Summary
- Mark Pellegrino excels in portraying contrasting roles as Lucifer in Supernatural & "God" in Lost.
- Pellegrino played two Bible-inspired characters in major TV shows around the same period.
- Jacob and Lucifer, both played by Pellegrino, share eerie and rage-filled qualities despite their differences.
Two of actor Mark Pellegrino's most notable TV roles, one of which is Lucifer from Supernatural, could not be more different from each other. As the series follows the Winchester brothers fighting off mystical evil, Supernatural has had its fair share of nefarious villains. Many of these villains have Biblical roots, including the key villains Azazel and Lucifer, the latter of which is devilishly played by Pellegrino. Pellegrino appears in 38 episodes of Supernatural, starting in season 5 and continuing to appear sporadically throughout other Supernatural seasons.
Though Pellegrino was only in a fraction of the episodes of Supernatural, his performance was one of the highlights of the series. His talent contributed to some of Supernatural’s best episodes, including season 12, episode 12, “Stuck in the Middle (With You)”; season 11, episode 9 “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”; and famed season 5, episode 22 “Swan Song.” On the one hand, Pellegrino’s Lucifer seems like a distinctive role for the actor, but looking into his career, Lucifer is not the only Bible-inspired character Pellegrino notably played.
Mark Pellegrino Played The Devil In Supernatural & "God" In Lost
Mark Pellegrino played Jacob in Lost and Lucifer Nick in Supernatural
A couple of months before making his Supernatural debut in September 2009, Pellegrino appeared in the role of Jacob in an episode of Lost titled “The Incident: Part 1.” This season 5 episode sees the main characters on a quest to finally find Jacob, the illustrious protector of the island who has been mentioned by Lost characters throughout the series. A spectral-like figure, Jacob is an ageless being who has protected the Lost island for 2,000 years. In his human form, the character is immortalized as a young man, played by Pellegrino.
Pellegrino’s co-occurring Supernatural and Lost debuts are interesting given the nature of these characters. While he plays the actual devil in Supernatural, his Lost character is an omnipresent, godlike figure. Especially given his debuts on each series came just a few months apart, Pellegrino’s contrasting roles serve a unique place in the actor’s career. They see the star functionally playing religious foils — God and the Devil — during roughly the same period.
Mark Pellegrino's Lucifer & Jacob Performances Are Actually Pretty Similar
Both Jacob and Lucifer are prone to fits of rage
Though Lucifer and Jacob are ostensibly opposites, Pellegrino’s performances in Lost and Supernatural share far more similarities than one might think. For starters, there is an eeriness that Pellegrino provides to both roles. Even though Jacob is a character viewed as morally good, there is an air of mysteriousness that surrounds him. He is only the subject of lore for much of Lost, so when Jacob is finally shown, there is a chilling nature to his physicalization, even as he helps to save the characters.
Unlike Supernatural, wherein Lucifer is explicitly stated as the Biblical devil, Jacob’s role in Lost is not as cut and dry.
Additionally, there are similarities between Jacob's and Lucifer’s backstories that inform Pellegrino’s performance in the roles. Fraternal relationships are one key aspect of both characters’ backgrounds. For Lucifer, that comes in the form of coming of age with his brothers Michael and Gabriel, the former of which helped raise him. For Jacob, his brother is the Man in Black, with whom he feuds in Lost after finding out that the Man in Black murdered their mother.
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Was Jacob Actually "God" In Lost?
Jacob is Godlike, though he also possesses regular human qualities
Unlike Supernatural, wherein Lucifer is explicitly stated as the Biblical devil, Jacob’s role in Lost is not as cut and dry. Jacob does carry with him distinct qualities of a God figure during Lost. For one, he is revered, worshiped, and idolized by the mortal human characters in Lost. He is also one who protects and is thought to be the “savior” of the island, putting him in the position of a conventional omnipotent being.
Jacob’s relationship with the Man in Black could also be seen as a sort of God / Lucifer foil, as one is considered the moral “good” while the other, the Man in Black, is a force of evil. The Man in Black’s physicalization as the smoke monster is one example of this point, as he represents a lurking evil that causes characters to confront their past. The themes of Judgement and morality present in Jacob and the Man in Black act as a form of Heaven/Hell structure, with Jacob serving as the morally positive and thus heavenly or godlike figure.
That said, there is something intensely human about Jacob’s character arc in Lost. Even though he lives for 2,000 years, Jacob spends decades playing games with his brother, and struggling with his past with his foster mother, just as any mundane mortal might. Furthermore, Jacob does die at the hands of Ben Linus. Though he mystically appears shortly post-mortem, Jacob’s murder further separates him from being God, grounding him closer to humanity despite his prolonged life in the series, unlike the discernably hellish Lucifer in Supernatural.
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Supernatural
Created by Eric Kripke, Supernatural is a fantasy/drama series that premiered in 2005. The series follows the adventures of Dean and Sam Winchester - two men wronged by supernatural beings as children who now spend their days investigating and hunting demons, ghosts, and monsters across the United States.
- Cast
- Jensen Ackles , Misha Collins , Jim Beaver , Jared Padalecki , Katie Cassidy , Lauren Cohan , Mark A. Sheppard , Mark Pellegrino , Alexander Calvert
- Release Date
- September 13, 2005
- Seasons
- 15
- Writers
- Eric Kripke , Andrew Dabb , Robert Berens
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Lost
Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island's seemingly deadly intentions.
- Cast
- Evangeline Lilly , Naveen Andrews , Henry Ian Cusick , Daniel Dae Kim , Harold Perrineau , Dominic Monaghan , Emilie de Ravin , Jorge Garcia , Josh Holloway , Michael Emerson , Terry O'Quinn , Matthew Fox , Ken Leung , Elizabeth Mitchell , Yunjin Kim
- Release Date
- September 22, 2004
- Seasons
- 6
- Network
- ABC
- Writers
- Jeffrey Lieber , J.J. Abrams , Damon Lindelof
