"It seems that everything I need is here," he says. "But it's a small price to pay."

While many of his castmates settled into rented homes in Waikiki and Kailua after the show received word of its initial pick-up, Andrews chose to play wait-and-see in the comfy confines of the beachside hotel.

But with "Lost" now dominating its Wednesday night time slot and the network wasting no time in ordering nine more episodes to complete the first season, it's clear Andrews won't be going home to Los Angeles any time soon.

And he couldn't be happier.

Andrews plays "Sayid," a former member of the Iraqi national guard whose courage and leadership comes to the fore as he and his fellow plane crash survivors try to make their way on a mysterious, remote island.

Amid the rave reviews the series has garnered in its first month, Andrews has been singled out both for the uniqueness of his character and the skill — honed at Britain's prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama — that he brings to the role. (He has also been singled out by female viewers as a sex symbol who stands out from the typical characters seen on American network television.)

Andrews said he is fascinated by the role of Sayid, not just because of the character's potential for development, but because of the courage it took to include him in the story line, given the current political situation.

"For a major network to get behind this idea in a time of war is extraordinary," he says. "It's something you won't even see in cinema. It's a leap of faith on their part."

The challenge for Andrews is to take an intriguing idea for a character and turn it into flesh and blood for the camera.

"I approach (Sayid) as a human being," Andrews said. "In any character, I try to stress the humanity. It's complex. There's a romantic dynamic developing and he's a strong, almost heroic, character, and yet he's also a former Iraqi Republican Guard.

"As a sheer force of necessity, he's going to change as the show goes on," Andrews said. "Like everybody else on the island, he's in a situation where he is going to have to redefine who he is."

Andrews, the son of Indian immigrants, grew up in London and studied drama at the Guildhall School in his teens.

At 16, he moved in with his teacher, Geraldine Feakins, with whom he would later have a son, Jaisal.

"Tabloids jumped all over it when I got to be known in the 1990s," Andrews said.

"It happens all the time that a younger girl will have a relationship with an older man, but when it's the other way around, everyone thinks there must be something wrong with the woman," Andrews said.

'Andrews' character, Sayid, a former member of the Iraqi Republican Guard, has emerged as one of the leaders of the plane crash survivors.

Still, Andrews said the fact of their relationship was less shocking to Europeans than it has been to Americans.

"This country is such a mix of the sacred and the profane," he said. "Puritans came across in the 17th century and there is still a strain of that in American society."

Andrews, who has been involved with actress Barbara Hershey for six years, said he and Feakins remain close friends.

The would-be controversy couldn't overshadow Andrews' considerable acting abilities. Starting with Hanif Kureishi's "London Kills Me," in 1991, he's compiled an impressive resumé of film and television work that includes "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love," and "Drowning on Dry Land."

In his adopted United States, Andrews is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Kip Singh in the 1996 film, "The English Patient."

To prepare for the role of Kip, a demolitions expert who stays with a nurse (Juliet Binoche) as she cares for a dying burn victim, Andrews did extensive research on demolition practices of the day and closely read and re-read the Michael Ondaatje novel on which the film was based.

"Sometimes it takes research, sometimes I just act by feel or instinct," Andrews says. "I don't have a specific process but I try to put a lot of soul into whatever I do.

"A lot of actors are personalities and their personality is what you see when they act — and that can be great," he continued. "What I play is a character, not me. When I act, I try to suss out the nature of the piece and find a way to fit in."

Of course, Andrews couldn't be sure precisely how he was supposed to fit in when he read the script for the pilot episode of "Lost."

In this case, it was a good thing.

"From the original premise, it could really go anywhere," Andrews said. "I remember thinking, 'My God, we could end up forming communes and having children!' "

"I think it's a vindication for J.J. (Abrams, co-creator and executive producer), Damon (Lindelof, co-creator and executive producer) and Bryan (Burk, executive producer)," he said. "They went out on a limb, and to get that response was the best start we could hope for."

Fortunately, Andrews seems to have adjusted well to the island life.

"The pace here is slower than Los Angeles, but I've gotten used to it," he said. "I was in L.A. for a week recently, and when I got back here it felt like home."

Andrews' son, Jaisal, now 12, spent five weeks here during the summer.

"My son is very different from me," Andrews said. "I wasn't very good in school but he's very academic. He's captain of his house. Just a very good person."

And after hanging around the "Lost" set and talking to Abrams, Andrews said Jaisal now has a budding interest in making films.

The way Andrews' career is going, Jaisal should have plenty of opportunities to observe the ins and outs of filmmaking.

Andrews will soon be seen in "Bride and Prejudice," a Bollywood musical take-off of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." He also has two other film prospects percolating in negotiation.

"It's strange," he said. "Work begets work."