Miles Straume

Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series Lost. Miles is introduced early in the fourth season as a hotheaded and sarcastic medium as a crew member aboard the freighter called the Kahana that is offshore the island where most of Lost takes place. Miles arrives on the island and is eventually taken captive by John Locke (played by Terry O'Quinn), who suspects that those on the freighter are there to harm his fellow crash survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 and expose the island to the general public. Miles is on a mission to obtain Ben Linus (Michael Emerson); instead, he tries to cut a deal with Ben to lie to Miles's employer Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) that Ben is dead.

The writers created the role of Miles specifically for Leung after seeing him guest star on The Sopranos. Leung was the only actor to read for the part. They chose his name because it resembles "maelstrom", another word for a powerful whirlpool. Reaction to the character was positive.