LOST Magazine #27 - Collector's Edition
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LOST Magazine

An excerpt with Mark Pellegrino, (Jacob), featured in issue #27 of The Official Lost Magazine.

Were you a Lost viewer before signing on as Jacob last season?

My wife watched everything, but I didn't have that much time to see it. I've been catching up a little bit out of order. I have to sit down and piece it all together. It's a mysterious, labyrinthine kind of plot for sure.

As usual, there was no official casting call for a 'Jacob.' What was your audition process like?

I read a long scene and I believe the character's name was Jason. It was a little confrontation scene on the beach with somebody. I had one audition that was put on tape that went well. I waited for a little while and then found out I got the part. Then when I landed in Hawaii, and started talking to the crew, it was all, "Oh… you're our Jacob!" I had no idea what that meant until things started to unfold.

So after being cast, what kind of breakdown did you receive on Jacob?

None. Just little bits and pieces here and there that Jack [Bender] would tell me for a scene, just to enlighten me in the moment. There was no long-range knowledge.

There's been so many references to Jacob -- his presence, the cabin -- was it difficult bringing all that history to the character and even trying to understand his place in the series?

It is. I like to know the end. As an actor, this way does make it a challenge. On the other hand, there's a part of me that likes not knowing, because it helps make the part simpler. It's not weighted down with a lot of gravity, which may happen if I knew where this was going. It's definitely an interesting journey to go on.

Ben and Jacob have quite a history. What was your sense of their relationship?

To me, it obviously felt like Benjamin had sacrificed a great deal to have a relationship with me. In some ways, I betrayed him. That's what I got from it.

Did you form your own theories on who or what Jacob is and what this epic conflict is about?

It seems to me like it's a kind of God/Satan dichotomy. I think it's good versus evil in general, so I've been approaching it from that point of view.