From Sci Fi Wire:
Abrams Addresses Lost Rumors
J.J. Abrams, co-creator of ABC's hit SF series Lost, denied to SCI FI Wire that producers were planning to kill off any characters because of an actor's off-screen behavior. In an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco on Feb. 11, Abrams specifically denied rumors that the character of Ana Lucia would die as a result of actress Michelle Rodriguez's recent highly public run-ins with the police.
"While we don't want to report on the fate of any of the characters in the show, I would say without question that any reports that anything that's going on with any of the actors as being problematic or certainly resulting in changing the storyline to sort of, you know, get rid of them is just erroneous and silliness," Abrams said.
Rodriguez grabbed headlines in December, when she was arrested in Hawaii for drunk driving. Rodriguez, 27, is scheduled to stand trial March 30 after pleading not guilty. She was also cited for speeding in Hawaii three times last year. Lost shoots in Hawaii.
Abrams, who was at WonderCon to promote his upcoming Mission: Impossible III, added: "There's a lot of stuff that has happened that's extracurricular, and it's in the news. It becomes fodder for speculation. The truth is that the cast is the greatest. I don't know if you saw the SAG Awards, but ... most of them, those who weren't working, were there and got up. ... You see who they are and how they are. They're an amazing group, all of them, and we're just blessed to get to work with them. "
For his part, Abrams said that he will dive back into Lost next season, now that M:I III is nearing completion. "I will be more involved in the show next year," he said. As for this season, he added, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse "are finishing up this season. They have a very clear picture of this year and the beginning of the next. My dream would be to be able to go back and ... definitely direct an episode and at the very least ... be more involved than this year, which was incredibly peripherally because of the movie. So. People come to me and say, 'Oh, my God, I love Lost this season,' and I'm always flattered. ... I always have to say, 'I wish I could tell you that I had much more to do with it than I do, you know, this year.'" Lost airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Mission: Impossible III, starring Tom Cruise, opens May 5.