The creator "lost" boasted that he dismissed the star to "call him racist", say sources

Actor Harold Perrineau says he was struck off from the show after raising questions about his script.


For six seasons, Lost was one of the most monitored And discussion broadcasts on television, with viewers settled during the week after week to discover what was really going on on its mysterious island. One of the main members of the original distribution of the program was Harold Perrineau , who played Michael Dawson, a father who blocked on the island with his son, Walt ( Malcolm David Kelley ). But, after the second season, Perrineau left the series to return to a smaller role in season 4 and in a cameo of the last season.

Perrineau was frank of his time in the series, and he shares more in the new book Burn it: power, complicity and call for change in Hollywood by Maureen Ryan , including the circumstances in which he left. A Book's extract who focuses on Lost was published on May 30 Vanity . In this document, writers and actors say that the successful series was a toxic working environment. For those in the writers' room, it included sexist and racist jokes, reprisal behavior and showrunners claiming the work of others. For the actors, the environment behind the scenes would have influenced what had happened to their characters on the screen.

Addressing Ryan, Perrineau affirms that he was dismissed from the show after raising concerns about the scenario of his character from his point of view as a black man and that the white actors have priority on the members non -white distribution. Other sources of the show claim that the co-creator of the show Damon Lindelof Later, boasted of dismissing Perrineau to "call [him] [him] racist", that the From Star says he didn't do it. Read the rest to find out more, including how Lindelof responded to complaints.

Read this then: The most hated television finals of all time .

Perrineau was informed that the show would be a real set.

Harold Perrineau at the ABC Summer Press Tour Party in 2004
Dfree / Shutterstock

Perrineau, now 59, shared that he was initially very excited to join the cast of Lost . He said he was told that the writers wanted to tell a story that "was really fair" in terms of service in the story of each character, which would give all its diverse actors a chance to shine. It is noted in the extract he was one of the actors with the most established careers when the program was created in 2004 and that Lost The court to come on board.

"We were all really hoped for this", Romeo + Juliet The actor told Ryan. "It was a bigger test that I had never seen on television broadcast." He added that he was enthusiastic during the initial promotion of the show. "I shouted roofs about it," he said. "I was such a believer."

He rejected Michael's script.

Harold Perrineau on
ABC

Perrineau explained that it quickly became clear that the show was not going to meet its equity expectations. “It has become quite clear that I was the black guy. Daniel [Dae Kim] was the Asian guy. And then you had Jack and Kate and Sawyer, "he said, referring to the white characters played by Matthew Fox ,, Evangeline Lilly , And Josh Holloway , which were treated as tracks. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

Perrineau said he had asked to do more and that he had been told that the accent had been put on some characters to help the public follow the story. He also claims to be told that these characters were centered because they were "relatable". The actor said that the hierarchy had been reinforced by photoshoots in which non -white actors were positioned at the rear or on the sides.

Regarding Michael's arc, the actor took a particular problem with a script in which Michael did not seem concerned about his son's kidnapped. Instead of looking for Walt, Michael is used to advance the scenarios of other characters.

"I don't think I can do it," recalls Perrineau. "I cannot be another person who does not care to miss black boys, even in the context of fiction, right? It only makes the story advance that no one cares about black boys, even fathers black."

He called on the showrunners.

Jorge Garcia, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Francois Chau, and Harold Perrineau at Spike TV's Scream 2010
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Perrineau said he expressed his concerns during a phone call with Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse .

"If you are going to use me, let's work. He told them. The actor claims that they told him that the episode was not part of Michael. But later he received a revised script that included flashbacks In Michael's life before the island. However, the new equipment had to be completed on two long days of filming, which he perceived as being punitive.

"It was 2 pm and 6 pm," said Perrineau. "I said to myself:" If you think I'm going [explained] that, I'm not. I'm going to be really good. "But I had the impression that suddenly they were angry with me."

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Lindelof would have boasted of dismissing Perrineau.

Damon Lindelof at the premiere of
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock

Michael was first struck off from the show at the end of season 2. Vanity The article notes that his departure was allegedly linked to his son on the Kelley screen having a growth and aging push of his role. However, several sources have told Ryan that Lindelof said with regard to the departure of Perraux Lost , "[He] called me racist, so I pulled his [explanive]."

Perrineau explained that this is why he worried about opening the conversation with Lindelof and Cuser in the first place.

"It was the thing that was always difficult. Whenever you mention the race, everyone gets - their hair takes fire, and they say to themselves:" I'm not racist! "" He said. "It's like, no. Because I'm saying that I'm black doesn't mean that I call you racist. I'm talking about my point of view. I'm really clear that I'm not trying to put my trauma On you, but I try to tell you about what I feel. So, can we do that? Can we have this conversation? ""

Perrineau was forced to resume the comments he made in an interview.

Harold Perrineau at the premiere of
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock

After his return for season 4, Perrineau gave an interview For television guide in which he spoke of being disappointed with the way in which Michael and Walt's script was resolved. He summed up what he said by speaking to Ryan for the book: "You know, for me, as a black, the idea that Walt ends up living with his grandmother and not living with his father, Who looks like one of these clichés - black children who have been raised by their grandparents because none of their parents is there for them. I would have liked to see something better happen, but This is not the way it happened.

Perrineau said that Abc had forced him to make a retraction. "I mention the color of my skin - which just sent everyone to the rails," said the actor. "We found something, but it took weeks, because I said to myself:" I didn't say anything wrong. ""

Shortly after the publication of the interview, Perrineau said Weekly entertainment That he was "disappointed" but not "bitter" in Michael's script.

He continued: "It was just my point of view in an interview. It is nothing that I have ever spoken to the writers, or I think that is necessarily everything I should talk about. Their work consists of Doing the work of history. My feelings on social implications are my feelings. "

Lindelof said that he did not remember his alleged comment.

Damon Lindelof at the 2020 Critics' Choice Awards
Dfree / Shutterstock

Ryan also spoke to Lindelof for Burn , approaching him with the many claims of the people who had worked Lost He gave her their experiences, including what the sources cited him about Perrineau. THE Leftovers The creator said that he did not remember "never" saying that he had pulled the star for having called him racist. (For his part, Cusely argued in a declaration of response that Perrineau had not at all dismissed, saying that he had rather been demoted to be a member of the recurring distribution. The actor told Ryan that He had been released from his Lost Contract after season 2.)

"What can I say? Other than that, I break my heart that it was Harold's experience," said Lindelof. "And I will just give up that the events you describe occurred 17 years ago, and I don't know why someone would invent this on me."

Lindelof also said that there was a "high degree of insensitivity to all the problems you mentioned with regard to Harold" on the series - these questions, including black families and black children. He added: "I think Harold was legitimately and professionally transmitted concerns about his character and how important it was that Michael and Walt - with the exception of Rose [ L. Scott Caldwell ] - was really the only black characters in the series. ""


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