as people and they're amazing. I just love them as actors. I'm really excited about working with them all the time and how psychological the work is. I'm really enjoying that stuff.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a little more time off since so many of the scenes aren't concentrated on you?

Matthew: It has created some more time off for me because I'm doing all of my work essentially in one set and so I have two or three days where I'm working 14-hour days. And then, I will have a week of time off while they're doing other stories and that's been incredibly nice for me.I mean, I worked on two films over my hiatus. I worked six days a week all the way through so getting back to 'Lost', I was excited but, at the same time, getting this much time-off has been a real relief. It's been nice.

TeenHollywood: You are also in a film called Vantage Point. Can you talk about that project?

Matthew: Well, Vantage Point was a script that I actually read about a year and a half ago and I met with Pete Travis, the Director of that film. Then, something happened where it couldn't get made then so when it came back around, I was really excited. I just think it's a really, really smart, intense and incredible thriller. I feel very strongly about Pete Travis as a Director. It's a very different character than what I play in We Are Marshall, it's a very intense character [He plays a secret service agent]. It's a very different movie, intense in different ways. I mean, playing Red Dawson was very, very emotional because I'm playing Red, my friend, you know, there was that added sort of intensity to it.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.