Maggie Grace: "Lost" in The Fog

You know her as Shannon, the uppity rich gal who crashed with all those other mysterious survivors on TV's "Lost". Pretty, 22-year-old Maggie Grace assures us that we'll know more about Shannon's past as we watch new episodes of the hit series. It's been an exciting journey for the young, blonde actress from her native Ohio to the small and now big screen as she co-stars in the re-make of the 1970's Carpenter frightfest film The Fog just in time for Halloween.

We had a long chat with Maggie while she was in L.A. for only 48 hours between the "Lost" shoot in Hawaii and some guest appearances on New York talk shows. It was like chatting with a close gal-pal. We learned what Maggie enjoyed most about working with gorgeous "Fog" co-star, "Smallville's" Tom Welling, her own experience growing up in a haunted house and her favorite horror film for Halloween viewing.

TeenHollywood: Had you ever seen the John Carpenter version of The Fog?

Maggie: I did. I saw it right before [shooting the re-make]. I was three when it came out. I think this is a good time for a re-make because there's a whole generation that might not be familiar with it.

TeenHollywood: Did you shoot this before you got the "Lost" part?

Maggie: No. I shot both at the same time, at the end of "Lost's" first season. I flew back and forth between the two islands.

TeenHollywood: That would be Oahu in Hawaii and.....?

Maggie: Bowen Island [near Vancouver] mostly, at least all the exteriors. Then, we did a lot up in Vancouver as well.

TeenHollywood: Was there any urban legend or ghost story surrounding Columbus, Ohio where you grew up?

Maggie: I grew up in a little town outside of there. I think my house was haunted. I was terrified as a kid. The house was almost two hundred years old. It was the first salt box house in central Ohio. It has a pretty crazy history. There's a tunnel leading out of the cellar. Part of it was bricked off because a little kid got hurt in there a couple of generations before me. The tunnel was part of the underground railroad. [The house] was some sort of tavern. As a kid, that cellar was absolutely terrifying. The furnace gave off this faint, blue light and made these weird noises and that was sort of demonic. I went to a Christian school so I'm already prepped for some sort of otherworldly, hellacious, demonic thing. There was a one or two foot opening at the top [of the bricked off tunnel] so you could peer into it. We weren't allowed to go down there but my little brother and my cousin and I would sneak down into the cellar. It was creaky. There were footsteps and voices late at night.

TeenHollywood: You're scaring me. So, do you think, it really was haunted?

Maggie: When I grew up I thought, 'well, I was just a little kid'. We moved when I was becoming a teenager so I figured it was probably just me. Then one time I was talking about it with my mom after I had grown up and she said 'No. That's one of the reasons we moved'.

TeenHollywood: Wow, what a great story! What scares you the most in life?

Maggie: I think dishonesty in people you are close to. I would say death. I do believe in a spiritual realm. Those are the movies that get me. This one does play that side of things. That is the threat. It's not a dinosaur. That, to me, is scarier.

TeenHollywood: What was the fog made out of and was it icky to act around it?

Maggie: It's a combination. When they needed it to do something, the fog isn't always that cooperative so they would CGI it. But we used as much real life fog as possible. They had a few fog machines and sometimes there are certain characters in the fog. It was hysterical. There were names for the fog like 'angry fog' and 'grumpy fog'. They would occasionally put these lights behind it for angry fog. It spat out hot wax.

TeenHollywood: Ewww. What was the most difficult scene for you in the film?

Maggie: There was some underwater work. I can't tell you the details. I'd done some on other projects but I'm not certified with diving so it's all kind of new to me learning to use the devices. There are divers that accompany you but some of it is pretty deep. If it's a wide shot, they leave frame and that can be pretty far away. It was in a huge tank. It's really cool the way it looks in the movie but actually doing it is really unnerving. You are chained down and it's so dark. They swim away and leave frame. I'm like 'oh, please, come back'.

TeenHollywood: How was working with cutie Tom Welling and can you tell me any silly or fun things that happened while shooting or off set?

Maggie: He's a really nice guy. It was fun. We have some romantic scenes... she says with a gulp. It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it. He's so tall. Most actors aren't tall. I'm 5' 9" and some change so I'm usually looking down and if there are any kissing scenes, they put me down lower so I don't look like the Jolly Green Giant and I'm used to that. So it was nice [not to have to do that]. Sometimes, they'll shoot things a certain way to make the guy look taller. Tom is even more stunning in person.[As for fun things] there was a lot of night work so we all just went home and crashed. We'd get off at five or six in the morning. Not a great time to party.

TeenHollywood: What was the audition process like for you for The Fog?

Maggie: I'm used to going in like five times but this wasn't that way. For the first time I have something they can look at (we assume "Lost") and also I was unavailable, being in Hawaii, so it's not easy to keep coming back. So, it was just the one meeting with Rupert the director and then I had the script in Hawaii and watched the fine, original film from Mr. Carpenter.

TeenHollywood: What was your fave horror film growing up?

