m_emerson_news

By Robert Dougherty

Lost fans get a kick out of being freaked out by "Others" leader Benjamin Linus. His spooky look does have a lot to do with the spooky look of this actor, Michael Emerson. Lost hasn't been the same since Ben (Emerson) joined the show in season 2. And now it's hard to see Lost without them. Before joining Lost, Emerson was on the road to be typecast as just another actor playing creepy villains, as was apparent in most of his high-profile roles before Lost-for instance, Gerald "Gerry" Rankin (in the episode "Phantom," in season 1 of Law & Order: CI), among others. But on the road to getting Lost, Emerson went through a lot of different avenues as an actor before he ever met the Lost creators, or Ben.

Emerson was born on September 7, 1954, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1976, Emerson first moved to New York City, hoping to become an actor. But since actor jobs were scarce, he worked to get by as a freelance illustrator and in retail jobs. Ten years later, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was an actor and director in local productions. However, being an actor wasn't getting Emerson too far, and he began to develop a new passion for teaching. He eventually decided to be an actor for a while longer, enrolling in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Master of Fine Acts program in 1993.

Emerson returned to New York City soon after graduation, working in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival showcase. For four years, he worked in regional theater and then landed a supporting actor role on the off-Broadway production Gross Indecency: The Trials of Oscar Wilde. But his part increased greatly when the actor originally cast as the famed gay English playwright was fired, and Emerson took his place. Playing Wilde gave Emerson his first big break as an actor and made him a rising star in the theater. He later worked alongside Uma Thurman in an off-Broadway production of The Misanthrope and played Willie Oban in Kevin Spacey's revival of The Iceman Cometh in 1999. Emerson's personal life took off as well, as he married actress Carrie Preston in 1998, and the two have been together ever since.

Inevitably, work in the theater made Emerson an actor of interest for television. In 2001, the hit ABC show The Practice cast him as a suspected serial killer named William Hinks. Emerson played a character who was taking credit for killing nine people, but who was suspected of lying about it to get attention and fame. The ambiguity and mystery surrounding Hinks would become very familiar to Emerson's future Lost fans. His five-episode sting on The Practice brought him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He was up against higher profile actors such as James Cromwell, Patrick Dempsey, Rene Auberjonois, and Oliver Platt. But despite being a relatively new actor in Hollywood, Emerson won the Emmy and began a stable career on television.

Emerson later guest starred in episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, The Inside, The District, and The X Files. In several of these shows, he again played killers or mysterious characters. Emerson would play a similar part in the original Saw-a hospital orderly suspected of being the serial killer Jigsaw. In 2005, Emerson had a supporting actor role in The Legend of Zorro, but his work in Hollywood had been mainly in television. Then, in 2006, he got the call for his next guest actor spot.

Lost

Even though Henry Gale was just a guest character, the producers were more and more impressed with what Emerson brought to the table as an actor. The writers continued to write for Henry, and Emerson was asked to stick around for a few more episodes. By the time Henry Gale finally escaped, he had become an important part of Lost lore. When Emerson returned in the season finale as not only a member of the "Others," but their leader as well, the stage was set for him to become a full-time regular actor on Lost.

Season 3 uncovered the fact that Henry Gale was really Benjamin Linus. Emerson continued to impress fans and critics who were otherwise disappointed with the beginning of the season. The producers also introduced a new character for Emerson to square off with: Juliet, played magnificently by Elizabeth Mitchell. The two actors became immensely popular with the fans of Lost. Emerson also excited Lost fans whenever he went up against Terry O'Quinn's Locke. The two characters developed a rivalry that made up much of season 3's conflict. And when Ben finally got his first flashback episode, which, in true Lost fashion, raised more questions about Ben than answers, Emerson's wife was included in the episode. Carrie Preston was cast in flashbacks scenes as Ben's late mother. It was a Freudian twist that both Emerson and Preston were well aware of.

For that episode, entitled "The Man Behind the Curtain," Emerson received his second Emmy nomination, in the higher profile category of Best Supporting Actor. Although this time he would lose, it was to one of his Lost partners in crime: Terry O'Quinn. O'Quinn, who is also a gracious man, gave a magnificent acceptance speech, giving Emerson a huge shout out, stating that his fellow Lost actors were represented by "the great and glorious Michael Emerson."

While Emerson was originally drawn to comedic types in the theater, he is now fully typecast as supposedly evil figures. However, he has frequently said that Ben may be less of a villain than Lost fans have thought of him to be and could very well be proven to be a hero by the end of the series. With the arrival of new, potentially sinister figures in season 4, Lost may show Ben's motive and make Ben not seem to be the creepy villain fans have been used to viewing him as. For Emerson, who, over the years, has proven to possess a great range as an actor, as well as to possess insight into otherwise unknowable characters, playing the "new" Ben will not be a new challenge at all.

Sources

"Michael Emerson Biography" URL: michaelemerson.net/bio.html

"Michael Emerson" URL: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/lost/profile/michael-emerson.aspx

"The Reel Deel: Michael Emerson" URL: http://www.oregonherald.com/reviews/mark-sells/interviews/michael_emerson.html

"Michael Emerson at Hollywood.com" URL: www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Michael_Emerson/1268967

"IMDb: Emmy Awards: 2001" URL: www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Emmy_Awards/2001

"UGO.COM- Michael Emerson, LOST interview" URL: www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/

"Michael Emerson- Yahoo! TV" URL: tv.yahoo.com/contributor/371531 had already taken off as a big cult hit, gaining fans like Emerson's own wife, Carrie Preston. In the middle of the second season, Lost developed a storyline wherein a man would be captured by the survivors and was suspected of being part of the mysterious "Others." As with William Hinks, at first, the audience would be unsure of who this character was, as well as whether he was telling the truth about himself. Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse called on Emerson to play the role of "Henry Gale," intending to have him appear for three episodes. He made his debut in the episode entitled "One of Them," which aired on February 15, 2006.

SOURCE: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/570229/michael_emerson_more_than_losts_spooky.html?cat=39