THEN AND NOW: The cast of ‘Lost,’ 20 years on from the show’s premiere

Prior to playing the lead of “Lost,” Matthew Fox gained television fame portraying Charlie Salinger on the family drama “Party of Five.” 

In the years since “Lost” ended, Fox has starred in a handful of films including “World War Z,” “Alex Cross,” and “Bone Tomahawk.”

More recently, he has appeared in the mini series “Last Light” and Australian drama ” C*A*U*G*H*T.”

“I would say ‘Lost’ was my destiny because it certainly wasn’t my agenda,” Lilly told The Independent in 2018, reflecting on the role.

“I was one of those very rare actresses who wasn’t trying to be an actress when I got that job — and the only reason I took it at the time was because I had enormous faith and really believed that everything in my life just continued to point me towards this thing.”

Evangeline Lilly has perhaps had the most success following “Lost” with leading roles in various blockbuster films.

Recently, she was seen on screen as Hope Van Dyne in “Ant-Man” and its sequels “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” She is also known for portraying Tauriel in the “Hobbit” franchise.

Garcia played fan-favorite Hugo “Hurley” Reyes.

His face also adorned the cover of a Weezer album in 2010 that was named in honor of his “Lost” character.

After playing the lovable Hurley on “Lost,” Garcia has been in a wide variety of television shows including “Alcatraz,” “Bojack Horseman,” “Maggie,” and “Hawaii Five-0.” 

 Garcia starred in the thriller “Running Out of Time” and as well as the films “The Munsters,” “All the World is Sleeping,” and “Condor’s Nest.”

He is set to appear in the upcoming film “When We Were Pirates” with fellow “Lost” co-stars Henry Ian Cusick and Harold Perrineau.  

Harold Perrineau played a pivotal role in “Lost,” especially when he became separated from his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) on the island.

Perrineau has spoken publicly about the way Michael was written out of the show and, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Perrineau expanded on his thoughts.

“I didn’t think he got to redeem himself especially to the people who I feel like he wronged,” Perrineau explained in 2008 after his character’s departure.

“At the beginning of the show, we didn’t understand much about him, but as we did get to understand him, he was a good guy. I think he was probably going to be a good father. I wish Michael would have gotten to be the father that he had always wanted to be, because he’s a good dude.”

Perrineau, who was known for his scene-stealing role in Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” before “Lost.” 

Since the show, Perrineau has shown up in television shows like “Sons of Anarchy,” “Criminal Minds,” and “Claws.”

He’s also been in numerous films like “Zero Dark Thirty,” “I’m Not Here,” and “Dumplin’.”

Naveen Andrews played a pivotal role in the show. 

“The fact that [Sayid was] Iraqi was at least superficially what pricked my interest,” Andrews told Red Book Mag in 2010. “I couldn’t bloody believe a prime-time TV show would have an Iraqi ex-Republican Guard torturer as a main character. But he is a romantic, as well.”

Andrews has largely kept to television in the years since “Lost,” playing Lord Akbari on the television show “Sinbad,” Jafar on “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” and Jonas Maliki on “Sense8.”

In 2022, he portrayed Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani in the Hulu miniseries “The Dropout” which dramatized the rise and fall of biotechnology company Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes.

Toward the end of the show, Vulture interviewed Yunjin Kim about Sun’s evolution on “Lost” from timid to bold.

“It’s been a pleasure figuring her out and learning more about her as the seasons went on,” Kim said. “I think out of all the characters — not to compare or anything — I think Sun’s developed more out of all the characters on the island.”

Following “Lost,” Yunjin Kim’s biggest role was as Karen Kim on the television series “Mistresses.”

She played Jina in the Netflix series “XO Kitty,” which was a spinoff of the movie series “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and had a two-episode arc in “Station 19.”

She has also starred in a slew of Korean dramas which include “Heartbeat,” “Ode to My Father,” and “House of the Disappeared.” 

Daniel Dae Kim was one of the leading men of “Lost.”

His character is featured in every episode of the show and underwent quite a personality transformation from the pilot to the finale.

Kim is best known these days for his role as Chin Ho Kelly on “Hawaii Five-0.”

In 2017, Kim announced that he was leaving the show early due to the pay disparity between him and his Caucasian co-stars.

“As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well developed, three-dimensional character like Chin Ho,” Kim said on Facebook in his farewell message to fans. “I will miss him sincerely. What made him even more special is that he was a representative of a place my family and I so dearly love.”

Since his departure from “Hawaii Five-0,” Kim stepped into a larger role as producer on “The Good Doctor,” on which he played Dr. Jackson Han.

More recently, he has starred in the 2019 version of “Hellboy,” Apple TV+’s “Roar,” and “New Amsterdam.”

