Responding to shrieks from women in the crowd, actor Josh Holloway turned around, waved and flashed a grin. “;It's like bein' a senior!”; he said in the familiar drawl of his character, Sawyer. “;It's like the last day of school!”;

As fans screamed to Michael Emerson, “;We know you're a good guy! You're amazing!”; he, too, acknowledged them from the red carpet, generating a new rush of noise. “;They're amped up!”; said the actor who plays Ben Linus.

At an event that both greeted the sixth and final season of “;Lost”; and bid farewell to the ensemble cast that will never walk a red carpet over Waikiki sand again, fans appeared in droves to express their appreciation, catch a glimpse of their favorite stars and watch the first hour of a two-hour season premiere scheduled to air Tuesday night on ABC.

An estimated 15,000 people, sometimes five deep with hands extended into the air clutching phones, cameras and other recording devices, gathered around the metal barriers at last night's Sunset on the Beach “;Lost”; premiere. It was such an impressive showing that even creator and executive producer/writer Carlton Cuse paused on the red carpet to take photos of the wildly enthusiastic fans with his own camera.

Karen Mauro and her husband Cris, wearing a Dharma Initiative T-shirt, flew in from Florida for the premiere. Karen “;explores potential clues ... and hopefully gives people another way of looking at things”; in her “;Lost”; blog that she said has thousands of followers. The Hawaii event gave her the opportunity to finally meet some of the people with whom she's been communicating online for five years.

  'LOST' Premieres At Waikiki Beach

 

Thousands are at Waikiki beach for the final season premiere of the hit ABC drama “;LOST.”;

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Donna Moyle won ABC's sweepstakes competition and traveled from Portland, where she stood near the red carpet wearing a pink WWLD (What Would Locke Do?) T-shirt. Introduced to the series in March, she's since watched every episode on DVD.

It was clear that the event was meaningful to the stars, as well.

“;It's going to be the end of a very significant time in my life,”; Evangeline Lilly (Kate) said about the completion of the series. “;I started the show at 24, and this summer I'll be turning 31.”; Though she's looking forward to the freedom, the end will be “;bittersweet.”;

“;I believe wholeheartedly that 'Lost' is about redemption, and about the tug of war between faith and science,”; she continued. In what Lilly called the premiere's “;flash sideways,”; she said, “;I love the fact that these characters are going to get a chance to start from scratch again, and see how the dynamics are going to play out under different circumstances.”;

Matthew Fox continued on that theme, addressing his belief that for his character, Jack, the final season will be about “;redemption and catharsis and sort of letting go and fulfilling what his destiny is.”;

The return of Harold Perrineau, who played Michael in the first season, was a reminder that the show is, indeed, going back to its roots. “;Coming here has been like coming home, like putting on an old pair of jeans,”; he said.

Director Jack Bender joined the stars on the red carpet, and discussed the influence of “;Lost”; on the television landscape. “;I think the line between features and television is more blurred than ever, and it's all great storytelling,”; he said.

Some of the actors commented on what living in Hawaii has meant to them. “;Honolulu is a community that you can get immersed in,”; said Emerson, who arrived with his wife, actress Carrie Preston, a regular on HBO's “;True Blood.”;

“;I don't go and work with the symphony in New York. I don't go and talk to schools in New York (as he has done in Honolulu), so it's great to be here.”; He said they were all too busy to really consider the ending quite yet, but joked: “;You'll find me walking the streets in Manhattan, weeping in July, probably. 'Where did that good life go?' I'll be saying!”;

Fox said he and his family will move back to Oregon. He loves the mountains and misses the seasons, and wants to be closer to his mother and brothers.

Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin, indicated that he and his family would try to stay in Honolulu after the series ends. “;We'll see if we can make that happen,”; he said.

Meanwhile, though fans were teased with only the first hour of the premiere episode, Jorge Garcia (Hurley) offered advice about preparing for the upcoming season: “;It's another mind trip,”; he said. “;You just gotta hang with it.”;