Maggie: Halloween scared the crap out of me! It still does. We had a little girl's slumber party. I just turned twenty-two and my friends and I still do that kind of stuff. Some are married and we still do it. So we had a slumber party and watched Halloween not too long ago. It's amazing. No matter how many times people had seen it, they still got really scared.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a fun Halloween memory you can share? What will you be doing this Halloween?

Maggie: When I was little we didn't really do Halloween but I celebrate it now because I love dressing up. There's a great place to celebrate Halloween; the Santa Monica Boulevard parade, which is insane and just the best and people are so creative. Last year I was in Hawaii for Halloween but Honolulu is pretty good for it too. My girlfriends in L. A. are going as The Fanta Girls and carry around a couple of sodas and hand them out. That could be fun. But Jorge Garcia, my castmate on "Lost," made the best Halloween costume I've ever seen. He made it himself. He came as an aquarium. It wasn't just one fish but an entire aquarium. He had like this weird fish hat that made his face and head into a fish. He got it in Tokyo. Then he glued fish all over his blue shirt and had a shower curtain as the glass. It's the best when you do it yourself. He really put some thought into it.

TeenHollywood: Can you tell us if you will be featured in any upcoming episodes of "Lost" and just vaguely what it might be about?

Maggie: Well, there are going to be some Shannon flashbacks very soon but it wasn't what I expected in some ways. We've all had our characters change so many times.

TeenHollywood: Do you guys not really know the future of your characters on the show or you know but you are sworn to secrecy?

Maggie: Sometimes they tell us and sometimes it changes so I think they just re-dress to what they want to do with the character and what they want to write as far as flashbacks that would make them into the kind of person who would do "x" "y" and "z".

TeenHollywood: If you were to crash on an isolated island, would you be a follower or more of a take charge leader?

Maggie: It would depend on who I'm with. If there's some sort of mountain man in the group, I'd have to defer to him. But, I think I could have that leadership streak. If your survival is at stake, you may find that you are capable of more than you ever thought. I'm usually pretty cool under pressure. I've been in a few situations where I was surprised and proud afterward because I didn't expect to react like I did. But, I've never saved anyone's life. One of my best friends from Ohio is an EMT and becoming a fireman and he's the most amazing person. It really causes you to question yourself. I tell him he makes the rest of us look bad. We'll talk 'oh, what have you been doing lately?' and I'll say 'Oh, I had this scene and something went wrong'. Those are my stories and his are like 'oh, yeah, I delivered a baby and saved a guy's life yesterday'. But I've had some smaller situations. I'll have to ask him to give me some tips.

TeenHollywood: What music are you listening to now?

Maggie: I love Radiohead; all the imports, the really hard to get live versions from Europe. I have it all. I listen to my iPod between scenes. J.J. [Abrams] gave us all iPods at the beginning of the show. It's the kind of thing I would never have bought for myself and I love it. Music is really important to me but I'm not the most technologically savvy.

TeenHollywood: Favorite actor or actress you would just love to work with?

Maggie: Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchette, Helen Mirren. I definitely have a lot to learn yet but those are people I really admire.

TeenHollywood: Favorite designer you like to wear?

Maggie: I'm learning more and more about fashion as I go. I never really had the disposable income before. I shopped at garage sales in high school. I love the vintage stuff. It's not that we didn't have any money, that's just how we did it. My mom was like 'why would you go to the mall, when there are such cool [vintage] things'? It was kind of a hobby we did together. I have a vintage shirt on right now from the '70's that I got for like twelve bucks. I like Melrose [Ave. in L.A.] shopping but sometimes it's overpriced. Like a "Doors" t-shirt will be four hundred dollars. It's ridiculous.

TeenHollywood: Are you going back to Hawaii in 48 hours?

Maggie: I'm going to hop back over to New York and do a couple of talk shows first.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a message for horror fans about The Fog and any message for "Lost" fans?

Maggie: I think it's a great movie for Halloween; it's the perfect time of year. It's an edge of your seat kind of thing and it'll be a really fun ride. Teens can go see it together with friends or dates. We used to have really good gummy bear fights in the theater. Of course I'm not advocating that but that's why we sat in the back. That's what our ["Lost"] cast does too. At the Emmy's we really lightened it up. That's for sure. And for "Lost", we're finally answering some questions which I'm glad to report, about Shannon and about the other themes.

TeenHollywood: I've seen what's in the hatch and I still don't get what's in the hatch!

Maggie:[laughs] Don't worry we're going to reveal it. It's kind of mind-blowing.

TeenHollywood: Do you miss everyone in the "Lost" cast when you aren't over there?

Maggie: I had to come back to L.A. to do more stuff for The Fog and more press stuff but I've worked every day for the past couple of weeks over there. And I was still seeing everybody after work. It's a really close cast. I've made friends that I'll have hopefully, my whole life. I've never belonged to a group of people like this. Of course there are always a couple of people who will rub you the wrong way but there is so much trust there and that really shows and helps.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.