Matthew Fox

In Lost (2004), Matthew Fox makes taking charge look uncomfortable. His Jack Shephard has the urgency expected of a leader, but there is strain in it, as though being depended upon costs him something each time. We found him affecting because that strain makes his efforts to help look difficult rather than automatic. Fox is a good centre for an ensemble, giving us a dependable figure without making his response to every problem feel settled in advance.

The family drama Party of Five (1994–2000) established him as a lead with Charlie Salinger. By Lost, the responsible older-brother type had become the man expected to take charge of a survival story. Those parts suit his quiet intensity, though the earnestness can leave him with little room to be funny. We would not turn to Fox first for lightness; we would cast him when the strain of being responsible matters, and when a script allows that strain to cause difficulties.

In Lost, his urgency is useful alongside Evangeline Lilly’s hard-to-read Kate Austen and Terry O’Quinn’s composed John Locke. Their different ways of holding our attention give the series reasons to keep watching that do not depend on another surprise. Working with writers and showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, Fox helps sustain our interest when the habit of postponing answers becomes wearing. He cannot fix the storytelling’s evasions, but he can keep Jack from feeling like a convenient person to move it along.

The film work has generally asked him to occupy less space, from Red Dawson in We Are Marshall (2006) to Racer X in Speed Racer (2008). His supporting turn as John Brooder in Bone Tomahawk (2015) suggests a useful direction: quiet intensity need not come with responsibility for the whole story. Screen work became less frequent after 2015, before his return in Last Light (2022). We would welcome more parts that let him contribute without having to be the dependable centre. Start with Lost, provided the prospect of waiting for answers does not put you off.