'Scandal' star, 'Lost' alum Henry Ian Cusick: I didn't want to play another 'good guy'

Henry Ian Cusick knows he’s best known for playing who he calls — and we call — “the best guy ever.” And that’s exactly why he took his latest role on ABC’s politically-charged drama, Scandal.

“He was a complete good guy,” says Cusick of his Lost character, Desmond, whose romance with Penny (Sonya Walger) is considered among the best TV romances of all time. But knowing his last character was so pure of heart, Cusick says, he sought out something a little murkier for his next outing. Enter Stephen Finch.

From the first script, says Cusick, Finch — a member of the crisis management company at the center of Scandal — had everything he wanted for his next role, including a possibly broken moral compass. Though he got engaged in the first episode, Cusick says viewers can expect to gain a better understanding in the next few episodes of just how he gained his reputation as a philanderer. One thing that will remain a mystery for now, however? The real situation between Finch and Abby (Darby Stanchfield), who have had hints of flirtation (and some one-sided jealousy!). “There’s something more going on — certainly from Abby,” he says. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I’d like to see…I felt like there were a lot of moments that didn’t make it into the episodes.”

The tension isn’t the only reason viewers should want the series to continue on after its initial seven episodes, he says. Also coming? A cliffhanger that will reveal one of the team to be “not who he or she claims to be,” he says. “It’s a good cliffhanger, I’d say.”

'Scandal' star, 'Lost' alum Henry Ian Cusick: I didn't want to play another 'good guy'

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