Michael Emerson reacts to Ben's success

[spicedogs]

So Ben LOST the RedEye competition for bad guy.  But he lost graciously.

Originally posted: May 23, 2008
Michael Emerson reacts to Ben's success

Updated at 2:15 p.m. Friday, May 23

Benjamin Linus ran out of plans. He's been defeated by Sir Guy of Gisborne from "Robin Hood" in RedEye’s Best TV Character tourney.

Posted at 1:15 p.m. Friday, May 23

I was surprised when actor Michael Emerson called me directly Friday morning. Usually a PR person calls to connect you to an interview subject, but that wasn’t the main reason for my shock.

“Hello Curt, this is Michael Emerson,” he said. But what I heard was the voice of Benjamin Linus, the always scheming leader of the Others on ABC’s “Lost.”

Ben is a finalist in RedEye’s Best TV Character tourney. Emerson had a very un-Ben-like, modest reaction to that news.

“I’m amazed that 7,000 people [the numbers of votes he’d earned] felt strongly enough to vote for him,” he told me. “But that’s great.”

“He’s a wonderful character,” Emerson said.

Ben has defeated Katherine Mayfair of “Desperate Housewives,” Number Six from “Battlestar Galactica” (“I’m honored,” Emerson said), Dwight Schrute from “The Office” and Liz Lemon from “30 Rock” to face Sir Guy of Gisborne from “Robin Hood” in the finals. Voting has now ended.

Emerson said he’s having a great time playing such a complicated, mysterious character—one of the favorites from his career—and that a lot of that comes from the writers. He said that over time, the writers have made Ben do some of the same movements, gestures and voice inflections they’ve observed Emerson.

“They way I speak is the way Ben speaks now,” he said. “I’m flattered. The writers watch closely how I move and speak and it appears in the scripts.

“I and the role are converging.”

But don’t think Emerson is as cruel as Ben. “It’s fun to play because you get to act out things that are not part of your life,” he said. “You tap the imagination. You’re never going to kill someone, but you can play it.”

SOURCE: REDEYE

Comments

[shalimar77777.livejournal.com]

Wow - he is just the nicest guy ever. Who else would call a reporter and thank people for voting for him in a poll?

The guy is a class act.

[meegat.livejournal.com]

He's just fantastic.

I emailed the Night time interview link to a co-worker who loves Lost but isn't keen on Ben/Michael.

LOL She's now feeling the Michael love...

[benobsessed.livejournal.com]

Bless Michael. He's so gracious.

I'm betting lots of teeny boppers voted for Guy (he wears tight leather trousers after all and has long hair- it seems to be the kinda thing teeny boppers go for, plus he's on at 7pm, just before their bed time *boo, hiss*)

[kidneytheft.livejournal.com]

Oh Michael........*dreams on*

[crazymaryt.livejournal.com]

Michael is the best!

[keyserzozie.livejournal.com]

Life is sooo unfair sometimes (*goes off dreaming of Michael wearing Guy of Gisbourne's leather pants*)

[greyrider.livejournal.com]

Neat find. Thanks for posting.

[mooncove.livejournal.com]

Wish I'd "seen the dark" and jumped on the Ben-wagon in time to vote in the poll. (Would 7,001 have made a difference?) What a nice guy.

"You tap the imagination. You're never going to kill someone, but you can play it."

How many people has Ben actually killed lately though? Seems like everyone he's shot this season was wearing a bullet-proof vest (either real or figuratively).

*taps the imagination* Ben in black leather pants ... *faints*