As Director of the Los Angeles Field Office of the FBI, Courtney B. Vance has a role of authority as Stanford Wedeck on the new hit ABC drama series Flash Forward. In charge of the team investigating the cause behind the black-out that gave everyone in the world a two minute and 17 second glimpse into their future, Wedeck helps FBI Agent Mark Benford (played by Joseph Fiennes) start the Mosaic, in order to connect everyone’s flash-forwards together.

During a set visit to their soundstages at Disney Studios, co-stars Courtney B. Vance and Christine Woods, who plays FBI Agent Janis Hawk, talked about what drew them to Flash Forward.

Q: After the flash-forward date of 29th of April happens, do you have any idea what will happen?

Christine: Honestly, I don’t know.

Q: Are you trying to guess what’s going to happen after that date?

Courtney: The way that it’s structured, they can go anywhere. So, I’m at peace with my not knowing anything.

Christine: I speculate on the grand scheme, “What caused this? Why did this happen?” But, I really mostly want to find out about Bryce (Zachary Knighton), or what happens to another person.

Courtney: Yeah, what is Simon (Dominic Monaghan) about? What is Lloyd (Jack Davenport) doing here? There’s a little clandestine meeting going on.

Christine: And, I want to know how everybody knows each other.

Courtney: Yeah, is this General Hospital? Did everyone meet at the hospital? Why are we at the hospital all the time?

Q: How much do they tell you about your character? Do they tell you about your past at all?

Courtney: We supposedly have a background booklet. They never gave me mine, but some people got one. I’m refreshed by the fact that I really don’t know a whole lot about what’s going on. I have an idea about my character and his wife.

Christine: All the information you find out about your character, for some reason, ends up being some hidden secret that you kept from people.

Q: Has anything happened that surprised you or made you have to re-think how to play your character?

Christine: Big time, but I can’t say it without giving anything away. When I got the job and started shooting, it was, “Oh, by the way . . .,” and that information completely changed every direction I had thought that I was going to go in.

Q: In taking a pilot like this, were you ever concerned about the rest of the scripts, and signing on for seven years?

Courtney: No, I knew David Goyer and his work, and I also knew that they had plotted out the whole season. He told me they had stories for five years. Once I heard that, even though it’s not on the page for any of us right now, it helped to know that they know where they’re going.

Q: Were you surprised that Joseph Fiennes would take a TV series? What’s he like to work with?

Courtney: No, I wasn’t surprised. He’s a gem.

Christine: He’s really soft-spoken, endearing and thoughtful. He’s interesting.

Courtney: He’s humble. He was like, “Courtney, I’ve never done a series before. What do you do?” I remember going to a Starbucks with him, and he was like, “Talk me through this. What’s going to happen next?” I said, “You just hold on, brother.”

Christine: And, he definitely sets the tone. He’s the lead actor and, whatever they do, everybody else does. He’s just been so sweet and kind.

Q: This show is being compared a lot to Lost. Does that bother you? Were you a fan of Lost?

Courtney: I wasn’t a big fan of Lost.

Christine: I watched the first couple of seasons and it’s a really great show, so I think it’s awesome to be compared to a show that people love. But, in terms of similarities, it’s just the storytelling style that is the same. People love Lost, so I take that as a huge compliment.

Courtney: Which is the only way I can take it, too. It’s huge, and they say, “You guys are going to be huge, too.”

SOURCE: IESB.net