Not just another Other

Before 'Lost' star tackled one of TV's creepiest roles, Michael Emerson took Shakespeare stage in Alabama

Sunday, February 04, 2007

ALEC HARVEY

News staff writer

Once upon a time, Michael Emerson thought his forte was comedy.

In three years with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, he played comedic roles in some of the bard's greatest works.

Since then, though, his story has taken a decidedly creepier turn.

He played a weird character in the horror movie "Saw" and earned an Emmy Award as a suspected serial killer in "The Practice."

Now, he's Ben Linus, also known as Henry Gale, leader of the seemingly evil "Others" in the ABC drama "Lost."

"I still don't understand how that happened," Emerson says of his on-screen resume. "I tended to think my strong suit was comedy on stage, so it's strange that for the camera that this is the niche that I've found."

But "Lost" may be the end of the line for Emerson's evil side.

"It'll be as easy as saying no to the next creepy part that comes along," he says. "I do tend to pass now on serial killers and that sort of thing only because I've done that. You want to mix it up a little bit."

Sweet home Alabama

It was an effort to mix things up a bit that brought Emerson to Alabama from 1993 until 1995.

After struggling in New York, the Drake University graduate was working steadily in theater in Florida, but he was at a crossroads.

"It dawned on me that I was fairly good at it, and I figured I needed to either go back to New York or get a greater level of training," Emerson says.

He chose the latter, enrolling in ASF's Master of Fine Arts program on the advice of then-ASF company member John Preston (Emerson would later marry Preston's sister, Carrie).

"I didn't get to see much of the area because it was such an immersion program," Emerson says. "We worked from early morning to late at night, six days a week."

Emerson lived near Wetumpka in a farmhouse those three years, commuting to ASF's facility in Montgomery.

"I got a real taste of the hill country of Alabama, and it turned out to be just right for me," says Emerson. "That solitary drive back into the country every night was kind of a tonic for me."

In Montgomery, Emerson tackled a number of Shakespeare's shows, including "The Tempest," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Henry V" and "Henry VI."

"In `Henry V,' I played seven different characters," Emerson recalls. "At the top of the show, I was triple-dressed. I didn't have time to change costumes between characters, so I just shed articles of clothing. That's the kind of thing you do there when you're in the master's program."

He recalls the experience as "grueling," but said it was exactly what he needed at the time.

The return of 'Lost'

After ASF, Emerson worked in theater (including Broadway productions of "The Iceman Cometh" and "Tartuffe"), in movies ("Saw," "The Legend of Zorro") and on television ("The Practice," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "The X-Files").

And then came "Lost."

In the ABC drama, about survivors of a jetliner crash making their way on a remote island, Emerson is Ben Linus, leader of "The Others," whom the original "Lost" survivors discovered on the island and assume to be their enemies.

Emerson initially was hired for three episodes, but "eventually it turned into more and more" and now, in season three, he's a regular character.

He can't say much about the future of his character, but Emerson still has an apartment in Honolulu and is still in the "Lost" cast.

"I'm still working, and I hope to keep on working," he says.

In fact, he anticipates some of "Lost's" traditional flashback sequences will focus on Ben at some point.

"My wife (actress Carrie Preston) has already selected the part she wants to play in 'Lost,'" Emerson says. "She wants to play my character's mother in the flashbacks, and I think it's an excellent idea."

But Emerson doesn't have any idea where "Lost" might lead.

"I know more about it than you only to the extent that I may be a few scripts ahead of you," he says. "And that's fine by me. In a way, the long arc of the character is none of my business. My job is made easier by not having to worry about whether my character is good or evil or telling the truth or not."

More Shakespeare

Eventually, the 52-year-old Emerson plans to return to the stage, and he's not counting out a visit to Montgomery.

"I'm always eager to do a little Shakespeare," he says. "I'm just sort of at a place now where I'm just busy enough where I don't need to be too far away from a nerve center, and Montgomery would be a little out of the way."

But, the acting gods willing, and if he can break out of his creepy character mold, Emerson wants to play some of the bard's superstars.

"I want to play those great Shakespearean roles in my old age," he says. "I want to have a crack at Prospero and Lear and those parts."

E-mail: aharvey@bhamnews.com

Source: al.com