Group interview reveals J.J. Abrams believes in aliens, won’t take the blame for Lost

Because if anyone needs more publicity it’s J.J. Abrams, Vanity Fair has released a new interview in which well-known figures ask the Star Wars director their burning questions. The interviewers—who all chime in via prerecorded messages—include Lena Dunham, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, Lee Daniels, Vice founder Shane Smith, George Lucas, and two-thirds of the cast of Silicon Valley. Despite the plethora of famous faces, Abrams is most excited to receive a question from Katie Couric, giddily exclaiming, “This was the day that Katie Couric asked me a question. This is amazing.”

The biggest through line to emerge during the three-minute interview is that Abrams thinks he shouldn’t be held accountable for anything that happened on Lost, since he wasn’t really involved past the pilot. That includes explaining the Smoke Monster and answering questions about whether the castaways were dead all along. He also passes the buck to Lucas a few times when it comes to tackling Star Wars questions, including a question posed by Lucas himself. However, Abrams does take a strong stance on aliens (he believes they exist), Jared Leto (whose long-winded question he has little patience for), and Jar Jar Binks (Abrams wants to launch a Netflix series called Binks And I). All in all it’s a pretty charming, if insubstantial, interview.