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Craig R. Baxley, director of the upcoming SCI FI original miniseries The Lost Room, told SCI FI Wire that he lucked out with his cast, which includes Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Elle Fanning (Babel), Julianna Margulies (The Mists of Avalon). In the three-part, six-hour miniseries, Krause stars as Joe Miller, a detective who comes to possess a key that opens the door to another dimension. The key turns out to be most powerful of about 100 mysterious objects that came from Room 10 at the Sunshine Motel, objects that people will kill to protect or destroy. Miller will need that key desperately as he searches for his daughter (Fanning), who's disappeared in the Lost Room.

"I think that Peter Krause is probably one of the smartest actors I've had the pleasure of working with," Baxley said in an interview. "He's very collaborative for a director. Nothing is etched in stone. You can really explore a lot of different elements of a character and the arc of the character with Peter, and I found that to be true with Julianna, too. You're aware of her work and what a talented actor she is. Elle is very, very talented and very smart. You'll see what she brings to the table in night one, and it's twofold in night three."

The cast also includes Ewen Bremner, Roger Bart and Dennis Christopher. "Ewen Bremner, who's in night two, is a phenomenal actor," Baxley said. "He was in Trainspotting and Black Hawk Down, among other things. I tried to get him in night one, too, but couldn't. Roger Bart wasn’t in night three originally, and we really lobbied to bring him back, which we did. So we've got a really good wrapup for Roger. The cast in this is really sensational, and I found they were very collaborative and very open to being challenged. It was really a wonderful experience."

Baxley, who also directed the SCI FI original miniseries The Triangle, as well as several Stephen King television adaptations, added that The Lost Room has action, suspense and otherworldly goings-on but is ultimately about Miller and his plight. "Joe is the emotional core, without question," Baxley said. "It's basically The Fugitive. He's lost his daughter, and it's the quest to find her, and he'll do whatever is necessary to do that. And I do mean whatever is necessary. It breaks a few conventions when it comes to television, but I think in the cable world you can do that. I tried to push the envelope stylistically to support that character. All I can do is address nights one and three, which I did. I've seen night two [which was directed by The X-Files veteran Michael Watkins), and I think Watkins did a fantastic job. It's a great, great episode." The Lost Room will premiere Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. —Ian Spelling

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