Dominic Monaghan was perhaps one of the most well-known actors on “Lost.”

Prior to the show, he played Merry the hobbit in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Since “Lost” wrapped, Monaghan has popped up in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” as Bolt and has been on several television shows including “The Unknown,” “100 Code,” “Quantum Break,” “Bite Club” and “Moonhaven.”

Monaghan also starred in the “Star Wars” installment, “Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker” which will was directed by “Lost” creator and producer JJ Abrams.

Josh Holloway took on the role of Sawyer.

Ford’s character was known for his sarcasm and charm. 

Holloway has gone on to star in action films including “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” “Paranoia,” and “Sabotage.”

He played the villain Roarke in season three of hit TV drama “Yellowstone.”

He was also seen on television as Will Bowman in the adventure drama “Colony.” In an interview, Holloway compared the character of Will Bowman with the dynamic con man Sawyer.

“On ‘Lost,’ [Sawyer] went on a journey basically from the darkness into the light,” Holloway told Nerdist.

“Whereas Sawyer grew and evolved to be a better human, [Will Bowman] is a good guy who is being tainted by the darkness. It’s not making him an evil person but it is definitely compromising his character.”

Terry O’Quinn’s character was filled with mystery.

John Locke — one of the many characters named after philosophers — learned how to walk shortly after arriving on the island. He’s one of the few who wanted to stay on the island. 

Like Daniel Dae Kim and Jorge Garcia, Terry O’Quinn also starred in “Hawaii Five-0” after “Lost” ended.

He has also had prominent roles on shows like “Secrets and Lies,” “Patriot,” and “The Blacklist: Redemption.”

Most recently, O’Quinn appeared on Hulu’s “Castle Rock” as Dale Lacy, “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” as Major General Beale, and “FBI: Most Wanted” as Bryon LaCroix.

Emilie de Ravin played Claire Littleton, a single mother who gave birth to baby Aaron while on the island.

Littleton had an on-and-off relationship with fellow castaway Charlie Pace while on the island. She disappeared in the fourth season finale, but returned as a regular in the sixth season.

After her role in “Lost,” Emilie de Ravin joined the cast of another ABC show, “Once Upon a Time,” in which she played Belle.

Ian Somerhalder’s character didn’t survive beyond the first season of “Lost,” but his death did leave a large impression on the show by ratcheting up the level of danger on the island.

After his role on “Lost,” Somerhalder starred in the CW series “The Vampire Diaries” for nearly eight years as cocky vampire Damon Salvatore.

During that time, he married actress Nikki Reed and, in 2017, they welcomed their first child Bodhi Soleil.

In 2019, Somerhalder returned to acting for the first time since “The Vampire Diaries” concluded in 2017, playing Luther Swann in the short-lived Netflix series “V-Wars.”

There were rumors Rodriguez was killed off of “Lost” early on due to a drunk driving conviction during filming, but Rodriguez cleared the air following her departure.

“I planned on leaving this season anyway,” Rodriguez told ABC News in 2006.

“I told them, I wanna go in and go out with bang. I didn’t know when it was gonna happen. They actually wanted to give the storyline some time. They wanted to give it until the middle of next year. But I was ready to go.”

 Rodriguez has had huge success since her limited role on “Lost,” with acting credits in the “Fast and Furious” franchise as well as “Avatar,” and “Machete Kills.”

Desmond wasn’t among the original cast, but was revealed to have been living on the island in hatch in the season two premiere.

Before this role, Cusick worked mainly as a theater actor. 

“I was a theater actor back in the UK, and you knew the whole play, so you could plot your storyline and character,” he told Collider in 2014. 

“And then, I did ‘Lost’ and didn’t know, and it was kind of frustrating, but I enjoyed it. You think you know where you’re going, but then it changes. You just have to have faith in the writers.  If they’re doing a good job, you go with it.”

Henry Ian Cusick has made steady appearances on TV through the years, with prominent roles in “Inhumans” and “The 100.”

He also joined his “Lost” co-stars in their tradition of starring in “Hawaii Five-0” by making a small cameo on the show in 2013.

Linus was the leader of a group of island natives called. He was initially known as Henry Gale to the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, pretending to have just arrived on the island.

While initially one of the show’s main antagonists, later on he became a morally ambiguous ally to the main characters. 

Emerson has had a quiet career since “Lost” ended but returned to screens in a major role in 2024. 

He starred in Prime Video’s “Fallout” as Wilzig.  He also appears in Paramount+’s “Evil” as Leland Townsend, and “Arrow” as Cayden James.

After “Lost,” Mitchell played the role of Limbrey in Netflix’s “Outer Banks.”

She also had lead roles on the television series “V,” “Revolution,” and the festive franchise “The Santa Clauses.”