'Lost' star says years has taken 'a toll' on Claire

TORONTO — "Lost" star Emilie de Ravin says she's excited to be back as a series regular on the final season of the sci-fi smash.
She says it's been especially challenging now that her character, the young mother Claire, has suddenly emerged as a violent and unpredictable force on the show, about a plane-load of castaways marooned on a strange island.
The Australian actress was written out of the previous season when most of the characters escaped the island for three years, leaving Claire behind.
During a stop in Toronto to promote an upcoming film, de Ravin says Claire has been through a lot since viewers last saw her, and has had to rely on a reincarnated Locke as her only friend in the jungle.
De Ravin says Claire's only focus has been on finding her son Aaron, and that's built up a lot of frustration and anger which emerges in violent and unpredictable ways.
She says she still has several weeks of shooting left on the show, and is as mystified as fans are as to how things will wrap up.
"It's been really fun this season because not only can I still play sort of the old Claire, or the original Claire in flashes, but ... three years has taken a bit of a toll on (new) Claire and she's a little different right now," de Ravin said Thursday while in town to promote her upcoming film, "Remember Me."
"She's been living on her own. Her only contact has been with Locke who is no longer Locke, or as she calls him, her friend. Her only objective in these three years ... is to try and find her son, to try and find Aaron. That's all she's been trying to do and it hasn't worked so there's quite a bit of built up frustration there as well, which comes out in quirky ways but also violent ways and unpredictable manner."
Last Tuesday's episode was full of surprise revelations involving a gun-toting, wild-haired Claire and the other castaways.
While Claire appears to be under the sway of a nasty version of Locke, Jacob leads Hurley (who in turn, leads Jack) to a lighthouse where they find a bizarre contraption consisting of dials and mirrors that reveal their lives off the island.
De Ravin admits to hoping for a happy ending for her character, but given the show's wild leanings, notes anything is possible.
"It'd be nice to see her back with Aaron," said de Ravin. "But that could also happen, I suppose, in a (time) flash. It doesn't have to happen in island time."
"Lost" returns to CTV on Tuesday.