'Flash Forward' Actress Hopes 'Lost' Parallels Dissipate
In the new ABC show '
Flash Forward', the entire world blacks out at the same time and everyone is given a glimpse of their future. No one knows why it happened or who's behind it. As the characters (and viewers) slowly gather the pieces of the puzzle, it's hard not to draw parallels with another mythology heavy show-with-a-secret, '
Lost'.
PopEater got a chance to speak to
Sonya Walger, who plays Dr. Olivia Benford on 'Flash Forward' and Penny Whitmore on 'Lost'. Walger says she understands the comparisons and believes that they'll dissipate as the show continues.
After the jump, Walger chats about her character, her personal feelings about predestination and gives us some episode spoilers.
I heard that you didn't hesitate to take on another complex show because you didn't even think of 'Lost' when reading the script for 'Flash Forward.' What do you think now after hearing all the critical comparisons between the show?
"It's inevitable that we'd be compared to 'Lost.' I think anytime you have a show with a big main central cataclysmic event and a large group of people are reeling from it, invariably it gets compared to 'Lost.' It doesn't feel like 'Lost' to me at all. It feels like a very different show. It feels very much embedded in the real world. The big political field of what's going on, and on a personal level, how people are dealing with what they've seen. The emotional ramifications. It's very embedded in the world we live in. You keep seeing shots of Los Angeles on fire and the White House half destroyed. You know, there's a global scale to it. I think the comparisons will tail off as the show progresses.
"
I think it's the giant secret that is the common element.
"Yeah, exactly. The secrecy about it and the gradual revealing of stories and story lines, all of which start paying off more and more as you watch. It's not like you have to wait for season 6 for everything to be revealed. There are lots of payoffs as the show continues."
I have to ask... are you coming back to 'Lost' for the final season?
"I hope so. We'll see. I've got no idea."
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Sonya Walger Photos
Sonya Walger poses for a photo at ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Hollywood, California. More photos >>
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 24: (L-R) Actor Emile Hirsch, actress Sonya Walger and John Prendergast, co-founder of Enough Project attend the Hollywood Film Festival's screening of "End Violence Against Women in Congo Symposium" at the ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Emile Hirsch;Sonya Walger;John Prendergast
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 24: Actress Sonya Walger attends the Hollywood Film Festival's screening of "End Violence Against Women in Congo Symposium" at the ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonya Walger
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 24: Actress Sonya Walger attends the Hollywood Film Festival's screening of "End Violence Against Women in Congo Symposium" at the ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonya Walger
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 24: Actress Sonya Walger (L) and John Prendergast, co-founder, Enough Project attend the Hollywood Film Festival's screening of "End Violence Against Women in Congo Symposium" at the ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonya Walger;John Prendergast
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 24: Actress Sonya Walger attends the Hollywood Film Festival's screening of "End Violence Against Women in Congo Symposium" at the ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonya Walger
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Actress Sonya Walger attends Hollywood Film Festival's Ending Violence Against Women In Congo Symposium at ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Hollywood, California. Hollywood Film Festival's Ending Violence Against Women In Congo Symposium ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood, CA United States October 24, 2009 Photo by Brian To/FilmMagic.com To license this image (58732857), contact FilmMagic.com
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Actress Sonya Walger attends Hollywood Film Festival's Ending Violence Against Women In Congo Symposium at ArcLight Cinemas on October 24, 2009 in Hollywood, California. Hollywood Film Festival's Ending Violence Against Women In Congo Symposium ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood, CA United States October 24, 2009 Photo by Brian To/FilmMagic.com To license this image (58732832), contact FilmMagic.com
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Sonya Walger arrives at The PaleyFest & TV Guide Magazine's ABC Fall TV Preview Party at The Paley Center for Media on September 15, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California. The PaleyFest & TV Guide Magazine's ABC Fall TV Preview Party The Paley Center for Media Beverly Hills, CA United States September 15, 2009 Photo by Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.com To license this image (58370801), contact WireImage.com
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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - AUGUST 20: Actress Sonya Walger arrives at InStyle Magazine's 8th annual Summer Soiree held at the London Hotel on August 20, 2009 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonya Walger
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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - AUGUST 20: Actress Sonya Walger arrives at InStyle Magazine's 8th annual Summer Soiree held at the London Hotel on August 20, 2009 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sonya Walger
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Would the decision have anything to do with your schedule on 'Flash Forward'?
"I doubt it. I think [writer/directer David S.] Goyer is such a fan of 'Lost' and always has been. If there were any conflicts, I'm sure he'd be happy to make room for me to go off and do it. So we'll have to see. It's so out of my hands - I don't even know."
In 'Flash Forward,' we've only seen a glimpse of your vision of the future. I heard something about Lloyd (Jack Davenport) getting a text message?
"In his flash forward, he gets out of bed because he gets a message from someone. It will be surprising to everyone when they find out who it is."
Lloyd is the main character in the novel (by Robert J. Sawyer) that this show is loosely based on. Did you read it?
"I did read the book, yes."
It's conclusion is rather complex and scientific - not very TV. Do you have ideas about how the show will handle it?
"No. Absolutely no idea. I honestly haven't even speculated that much. I tend to just focus on the scripts that are in front of me and the few facts that they do give me, I tend to just go with them."
In last week's episode, your character found out that your alcoholic husband was drinking in his flash forward. Can you reveal a bit about how Olivia is going to deal with that?
"Olivia is such an incredibly honest person. One of the things that I loved when I first read the pilot was that here she was having experienced this crazy flash forward, and she tells her husband about it straight away. Whereas I think lots of characters on television would have lied. And I think Olivia by nature is so honest. So I suspect...no, not 'I suspect', but I think she will confront Mark pretty quickly about the information she's been given."
She is a very honest person, and that is unusual on TV. Can you talk a bit more about Olivia and why she's so appealing?
"I think she's conflicted and that's always interesting to watch someone in conflict. She's conflicted about what she's seen, about her experience in her marriage and what she wants her marriage to be and when she gets this information about Mark, that's really devastating. They've had a promise between them that if he drinks again, she will leave him. So to get confirmation of that, albeit not from him, is really unsettling. It's really wonderful watching someone who is really at war, not just with herself, but with the world. It's really fun playing someone who I feel is swimming upstream. Really, really going against the current of everyone else."
If you personally had some sort of flash forward, how do you think it would affect your life?
"I'm so suggestible. I think it would be terrible. I'd hate it. I mean, I read my horoscope with one hand across my eyes. Then I try and pretend I didn't read it. [laughs] I would hate to have a glimpse of my future. I wouldn't like it at all."
Do you believe in predestination?
"No, I don't really at all. I believe we just make it up as we go along. I believe your future is in your hands, minute by minute, second by second, really."
Can you give us a sneak peek at this Thursday's episode (Oct. 29), and Olivia's role in it?
"Yeah, Olivia's got a great episode coming up. The circle really tightens with her, Lloyd and Mark. There is a real showdown that is just so unexpected and dramatic. It's just great. It's also the episode where Dominic Monaghan really joins the cast, and you start seeing what his connection to everything has been. You start getting glimpses of it anyway. It's a great episode for him. And she confronts Mark about his drinking. It's full of confrontation, this episode. It's great."
