Getting back to Juliet and Sawyer,we spoke before about how surprised you were about that turn of events. But when did you get the first inkling the story might go in that direction?
Actually when we did that scene on the beach we were like “are they? nooo” we didn’t think there was any way they would do that because it was excruciating how long they took to earn the relationship between Kate and Sawyer. So to suddenly do (Juliet and Sawyer) in three scenes,we were in shock at first. Both of us feared it at first. We felt the audience would not buy this because we don’t. But then we had to accept it,move forward,and try and honor it.

Tell us about working with Elizabeth Mitchell…
To explore that avenue with her is so easy. I couldn’t have more fortunate as far as the actress I was working with. She was amazing. We were able to sell it and actually sell it to ourselves and that felt great.

You sold it so well that the moment Juliet let go of your hand and was sucked into the hole at the swan site,it literally devastated fans. Where you disappointed their story didn’t get to go on?
No we felt free and inspired by it. We were like “wow that turned out better than we both expected.” I always love this about the writers and creators here; we were able to ad-lib a bit and to throw in some gallows humor in the end like, “Where do you think you’re going blondie?”. We lived it and did it and their brilliant creators allowed it. This actually was our relationship so we kept it alive.

At the beginning of season six,you do get some closure with Juliet as you bring her out of the hole. How did you feel about revisiting that place again?
I expected it,but I felt like we did it the best it could have been done. We felt like they were milking it and it made us angry a little bit. But it’s inevitable in that you fall in love with your character if you are really are trying to do this right, so the choices that the writers make really matter to you. And yet,you are not the writer,so as an actor,you have to accept it and move forward. We did accept it and move forward and found beauty in that. So that experience was amazing.

Did it also help to get you right back into the mindset of where Sawyer needed to be this season,with his barley contained anger and bitter disappointment?
Oh sure! It throws you into depression. Acting is not for the weak-hearted if you are going to go there. It was a tough experience,but fulfilling. There’s no yin without the yang,so once you tackle it,then it’s freeing. It turned out special and hopefully it continues to honor it the way it had been before.

So after losing Juliet and now still being stuck on the island,where is Sawyer now?
Well for me,it’s obvious that he doesn’t care to live anymore. Everything he ever cared about…. he opened himself up and released his survival mechanism in order to fall in love and then got punched again by life,so he’s obviously destroyed and hateful toward life. He doesn’t care. The trap is to ‘one note’ that. We are complex as human beings and our emotions live and breathe at both ends of the spectrum at all times. So the challenge is to let the lessons he’s learned fro being on the island breathe underneath (the performance)- and that is a fine line (to tread). So anything he experiences -good feelings about life,or good feelings about anybody else- is a betrayal to (Juliet.). There is shame and anger and sadness involved there. All of that has to breathe at the same time,and yet some joy somewhere has to breathe too. I don’t know where that is. I haven’t found it yet,but that’s the challenge.

Over the entire run of the series,there’s been that omnipresent triangle with Jack and Kate and Sawyer. They alluded to it when Kate came back to the island,so does that muddy up Sawyer’s grieving too?
Yeah,it has to play-the shame of it,the betrayal of it yet ,yet the inevitability of it. I don’t know what it ends up looking like though.

Do you think that there is a resolution that it’s leading towards?
I have no idea. They are incredible writers and haven’t dishonored anything so far,so why now? I trust them as much as I can while being wary. We just want to honor the relationships that have grown and not cheapen them. It all has to play through.

Thanks so much ZoeWashburne!