 Sawa described his role as " in the beginning , [ Alex ] was kinda loopy and cotter , and you know , probably not the most popular guy in school . I think he might have been a dork , you know , doing their stuff and they had their own thing going and they 're after the two beautiful girls in school , but there 's no chance of that happening . I guess after the plane goes down , his world completely changes " . " Devon has an every man quality that makes him accessible , " Wong said . " He doesn 't appear as if he 's supremely self @-@ assured . He 's more of a regular kid who can take on the complexities of the role and become a hero " . Perry was amazed by Sawa 's vulnerability in acting , describing him as " a very distinctive actor . He 's very loose and he 's kind of a cut @-@ up when he 's not on camera , but the moment the camera 's on , I 'd never seen anybody to completely slide right through the moment " . 
