Article From The Hollywood Reporter

The former “Lost” actor tells THR that “there’s an expectation” for the Sarah Michelle Gellar series.

The wait is over. The anticipated return of Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, takes place Tuesday night at 9 p.m. when the ambitious CW thriller, Ringer, finally hits the small screen.

Co-star Nestor Carbonell, who plays FBI Agent Victor Machado, told The Hollywood Reporter at the CW premiere party three days before launch that he’s “enjoying the moment” and “the cat and mouse game between me and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character.” Ringer centers on two formerly estranged twins, Bridget and Siobhan, with the former (a stripper, no less) taking on the life of the latter.

As Kristoffer Polaha shared, it will be a while until people in the Ringer circle start getting suspicious of the changes in Gellar’s characters, including Machado. “I’m in pretty good company if her husband doesn’t know, then I’m not the dumbest FBI agent in the world,” Carbonell said with a smile.

What will be the most surprising thing viewers will learn about his character? “That he doesn’t age, that he was locked up in a boat,” Carbonell joked, referencing his character Richard Alpert on Lost.

Inside the CW party, Carbonell spoke about jumping from one cult hit (Lost) to another with similar DNA (Ringer). “The marketing behind the show has been crazy and certainly there’s an expectation,” he says. “I love the thriller element in a serialized format, not many shows do that. Lost was one of them and it was one element of that show and it’s a big part of this show.

They’ve slowed everything down from the pilot so that they’re focusing on the things that they introduced in the pilot. We’re on the seventh episode now and it’s very well-crafted.”

Carbonell added that the pacing on the drama will be more in tune with AMC’s The Killing because “it’s a prolonged format, certainly my end of it.” “But there are elements in each episode where you’re like, ‘OK, that’s a massive twist; that’s a massive reveal,’ ” he added. “So far, it’s me finding out that the woman I’m talking to is the woman I’m trying to hunt down. They’re going to draw that out for a while, but at some point, we’ll have to address it.”

But he believed there was a set timeframe in which his character would have to catch up to Bridget. “At some point there will be a checkmate moment, where I’m like, ‘OK, gig’s up,’ ” Carbonell shared. “We’re not quite there yet, but it’s definitely getting closer. She’s having to change her tactics.”

The actor was comfortable not knowing much of Machado’s story. “I enjoyed that on Lost and I’m big on that now,” he explained “I can wait three or four seasons. Let’s hope!”

Ringer debuts Tuesday at 9 p.m. on the CW.