411mania Interviews Michael Emerson (Ben from Lost)

Posted by Al Norton on 05.13.2009

411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive chat with Benjamin Linus himself, Lost's Michael Emerson.



Michael Emerson has been nominated for two Emmys for his portrayal of Benjamin Linus on the ABC series Lost. He is an accomplished stage actor who previously won an Emmy for his role as serial killer William Hinks on The Practice.

Al Norton: Good afternoon. I appreciate getting the time with you.

Michael Emerson: You get the award for the best name blog of the day! It's fabulous.

Al Norton: Thank you very much. I only get you for five minutes so I'm going to jump right in here…Since Ben is a character who thrives on being steps ahead of everyone, has it been more fun to play him this season since he is frequently behind?

Michael Emerson: He's very much behind now, isn't he? He doesn't even lead the march. He's sort of bringing up the rear these days. It's sort of sad, he's been sort of stripped of his tools and resources and I can only assume he's meditating on some recent traumatic experiences and trying to figure out what his relationship is with the new John Locke.

Al Norton: When you read the scripts do you find yourself trying to figure out if Ben is telling the truth or lying in certain scenes, and does that effect how you play him?

Michael Emerson: When I first came on the show I used to think about truth and lies; I don't even think about it anymore, I just think about delivery. I assume that the business of whether I'm lying or not is my business as an actor, that's a judgment call for audiences and writers (laughing). I like that it's so simply now; I just play it straight.

Al Norton: You mention playing it straight; this season Ben's had more than his share of lines that have generated much laughter. The "I'm not that easy a person to like" line with Hugo, when he stops the car to yell…Obviously you are playing it straight but it must be fun to know people will be laughing.

Michael Emerson: I enjoy it and Ben has always truck me as a kind of droll character. They haven't always let all the drollery met the final cut but Ben is dry, he has a sense of humor, and I'm glad that it shows a little more. I sometimes think if we looked at the show just somewhat differently we would think of Ben as a comic character.

Al Norton: The time travel storyline this season has been polarizing for many fans. What did you think when you read the scripts and how do you think it's come off on screen?

Michael Emerson: I think I thought like everybody else, I thought, "how do we make sense of this?" It's an awful lot to follow. When we were jumping all the time, that was tricky and it demanded a lot of attention and possible rewinding. I thought it played better when it aired than it did when I read the script. I thought they did a really good job of making sense of it, of making it logical. Our show is meant to be challenging. I do a lot of rewinding and I am on it (laughing).

Al Norton: Have you ever given any thought to what you think Ben would have been like if he'd grown up off the island, in a more traditional household?

Michael Emerson: I know people probably have a fond notion that Ben would have been a better person, a more normal person, but I'm going to go the opposite and say Ben's extraordinary circumstances have kept him from being a monster. Ben is actually a better man for the strange upbringing than had he lived otherwise. He might have been too smart and too cold to be a successful person.

Al Norton: Actors dream of getting a part like this but is there a worry that if you get too closely associated with Ben than all the parts you get offered will simply be spins off of him?

Michael Emerson: Well, most of the offers are going to be spins off of him, for a while, and part of my job is to be judicious about the work I do next. Every time you play a character successfully, they are going to want to pigeon hole you. You can't have a career avoiding identification with a role because those are your successes. You just hope you get to do it more than once.

Al Norton: I assume after you finished The Practice you got offers that were very similar to William Hinks.

Michael Emerson: I did, and I think The Practice indirectly led to my being on Lost. The two of them are at least in the same temperature zone (laughing).

Al Norton: Did I read somewhere that you'd love to join your wife (actress Carrie Preston) and appear on an episode of True Blood?

Michael Emerson: That would be so much fun but I don't know what kind of character I would play. I think it's a cool show and I really like Alan Ball and his writing. If I had an opportunity to do something on that show it would be fine. It would be nice if it wasn't something that was too Ben-like. I don't want to play the mysterious leader of the shape shifters. I would rather be a strange comic character or something odd, a character who doesn't talk. Something really out there would be fun.

Al Norton: What can you tell me about the finale? Will the audience have a better feel for how the final season will play out, or at least where and when the final season will play out, by the end of the two hours?

Michael Emerson: I think the opposite, I think the audience is going to be left with their jaws on the floor saying, "how can there even be a sixth season?" I think what, and where, and when the sixth season even takes place will be up in the air.

Don't miss the two hour Lost finale tonight at 9 pm on ABC