 The character of Mr. Eko was created to explore the spiritual element of the show , and to add an African character , which the producers thought would provide " cultural variety " to the cast . Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse 's first choice for the actor to portray Eko was Lance Reddick , after they had seen him as Cedric Daniels on HBO 's The Wire . However , after it was made clear Reddick was unavailable due to the filming schedule of The Wire , Cuse and Lindelof decided to contact Akinnuoye @-@ Agbaje , because they were big fans of his work on the HBO prison drama Oz . At the time , Akinnuoye @-@ Agbaje was filming Get Rich or Die Tryin ' and , being unfamiliar with Lost , had no intention of joining the cast . While the producers succeeded in persuading Akinnuoye @-@ Agbaje to take the role , he did not want to make a long @-@ term commitment to the show and was therefore only hired for a short period of time . Akinnuoye @-@ Agbaje accepted the part mostly because it was an opportunity to play a character with a different faith than his Buddhism , and because he enjoyed the idea of being on a deserted island ( he had lived on a deserted island four years prior to being cast on the show ) . Two weeks after he was hired , Akinnuoye @-@ Agbaje moved to Oahu , Hawaii , where filming took place . 
