Lindelof told Esquire: “When we were casting Lost, [Justin] was definitely on the Jack list.
Theroux and Lindelof went on to work together on The Leftovers, with Theroux starring as lead character Kevin Garvey.
Theroux apparently told Lindelof he wasn’t interested, not realising that Lost would go on to become one of the defining network dramas of the 21st century.
For Lost fans, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Matthew Fox embodying the great leader that was Jack Shephard – but he was not the first choice for the part.