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"Welcome to the war." Ben Linus utters those words to John Locke in one of ABC's Lost promos, gun in hand. Since day one, Ben claimed that the freighter folks were going to kill everyone on the island. The show's three-hour finale is only a few weeks away. What do these last episodes of the season hold for the island residents? Can they hold their own against Widmore's team of scientists and thugs? Spoiler Warning: Some details from promos, interviews, and podcasts are mentioned.

No one, not even the most hardcore Lost fan, can have more questions about the show's characters than the actors who portray them. Recently, Several Lost cast members got a chance to ask these questions in a TV Guide interview with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the show's executive producers. This was a great idea on TV Guide's part, and the answers didn't disappoint. What could be more fun than letting actors like Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews, and Josh Holloway grill their bosses about issues that have been on fans' minds for months?

Cuse and Lindelof's answers contain a lot of spoilers about what we will learn during Season Four (and when), so stop reading if you want to be surprised. The juiciest responses and some speculation about what these new details could mean are included after the jump. My remarks also take rumors into account, so consider yourself warned.

With the TV season getting back to business as usual, a few Lost stars have been making the rounds in the media this week. Earlier, E!'s Kristin Dos Santos interviewed Jeff Fahey, who plays pilot Frank Lapidus on the show. Frank is my favorite new Lost character, and Fahey is very intriguing and well-spoken in person. The actor discusses his reasons for joining the show and admits that he had never watched Lost before joining the cast.

Evangeline Lilly was a guest on Tuesday night's episode of the Late Show with David Letterman. The actress tells Dave about how a planned trip to China became an impromptu trip to Japan (no visitor's visa). She also talks about the writers' strike and how she deals with island fever during filming in Hawaii.

Both videos are available after the jump. Enjoy!

For the third year in a row, FHM has named Lost's Evangeline Lilly one of its 100 Sexiest Women. Apparently, Lilly is much sexier than she was in 2006. The actress was #73 last year, and has moved up to #35. I'm sure that she's flattered to have cracked the Top 50. The magazine failed to recognize the sexiness of Lilly's co-stars Elizabeth Mitchell, Yunjin Kim, Emilie de Ravin, and Kiele Sanchez.

Other ABC stars to make the list include Kelly Ripa (Live With Regis and Kelly), Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives), Salma Hayek (executive producer/guest star, Ugly Betty), Katherine Heigl, and Kate Walsh (Grey's Anatomy). Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives took Evangeline Lilly's old spot, #73. She was #10 last year. I guess sexiness is fleeting. The highest-ranked TV star is Ghost Whisperer's Jennifer Love Hewitt at #14.

Lilly is set to star alongside John Malkovich in Afterwards; it will be her feature film debut. Afterwards begins filming this summer, and will be released in 2008.

Dr. Marvin Candle, also known as Dr. Mark Wickmund, is a major part of the DHARMA mystery. He has appeared in the creepy DHARMA station orientation videos, but his rank in the organization is unknown. The Tailsection recently interviewed Francois Chau, the actor who plays Dr. Candle. Chau shared behind-the-scenes details about the show, and talked about his upcoming appearance on Lost. Like a good DHARMA member, Chau did not reveal too much dirt, but he did divulge the following information:

• Before being cast on Lost, Chau had been been cast by April Webster (the show's casting director) in several other projects
• The orientation video scenes were initially filmed in California on the set of Alias. Later scenes were filmed in Hawaii.

(Spoiler Warning) With only a few weeks left until the big Lost season finale, speculation about the final episodes is popping up all over the place. The past two weeks of TV Guide's Ask Ausiello have featured the most exciting spoilers of all. Death has been absent from Lost episodes recently, but it will be back in full force next month. More than a few of you could be catching up to the death pool leaders. Things could get very interesting!

This post is all about possible character deaths, so please stop reading if you want to be unspoiled for the rest of Season Three.

More than a few Lost fans spent the summer of 2006 playing and interpreting The Lost Experience, ABC's alternate reality game. The Tailsection recently interviewed Jamie Silberhartz, the actress who played Rachel Blake in the game. Silberhartz's character was a central figure in The Lost Experience, and was ultimately revealed to be Alvar Hanso's daughter. The actress talked about playing the role of Rachel, as well as her post-Lost career. Here are the highlights:

• Silberhartz always knew that her character, Persephone, would become Rachel Blake, and that Rachel was Hanso's daughter.
• The actress had to go through three auditions before she landed the role.

