Like the character he plays on “Lost,” Michael Emerson is intelligent, witty, and charming. But unlike Benjamin Linus, there’s no disturbing subtext to any of these attributes.
Actor Michael Emerson over lunch at Town restaurant in Honolulu.
On a recent Saturday, the guest star who has become a regular force on the show was gracious as he arrived for an interview at a Kaimuki restaurant at the appointed time — not a moment later. Dressed in cream-colored Tommy Bahama pants, sneakers and a white linen shirt, the native New Yorker worried that his attire was inappropriate after Labor Day.
In a wide-ranging interview that felt more like an animated lunch with an old friend, the youthful-looking 52-year-old chatted about William Shakespeare, the art of acting, public attention and how theater prepared him for his role as Benjamin Linus/Henry Gale, the enigmatic leader of the Others on the Hawaii-filmed hit ABC television series.
“The acting I find a breeze; it’s the publicity that I find challenging,” said Emerson. “On the stage you live large, and nobody knows you when you leave the theater. You have a sort of personal anonymity and a much thicker layer of disguise. When you’re in close-up on TV, it’s as if you and the viewer are breathing the same air. That’s a kind of intimacy. It think it’s a false intimacy, but it is intimate. I just haven’t adjusted to it.”
He seems mildly baffled that the New York Times profiled him recently — and devoted a fair amount of space to the effort. “I understand that this work I’m doing now has global reach,” he said after ordering a sandwich and a Coke. “I’m not sure that it’s worthy of all of that. This is a tired thing I always say, but more people will see me in one episode of this show than in all the plays I’ll ever do.”
BORN in Iowa, Emerson graduated from Drake University. He worked as a magazine illustrator and drawing teacher before finding his way to acting in the theater, a pursuit that culminated in 1999 on Broadway in “The Iceman Cometh” with Kevin Spacey.
Despite his success on the stage, Emerson said that theater life can be brutal, especially when “all of the juicy roles” go to television and movie actors. “If that’s the system,” he recalled thinking, “I’ll go out west and get on TV so that I can do some dang Shakespeare in New York City.”
When he talked about Shakespeare, his countenance changed. It’s clear he’ll return to the master. “It’s bottomless,” he reflected. “So what, you played Hamlet last year. You play it again this year, and it’ll be a completely different thing. You cannot get all the goods.”
Even so, Emerson is proud of his television work because it was hard won. “You can be the best stage actor and never get a break in TV,” he said.
His arrived in the form of an Emmy Award for his guest-starring role on “The Practice” in 2001. He played a serial killer.
An even greater distance from his beloved Shakespeare was his star turn as Zep Hindle in 2004 in the cult horror movie “Saw,” which attracted an audience that probably had not seen him perform in the theater. Emerson recalled walking through a mall in Los Angeles when teenage gang members stopped him and said, “Yo, yo, ‘Saw’ man, right? ‘Saw’ man!” He laughed. Mercifully, his character was killed, and he was not asked to return.
IN THE barbaric stampede called the red carpet, Emerson’s pithy quotes and articulate philosophical musings separate him. But when it comes to talking about “Lost,” his revelations are understandably limited.
“He’s vulnerable now,” he said, referring to the trauma under Jack’s surgical knife that could lead to Ben’s demise. “There’s much more operating room drama to come; the operation has even more complications that lead to a number of crises,” he added, carefully choosing his words. New, powerful characters also will be introduced, and “there will be a struggle for power within the Others’ community.” Then he paused and smiled. “I have to be cagey about what I say.”
Ben’s relationship with Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) is admittedly “sketchy,” with evidence that he might have some romantic feelings for her that are not reciprocated.
Though the Others appear to be doing some “seemingly mean and manipulative things,” Emerson cautioned that viewers still don’t know their intentions. Furthermore, he advised the audience to withhold judgment about his character. “Ben is sometimes an actor,” he said mysteriously. “But by nature, I don’t think he’s a liar.”
Throughout the interview, Emerson routinely slipped and called the character Henry Gale, admitting difficulty warming up to a name that sounds like it belongs to a mountain man. But he said he’s not the only one. Crew members still call him Henry, and some have started calling him “Benry.”
EMERSON believes theater provided the ideal preparation for the grueling work of television, which sometimes demands 15 takes from actors over a period of many hours as angles and setups vary.
“Theater rehearsals have taught me that there’s more than one solution to every problem that comes up,” he said. “One of the reasons I like being on ‘Lost’ is that I feel like I get to do the layered playing that I’ve always been attracted to on the stage. It’s more than learning the lines. You have to create a person.”
When asked why he often looks amused when delivering Ben’s most ominous instructions, Emerson bit into his sandwich and chuckled. “Everything’s better if people look like they have an inner life,” he said. “The thing in your eyes doesn’t have to be the thing that’s coming out of your mouth. It’s better if there’s tension there.”
Regarding his career after “Lost,” he acknowledged concerns about his identifiable role becoming a trap. “But every role I’ve ever played … if I’ve played it well … people got worried that I would get pigeonholed. The only answer to that is to move on and make them worry about you in another role.
“Certainly, there will be some stage work in my future; I will be anxious for that,” he continued. “Maybe some interesting turns in a movie or two. Still, I probably wouldn’t take the part of an ambiguous mastermind again right after this. Maybe a sad clown, for example.”
A sad clown?
“Yeah,” he laughed. “I don’t know what I mean by that.”
His work schedule is erratic, depending on Ben’s presence in the script that week. Though the show is on hiatus until February, filming continues as the producers work to assemble enough episodes to avoid reruns.
When his scenes come up, Emerson is frequently told to report to the North Shore at 5:30 a.m., which means the actor, who lives in town, sets his alarm for 3:45 a.m. At that hour, he said, “I can’t even put in my contact lenses.”
Ben’s eyes are a defining characteristic, so Emerson leaves behind his glasses while shooting. The hair, however, looks similar. During a recent trip to Los Angeles with his actress wife, Carrie Preston, Emerson treated himself to an expensive haircut. But it didn’t last long. “It was too fashionable for the character,” he said. Indeed, astute viewers will note that Ben’s hair gets “taller and taller” as the season progresses.
While stylish hair might have to wait, staying fit remains a priority. Running and working out in a gym near his home help prepare Emerson for scenes such as one that forced him to hike all over Makapuu with Sawyer (Josh Hollway) — and a rabbit — in tow. “It’s important to have stamina for ‘Lost’,” he said.
And for the attention that is sure to keep coming his way.