Lost Character Nickname Stems From A Dark Place
There were many things to love about Lost’s James “Sawyer” Ford, but nothing was quite as memorable as the nicknames he gave everyone on the island. From calling Locke “Mr. Clean” to referring to Jin and Hurley as “Han and Chewie,” it’s impossible to pick a favorite. However, when the world shouted AHA! At Sawyer’s label for the island’s ageless man, Richard Alpert, calling him “eyeliner,” we didn’t yet know the real story behind that nickname, which sadly stems from bullying.
Yes, Those Are His Natural Eyes
When Nestor Carbonell made his Lost debut as Richard Alpert, all viewers could think about were his eyes. Beautiful of course, his dark and prominent lashes and lids threw everyone off, and viewers at home debated whether the actor was wearing eyeliner. In the fifth season DVD extras, Carbonell settled the debate once and for all, assuring fans that it was his natural look.
However, there was makeup involved – just not eyeliner or mascara.
Bullied As A Child
The Lost star said that his makeup artist had to use concealer to cover up the darkness of his eyelids. So when we couldn’t take our eyes off Richards’, we were actually looking at a toned-down version of his windows to the soul.
But in a darker turn of events, Nestor Carbonell opened up about the great debate over Richard’s eyes on Lost, revealing that this wasn’t the first time this had come up in his life. As a kid, the actor was often teased and bullied because of the look of his eyes.
The Man Who Can’t Age
Richard Alpert first appeared in Lost Season 3 as a guest star. Long remaining a mysterious character, we knew little about the man who never seemed to age, other than the fact that he somehow worked for the island. It wasn’t until the final season that Richard would get a backstory, and we learn that he had been living on the island for more than a century, serving Jacob as a recruiter.
The Nickname
While fans watching at home took to debating Richard’s eyeliner after each and every appearance, the series finally poked fun at what they knew was on everyone else’s minds at the end of Season 5.
In the Lost episode “LaFleur” Richard confronts the Dharma associates living in a housing compound on the island after three of his people are found dead. Josh Holloway’s LeFleur, aka Sawyer, asks the Dharma lead to speak directly to Richard, referring to him as “your buddy out there with the eyeliner.”
Water Under The Bridge, Hopefully
While Nestor Carbonell doesn’t seem to be bothered much by the response his eyes receive from fans today, it shouldn’t downplay how terrible it is to know that this is an issue the actor has dealt with his entire life. Most likely, the teasing and bullying bothered him at some point.
But still, it couldn’t have been that big of a deal when filming Lost. Carbonell surely would not have let such a nickname through had it been something that he took serious offense to.
