‘Lost’ Star Matthew Fox Reveals Why He Retired From Acting

We have to go back … to set.

Perhaps the most tantalizing mystery “Lost” ever spun had nothing to do with hatches, polar bears or even smoke monsters, but what happened to star Matthew Fox.

The actor went onto appear in a handful of films, including “World War Z,” and “Extinction,” before leaving Hollywood altogether after his presumed final onscreen role in the horror western “Bone Tomahawk.”

Ahead of his return to television in Peacock’s upcoming apocalyptic series “Last Light,” Fox addressed the longstanding speculation about why he pressed pause on his acting career.

“I’ve just spent seven years living my life with my family and pursuing things that I’m passionate about,” the actor said about his self-imposed retirement from acting, per Variety. “But storytelling is in my DNA in some way, and I felt like this form of storytelling was something that I wanted to reengage with, and see how it felt. And I’m really happy that I did so ― it’s been good.”

Fox explained that he chose to walk away from the industry after checking off all the items on his bucket list, which included starring in a western film.

“After I did [the movie] ‘Bone Tomahawk’ in 2014 that had kind of completed the bucket list,” he said.

The 55-year-old star, who shares two children with his wife Margherita Ronchialso, said that he also chose to prioritize family time over movie roles.

“At that time in my life, our kids were at an age where I felt like I needed to really reengage,” he continued. “I had been focused on work for some time, and [my wife] Margherita had been running the family so beautifully, but I felt like it was time to be home, and I really felt like I was retiring from the business, and working on other creative elements that are really personal to me — some music and writing.”

The opportunity to both star in and executive produce a project drew Fox back to his first television role since “Lost” ended over a decade ago.

Based on the novel by Alex Scarrow of the same, “Last Light” is a five-episode drama series following “a family fighting to survive in a world that has been suddenly thrown into chaos,” as the world’s oil supply is abruptly cut off. The series also reunites Fox with director Dennie Gordon, who worked with the actor on “Party of Five,” which initially launched his career.

“I kind of got to a point where I thought that maybe the bucket list included executive producing,” he said. “I’d never done that before.”

Since his days starring as Dr. Jack Shepard, Fox has faced a number of setbacks in his personal life, including a DUI arrest and allegations that he punched a female bus driver. He denied her claims and charges were never filed with the driver later withdrawing her lawsuit against him.

But an incendiary tweet from Fox’s “Lost” co-star Dominic Monaghan, who claimed that the actor “beats women” only compounded the negative press surrounding him at the time.

Fox later blasted Monaghan’s allegations as a “pile of bullshit,” remarking in 2012 that it’s “been a long, trying year of sitting on my hands on a lot of negative shit said about me.”

“They’re the furthest things from who I am,” he told Men’s Fitness about the accusations. “In the 46 years I’ve been breathing on this planet, I have never hit a woman before. Never have, never will.”