What is the 'Lost' set like?
It's a very hard-working, very Hawaiian feeling. The sun is an oppressive master and forces you to slow down and take it easy and sit in the shade and we're a very chatty, talkative kind of bunch when we're all together. It's a pleasant set.

We're guided by the sun, especially when we're doing the stuff outside. You know, as soon as it gets dark, that's it. So we work in very hot sunlight, which is kind of annoying. The Hawaiian crew are very charming and take their life relatively easy, as they should do, as we all should do, and just keep a very relaxed environment.

We don't get all the answers in season two of 'Lost'. Do you think it became a little bit too far-out sometimes?
It's difficult, because when you're involved in a successful project, the network don't want it to ever end and I think Damon Lindelof and JJ had an idea that ran for three seasons but the network said you can't do that because it's making money. So now, they have an end. I mean, they've told me that they have an end; they've not told what the end is, but they've told me that they have an end. They are not to show it, to explain it.

Have they not dropped any juicy hints?
No, they just don't tell you that stuff because they can't. I mean, it must be frustrating for them because they would like it to be a great three-act play but the network said could you make it into a mediocre seven-act play?

What do you think they should do?
I would like it to be three seasons of exceptional television as opposed to seven seasons of OK television. But...

You could always quit. But your bank manager wouldn't be so happy.
Well, you have to be really careful not to make decisions based on money, I've always found. I've never been led through money, ever. I take parts based on good scripts and good directors.

Is that why you worked on 'Lord of the Rings'?
Yeah, we got paid nothing on 'Lord of the Rings'. Nothing. It was disgraceful. I mean, New Line Cinema made over billion. EA Games, which made the game of 'Lord of the Rings', made more than that and, you know, we were effectively paid in peanuts. But it's a fantastic project, and it's a great director, and it's living in New Zealand and it's making incredible friends with people and that's worth more than money.

Matthew Fox was quoted that he thought you guys on 'Lost' were paid too little compared to 'Desperate Housewives' and those kind of actors. Is that how you feel about it?
Well, I mean, it's a little bit more complicated than that because there's just five actresses [on 'Desperate Housewives'] and there's 14 actors on 'Lost', so it would just cost more money. That's really not how I do business. I let my agent fight my battles in terms of money and the network. I just act and work. So I don't necessarily think that it's a good idea for actors to speak out of turn about money. I think they should let their agents do it because it just muddies the whole issue, you know, because then you have people getting upset that someone spoke as opposed to doing it through the right channels.

It's a natural transition: certain shows become hot at certain points. 'Desperate Housewives' had their moment in the sun where they were everywhere - and they still are everywhere - and they were the big show and then we had some heat and now in America 'Grey's Anatomy' is getting a lot of heat. It's just natural. It just happens that way.

Why do you think 'Lost' is so popular?
I just think it's really well written and really well acted. I think everybody really invested in the show, from the writers all the way down to the actors; everyone gives 100% and it also deals with themes that are simple, even though you might not think that way. Do I live or die? Do I stand up and fight or run away and hide? Is there a God? How do I feel about my own death? These are all questions that are hidden in the network of the show and that's what you're dealing with. Am I a leader or am a follower?

Where is home for you at the moment?
I've not lived anywhere for any permanent amount of time for about 12 years. I mean, I'm from Manchester. If someone ever says, where are you from, I say Manchester. I moved out of Manchester when I was 22 and went to New Zealand for nearly two and-a-half years; LA for two years and now I've been living in Hawaii for two years.

So you live out of a suitcase? What's that like?
Living out of a suitcase? There are elements of it that are really fun. I like travelling a lot, I like being in new places. I like the idea that each day is not the same. But I hate the fact that you can't buy anything that is worth any money or that sticks. You can't buy a painting that you like. You just can't buy anything you can't fit in your suitcase, pretty much. And you lose a lot of stuff. Not only entire suitcases but things in suitcases, you know, that you put on the top so they don't get broken and then when you open up your case it's gone because someone opens up the case and that's they first thing they see and they go, "Oh, I'll have that", and they nick it.

In 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Lost', the attention of the fans is really kind of obsessive and in both you're a favourite with them. Do people come up to you more than to other guys in the cast?
When we're at events, it's different for me because I'm the only English guy in the show, so I do stand out because of that and also you do get the 'Lord of the Rings' kind of people. But in terms of like my own fame, I have no real concept of it. Someone asked me a long time ago, they said, "Is your life weird?" but you never feel like your life is weird because it's your life. Even if your life is weird it's your life, so you just get used to it. So, because of that, the whole fame thing just kind of passes me by.

Do you feel disconnected from reality? Do you go shopping? Do you go and buy milk and bread?
Yes, of course I do. You make the choice as so to how important you want to make it and there's no doubt that these people who are terribly wounded by their own fame and feel like a recluse and feel like they have to hide themselves away are either Michael Jackson or they're drama queens and they just want drama in their life.

You can put on the baseball cap, you can put on a pair of sunglasses, you can go about your life and have it bother you or you can choose to be a bleeding heart about it and I just don't think it's that interesting. Like there's a whole lot of stuff in my day that I would like to take care of that takes so much more of my time than me worrying about whether someone recognised me. And even when they recognise you, it's nice. It's the autograph hunters and the professional photographers that are dickheads, not people on the street who say, 'I love your show'. I mean, if you're a plumber and someone said, 'I love what you did at number 13, that was a fantastic job', you'd be like, 'Oh, that's really nice', and that's what I get. But at the airport they give you hassle and give you shit, they're idiots and they can get you down but apart from that, it's fine.

After the success of 'Lost', do you worry about what you'll do next?
Maybe, but I've always felt like, you know, when they say if you break up with your partner you have to give yourself half the time you were with them to get over that break-up. So if you've been going out with someone for a year, in six months you'll be OK. I always feel the same with jobs. If you've been working on something for three years, it's probably going to be a year and a half of not working and not having a great time and having the blues until you come out the other side and that's what you have to deal with.

In between that there's a lot of things that I've put on hold, that I would like to do; places I'd like to go; things I would like to get up to; spend a year trying to be a better surfer, which will probably never happen. So I have these back-up plans. If my agent says, 'Look, the show is going to end and you are such a recognisable face that we're going to have to wait some time before you get another great part again', then I'll say, 'OK, well, I'm going to go away for six months or I'm going to do this.'

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje said that he was quizzed by the writers before his character came into the show because they wanted to put a lot of his background into the script. Did that happen with you and, if so, which parts of you are in Charlie?
Some stuff. The way I talk, the way I organise my words, have Charlieisms in them, idiosyncrasies of Charlie, and I think the humour... I think a lot of English people are known for using humour as a defence mechanism, which was something that I'd always done. I think they liked that and they used it for Charlie quite a bit. But not too much about my life because, you know, I'd never been a professional band member or been hardcore into drugs, like that!

Are you a beach bum by nature?
I love to surf and I do really like the ocean. I don't like the sun too much. I just wear a lot of sun block. I do like the beach, as long as I'm in the ocean. I get to the beach and I run to the sea. It feels like it is that thing of when you're surfing or when you're swimming in the sea, if you want to get as much out of it as you can, you have to be 100% invested in it. I've always liked that in my life because so much of this job can hang around; it can stay in your head. That's why I surf and that's why I play guitar and that's why I write and stuff: just to make my mind go somewhere else. The ocean is amazing for that, it feels very nurturing.

'Lost' Series 2, Part 2 and 'Lost': The Complete Second Series is available on DVD now