'Lost' will go on without murderous Michael By TERRY MORROW
Scripps Howard News Service
02-JUN-06
Actor Harold Perrineau says he won't be back on "Lost" when it returns in the fall.
"As of so far, I am not back next season," says the actor whose character, Michael, sailed off with his son, Walt, during the ABC show's May 24 finale. "I am not off the show, but I am not back next season ... and I may not ever be back."
Perrineau, who has been central to the "Lost" storyline in recent weeks, says he is free to pursue other work. He is no longer under contract with "Lost." He says producers told him weeks ago that he was being written off the show.
However, he also knew of a storyline idea in which Michael, once he got home, attempts to get back to the island. Apparently that storyline is not planned for next season, he says.
"I have no idea what is going on now," he says.
The actor, whose credits include the HBO series "Oz" and the "Matrix" film series, says he and his family have left Hawaii, where "Lost" is shot. He is now in New York City and mulling offers.
In the season finale, Michael and Walt were reunited before leaving the island on a boat.
In recent episodes, Michael shocked viewers by murdering two newcomers, Ana Lucia and Libby (Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros), and leading others into a trap.
When Michael departed the island, he left behind three of the show's most popular characters _ Jack, Kate and Sawyer _ who were being held captive by a mysterious group living on the other side of the island called The Others.
It was not clear whether Michael and Walt were actually going to leave the island and go home (as The Others had instructed them to do) or if they'd go back to their camp to get help.
"I watched the show, and even I was confused," says Perrineau.
"Sometimes what we get in the script is not what we see on the screen."
He says the parting shot of Michael and Walt leaving the island was "very clear" in the script.
"There was no doubt we were ... going home," Perrineau says. "But when I watched it, I thought, 'well, does he get off the island?'
"'Is he going to go out a couple of miles (into the sea) and turn around, come back and get help (for the hostages)?' Come on. Even I was confused by what I saw."
Perrineau says he was "a little confused" when producers told him that Michael was being written off.
"They explained to me how cool it was for someone to actually get off the island," he says. "It is cool, but it's not exactly what I saw in terms of the story."
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