13 'LOST' Revelations From the Creators & Cast

Here's something that will make you feel old: It's been 10 years since LOST , you know — that show with smoke monsters and polar bears — aired its first episode. The cast (Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Jorge Garcia, Ian Somerhalder, Maggie Grace, Henry Ian Cusick and Malcolm David Kelley) and showrunners (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) gathered Sunday night at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre for a panel at the annual Paleyfest, and offered explanations for fans' lingering questions. The evening began with a screening of "Exodus: Part 1". The two showrunners introduced the episode, and were as cheeky as ever: "We debated whether or not we should show you the real finale," Lindelof said. "Too soon?" Cuse added.

Each Cast Member Took a Memento From Set

Each cast member shared what he or she may have taken as a memento from set, after noting that ABC execs were sitting in the audience and stealing is frowned upon. "Maybe the cover of the hatch fell off a truck… " Lindelof joked. "So I was like 'Oh! This fell off a truck, maybe I'll keep it and make it into a coffee table.'"

Cuse chimed in: "This package just arrived, and it’s the countdown clock from the hatch! It just showed up!"

Jorge Garcia (Hurley) noted that he "maybe took Hurley's two paintings from the mental institution."

Josh Holloway (Sawyer) said: "I kept my boots. I had them 12 years before the show started. I figured they owed me my own boots."

Yunjin Kim (Sun) said she kept several dresses from the flashback and flash-forward scenes. Maggie Grace (Shannon) also kept a "tennis" themed outfit. And what did Ian Somerhalder, who played the ill-fated Boone, take from set? "I took my dignity," the actor joked.

Craziest Conspiracy Theories

And while it's easy to argue that LOST was one of the craziest shows to ever air, we could argue that the never-ending theories surrounding the show were crazier. "I had a guy once say that when a plane was in the air, we were all cloned. And the story of us was really the story of our clones," Garcia said.

Walt's Lightning Fast Puberty

Damon Lindelof revealed that the most questions they received about any character was Walt, played by Malcolm David Kelley. "Lots of questions about Walt. Is he coming back? Why does Walt have an Adam's Apple now?"

Even the moderator, Paul Scheer joked to the actor: "If only you had Benjamin Button's disease..."

The Unanswered Questions

Fans were anxious to ask Cuse and Lindelof about the storylines and mysteries that were left unresolved. And in typical ambiguous fashion, Cuse said: "Every question begets another question. We didn't feel like there was any way to answer all the questions at the end of the show without feeling didactic. We cared much more about the character's journeys."

Boone and Shannon's Incest

When asked what his most memorable moment was on set, Ian Somerhalder (Boone) said: "I made out with my sister once. I'm from Louisina, we keep it in the family. One day on set, I went to kiss this beautiful woman, and she had a mouthful of minced garlic that had been marinated for five minutes... that was an amazing moment. The entire crew laughing."

"One of the proudest moments of my career," Maggie Grace added.

Killing off Fan Favorite Characters

"The idea with Boone was, if we could kill a character that everyone loved, it would give the show an incredible energy. No one was safe," Carlton Cuse said of the show's first major character death.

"You were always in the precipice of death," Somerhalder added. "I'm so used to hearing the word Damon all day, it's my character's name on [The Vampire Diaries], but to hear this man's name it's like a beautiful thing. You gave me death but you also gave me life," Somerhalder said to Damon Lindelof.

Killing off Characters Fans Hated

While some characters, like Drive Shaft singer Charlie or Penny's Desmond Hume were fan favorites across the board, other characters weren't received quite as warmly. "We had an entire season for [Nikki and Paulo], but we condensed it into one single episode where we buried them alive," Carlton Cuse said.

Lindelof continued, "We introduced them in the beginning of Season 3, when fans asked 'What about these other idiots who are always carrying shit in the background? They're people too.' So we were like it's time to give those people a voice. Nikki and Paulo were our Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. We heard the audiences hating Nikki and Paulo, so we killed them off."

Sawyer's Swear Words

While the showrunners were grateful for the platform that was Network television, Lindelof said it did come with certain restraints. Such as Sawyer only being able to say certain curse words. "We had to limit Sawyer to 'Son of a bitch!', we couldn't have a 'Holy fuck!'" he said. To which Holloway added: "There were many moments when I needed a 'Holy fuck!'"

Jack Was Supposed to Die Immediately

Woah. Spoiler Alert! According to the showrunners, Jack was never supposed to make it past Episode 1. Luckily for fans, an ABC exec pulled the pair off the idea, saying: “If you [do that] in the pilot, the audience will never trust you again and never form emotional bonds with the characters,” Lindelof said. “It ended up being a great note.”

YunJin (Sun) was Supposed to play Kate?

"SunJin read for Kate, there was no Sun in the LOST script. We wrote Sun based on [YunJin's] audition. And Jorge read for Sawyer."

What?! Jorge Garcia as Sawyer? Does that mean Jorge would get to call Josh Holloway "lardo," "hoss" "barbar" and "deep dish"? Mind. Blown.

Even the actors didn't know their characters fate

Lindelof spoke of how the actors were told very little about their characters backstory and fate. "It would be pretty useful information to know you were in a fucking wheelchair," he says of Terry O'Quinn's John Locke. "During the pilot, Terry would run half a mile down the beach and sit in the sand with his iPod in. And JJ [Abrams] went 'That guy has a secret' and I was like "What is it?" and he was like "You figure it out."

The Real Alpha Male of the Island Wasn't Jack or Sawyer

A fan asked who the "top dog" of the island really was, to which Lindelof responded, "Well, who ended up in charge of the island?" The crowd cheered. "That's me!" Jorge Garcia said, pointing to himself, describing how teary-eyed he became when reading the script and finding out his character would be left in charge of the island.

The End

Cuse concluded: "Its a show about people who are seeking redemption, the more we talked about the ending, it became clear that the ending had to be a spiritual one. We wanted the show to reflect our own personal beliefs and desires, and hopes and dreams."