Lost's Josh Holloway has publicly criticized the Hawaii police for treating both him and his fellow cast members unfairly. In an interview with British Glamour, the actor referred to what he calls the "Lost curse," citing the three arrests and six traffic citations accumulated by the cast. Holloway said that he and his co-stars are "easy targets" for the local police due to their high-profile status, and that the police should "Go catch real criminals."

In a few short years, the cast has built up a considerable arrest and citation record. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was arrested for driving without a license during his time in Hawaii, and Cynthia Watros and Michelle Rodriguez were both arrested for drunk driving last year.

ABC's newest Lost audio podcast is full of entertaining and useful behind-the-scenes information. Cast members Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, and Jorge Garcia discuss their experiences filming the "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" episode. A short interview with Paul Terry, editor of Lost: The Official Magazine, is also featured. Finally, the podcast includes a brief clip of the upcoming episode titled "Enter 77."

• In the cast interview, Jorge Garcia mentions that the dog trainers had trouble getting Madison (Vincent the Dog) to hold the corpse's arm in her mouth the same way on each take. The arm was even sent home with Madison so she could get comfortable carrying it around.

Vincent the Dog had better not run afoul of the law anytime soon, because another dog has been added to the Lost cast. Lulu, an Airedale terrier mix, is an adopted pet of Jack Bender, an executive producer and director on the show. The dog, who was adopted locally from the Hawaiian Humane Society, has quickly become regarded as the show's mascot due to her frequent visits to the set.

Lulu's addition to the Lost cast came about through a technicality. Since animals are not normally allowed on set, Bender "cast" Lulu in an upcoming episode so she could come to work with him. Bender did not reveal the episode in which Lulu will make her acting debut. Vincent, however, will be seen in this week's 'Tricia Tanaka Is Dead.' Rumor has it that Vincent will reappear on the beach with an unusual surprise for Hurley.

Related:
Lost gets a "new" theme song - VIDEO

The cast of Lost is giving back to the community where the island drama is filmed. Actors like Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, and Henry Ian Cusick are participating in a play-reading fundraiser for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Fellow cast members Terry O'Quinn, Elizabeth Mitchell, Daniel Dae Kim, and Michael Emerson are also expected to appear.

The event was planned by HTY board member Annie Wood, who happens to be married to Henry Ian Cusick. Wood, a well-regarded youth theater director, is planning a series of play-readings (also featuring Lost stars) with Matthew Fox's wife Margherita Ronchi. It appears that many Lost spouses are involved with this cause; Elizabeth Mitchell's husband, actor Chris Soldevilla, is listed as one of the event's performers.

Cast members will be available to sign autographs after the show, which is set for Sunday, March 4, at Honolulu's Tenney Theatre.

The New York Post just posted an interview with Jorge Garcia, in which the Lost star reveals a few details about his upcoming flashback episode. "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" will be the first Hurley-centric episode since Season Two's "Dave." Garcia shared the following information about the episode:

• The actor is trying to not to worry about the show's relatively poor ratings.
• He believes that no lone factor is to blame for the ratings decline. The show's new time slot and division of the cast have been highlighted by critics.
• Garcia's flashback episode features Cheech Marin as Hurley's father.

More than one year after her DUI arrest in Hawaii, former Lost cast member Michelle Rodriguez has posted her version of events on her official website. Besides that fact that she won't be winning any spelling bees in the near future, the actress also revealed the following details:

• Evangeline Lilly had invited her to a viewing of the newest Lost episode in her home; Rodriguez brought some champagne for the occasion.
• Rodriguez knew she was too drunk to drive home, but felt more comfortable driving to co-star Cynthia Watros' house than staying put.

According to Variety, Lost producers are planning to create a series of webisodes and phonisodes to accompany the TV series. The episodes will feature short, character-driven stories that will function apart from the regular series. Cast members will appear, but executive producer Carlton Cuse did not reveal how many of them would be involved. Production will begin in July of this year.

These webisodes have the potential to be very successful, if the popularity of Battlestar Galactica's webisodes is any indication. If it means seeing more of Lost's hottest couple, Sun and Jin, then sign me up.

Kiele Sanchez will play "Nikki" on Lost in season three -- a possible love interest for another new character that Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro will play, according to Variety.

So that's nice -- the new characters will be hooking up with each other instead of our old favorites. Probably best, after what happened to Libby and Ana-Lucia last season. But if you factor in Shannon, then maybe it is best for any woman on Lost to stay away from men they may happen to take a shine to the island -- that is, if they want to avoid the Abrams/Lindelof to-kill list.

[via ComingSoon.net]