On another board we are having a debate on whether Lost is a true ensemble cast or if Mathew Fox is the official "lead" of the show.
This is nothing agaist Mathew Fox who is a fine actor just more of a real question.
The cast is always listed alphabetically but I believe both Mathew Fox and Evangeline Lilly has been touted as the leads and Kate and Jack as the "lead" characters.
This being the Official Site I wondered if someone knew any official answers?
I think the fact that the characters are listed in alphabetical order is the answer. It's an ensemble cast. Some characters feature more prominently than others, but none is truly the central character. If you consider Jack and Kate central characters, then Locke and Sawyer are at least as important.
I'm quoting the pertinent part of Gregg's answer to your question, Squid--which you asked him in VIP--just for those who read THIS thread and are wondering about the answer:
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I'm going to muddy the waters. Technically, it's an ensemble show. All of our actors are favored nations (no, not that they're my favorites or related to me but they all stand on equal footing contractually). However, I think Jack does function as the main hero character, so he could be referred to as the lead character.
It's not as clean-cut as Buffy or Veronica Mars but it's there, subtly, in all its deniability.
Not that, as you noted in your reply to his answer, he actually ANSWERED the question at all!
Evangeline Lilly gets about 75% of the scenes and lines given to female characters, so I think she is treated as a lead by TPTB, regardless of the claim that it is an ensemble cast.
Jack is probably pushing about 50% of the scenes/lines given to males, but since there are so many more male characters, I think that qualifies him as a lead also.
S1 had much more diversity in scenes and lines between the actors, both male and female and I think it was truly an ensemble cast that year. However, in S2, it appeared to me that TPTB had decided to go another way and have more traditional leads. Also, there is that little story we also heard/read that Matthew Fox received a huge bonus for signing up for S3 leaves little doubt in my mind who TPTB consider the star of the show to be.
Well it's weird, Jack was the first guy we saw, he was the hero and it seemed the story was going to be told mostly from his point of view. But ever since then it's become more and more of an ensemble cast.
I'd say there are about 4 groups of characters; The Main, main characters (eg: Jack, Kate, Locke), Main characters (Sayid, Charlie etc), other main characters (Claire, Libby etc) and then the nobodies, which is basically everyone one else on the island that we never really find out about.
Though I could agree that Jack & Kate are the leading male and female. I suppose in the way Will & Elizabeth are in POTC, but that doesn't necessarily make them the main characters. If that makes sense..
They've established Jack is the lead (unfortunately). Not the "male lead", just the lead.
He's the "hero". He stands alone. I don't think this is a male lead/female lead situation. It's Jack vs. Everybody Else.
Obviously Kate is the primary female character because she gets the most screentime and so far is the only female character they've bothered to develop. But she isn't the "lead" in the story the same way Jack is. She doesn't have a hero's function. She's just really beautiful and young and good for marketing the show, but her character doesn't have nearly the dramatic importance that Jack's does. In fact, she's probably about sixth in line behind other male characters - Locke, Sawyer, Sayid, Desmond, Eko, Hurley - in terms of her dramatic function within the story.
So far, sad to say, Lost is a Man's World and the women - including most of the time, Kate - are just window dressing.
Evangeline Lilly gets about 75% of the scenes and lines given to female characters, so I think she is treated as a lead by TPTB, regardless of the claim that it is an ensemble cast.
Jack is probably pushing about 50% of the scenes/lines given to males, but since there are so many more male characters, I think that qualifies him as a lead also.
S1 had much more diversity in scenes and lines between the actors, both male and female and I think it was truly an ensemble cast that year. However, in S2, it appeared to me that TPTB had decided to go another way and have more traditional leads. Also, there is that little story we also heard/read that Matthew Fox received a huge bonus for signing up for S3 leaves little doubt in my mind who TPTB consider the star of the show to be.
From my point of view it makes sense to start to push Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Locke/Eko/Hurley as the 'lead' characters after season 1 because they were getting the biggest reaction out of fans. That's why we're seeing progressively less of Charlie/Claire unfortunately and even less still of Sayid which is a massive shame as Naveen may be the best actor I've seen on TV for a very long time. I do think we'll see a lot of Jin & Sun in S3, however, because of the mysteries surrounding the parentage of the child and Jin's progressively better English. Their relationship could even be about to become the axis of the series..
Their relationship could even be about to become the axis of the series..
Not a bad theory, actually. I think if Sun and Jin do have a larger role to play in the big mythology of the show, it will be becaue of Sun's child. What if it was immaculately conceived, like Locke was told he was by his mother? Or what if it develops special abilities (or even grows faster so that it is born during the span of the show)? All possibilities, and the nature of the child would make Sun and Jin more prominent again.
On another board we are having a debate on whether Lost is a true ensemble cast or if Mathew Fox is the official "lead" of the show.
Even if Nations hadn't indicated this, I would have argued that Jack is the lead.
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Originally Posted by Kandiman
From my point of view it makes sense to start to push Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Locke/Eko/Hurley as the 'lead' characters after season 1 because they were getting the biggest reaction out of fans. That's why we're seeing progressively less of Charlie/Claire.
This is my point of view as well. I've said this before on the board and got a lot of resistance, mostly from Charlie fans. It's nice to hear this from some one else.
I agree with you about Sayid. I like him, but IMO, the Shannon storyline killed the character. I never liked them as a couple (mostly because I didn't like her). I think after her death, the show did the right thing by pushing him into the background so he could mourn. Hopefully he will get more action in this upcoming season.
I think it's still intended to be an ensemble cast, but undeniably they've made Jack the "lead". It's much less so than in, say, 24, where Jack Bauer is clearly the anchor of the show and gets half the screen time at least. I wouldn't say Jack Shephard gets 50% of the screen time. Locke probably gets as much. I'm with a lot of fans in thinking there was too much Locke & Jack screen time in the hatch (even Ana thought that ).
What sets Lost head and shoulders above any other show are the flashbacks, which are ultra important in fleshing out all the characters -- Sun and Jin, for example, had 2 flashbacks in S2, as did Ana Lucia, and Kate had only one. With the introduction of the tailies it diluted the central 12-14 original survivors and that affected the drama in several ways; one was to the detriment of developing Claire and Sayid the way I would have liked. Love Eko though!
But you're right, Squid, I would say it's not a true democratic ensemble structure like ER is or was, where the main 5-6 characters seemed to get equal screen time. But it may help keep the casual viewers by giving them some consistency in characters they can see every week or keep up with them easily if they watch every other week.
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