Post by bobdoc on Jun 3, 2008 11:14:26 GMT -4
Edith found this during the "break" so here it is again for our home. From thecheappop.com/2008/05/30/losts-michael-emerson-thecheappopcom-interview/#more-3783
Ben, the two of us need look no more
By Jon Chattman
I’m not exactly checking fan sites, rewinding and fast forwarding old episodes, and examining theories on the web every waking second, but I love Lost. I’d argue that this current season of the series is the best since year one. At the forefront of that logic, aside from the superb acting and brilliant storytelling, is one Michael Emerson, who brilliantly plays “Other” leader and self-professed good guy Benjamin Linus. Never has a character had such an impact on a show in my book: Manipulative. Brilliant. Fearless. Those are just some words you could throw around at the character, but I’ll add one more: scary.
What can I say, the bugged-out character just creeps me out, and last week, when I had the good fortune of interviewing Emerson, an Emmy winner for his guest starring arc on The Practice years back (he played a serial killer- go figure), I had the same feeling. Let’s just say never have the words “Jon Chattman please” freaked me out so much while on the phone. While he’s far removed from the murdering, always-one step ahead character he plays on the series, Emerson sounds the same (hanging each word on every syllable) and seemed intense (not “Ben” intense but intense nonetheless) during the interview.
Rather than hear me speak, I’ll cut to the interview. Want to know what the Orchid is? Want to find out what happens in the season finale Thursday? Want to know if the cast watches the show and stare at each other afterwards with a “WTF” grin? Read on. Places every body: Polar bears stage left. Cue the Michael Giacchino music.
When you signed up for the part did you know how pivotal Ben was going to be?
No, I don’t think they did either. My understanding of it originally was it was going to be a guest spot. Three episodes I think was the original discussion.
How much of your own personal touches have you been able to put on Ben? Is every thing scripted or are you allowed to play around with him a little bit.
I have to say the script is never negotiable. We have to honor that. Whatever I’m doing comes in the form of nuance and delivery, which is enough. That’s my understanding of what actors do anyway. I wouldn’t really be comfortable having a more creative role. If you’re asking was their collaboration on character. There were never discussions between me and writers or me and producers who this guy was or how it ought to go or where it’s heading. I was just sort of left to my own devices, but that was fine. My instinct luckily was sort of right on target for the part.
Did you watch the show before you signed on?
Sure, yeah. My wife more than me. My wife was always a loyal Lost viewer from the pilot right on.
Your wife, Carrie Preston, played your mother on the show. Any weird feelings there?
No, it was so much fun to go to work and see your own spouse there because the place I work is such a weird place.
Do you follow any of these Lost theories on the web? It’s unreal how many there are…
I guess I haven’t had time to explore those things, but once in awhile I hear one when it makes it into the mainstream press. I know Damon (Lindelof) and Carlton (Cuse) have this sort of theory contest last month which yielded some interesting results I thought. I haven’t paid much attention. Most of the theories I hear are too sort of partial. I haven’t heard good sort of mastered theories that make sense of everything. What’s finally going to reveal itself is a thing that cannot be contained in a line or even a paragraph. It’s a big machine…
With a lot of moving parts…
Yeah, that’s right.
When you’re filming, I assume you get it by a script-by-script basis - do you guys have tabs as a cast what’s going to happen next?
Yeah. Eventhough we all work on the show, we’re all sort of fans of the show as if it was something apart from what we’re working on. The product that airs on TV is a little disconnected from our day-to-day work since it’s all sort of edited and formatted and it has music so we watch it as fans, too. Yeah, we speculate on where things are going or what the hell the writers are doing or thinking. We enjoy it in many of the same ways that the viewers do I think.
Do you guys like sit down altogether and watch the episodes?
Sometimes. I think they did it religiously during the first season when everybody felt a little more temporary there. The way the show worked in the first season was everybody worked every day. That’s no longer the case. The work days are much more fragmented now because we have so many more storylines. So it’s not quite the communal undertaking it once was, and I came in late of course to the series. People have sort of moved on. A lot of people have family and kids, PTA all that stuff, so we don’t tend to get together quite as much as they once did.
Was there ever a time you were concerned with where the writers’ were taking your character or the show or do you always feel like they know exactly where they’re going?
I always feel like they know where their going. I have, upon occasion, thought ‘wow, this is really what they want?’ Like in Ben’s flashback in the third season when we learned the demise of the Dharma Initiative, I thought ‘wow that is dark,’ and it does not paint him in a very good light. Ben seems to be more cold, ruthless and murderous than I would’ve given him credit for earlier. But the writers assured me that those events would be reexamined and recontextualized later. And they’re great at that so I though ‘that’s good enough for me.’
It must be exciting as an actor to not know exactly where your character is going…
Yeah, I think it’s just fine. I’m actually relieved not to have to be a) a keeper of secrets or b) the keeper of the master storyline in my head. I’m not troubled with the scene I’m working on today, does this work out in terms of what I’m doing at the beginning of season six or something.
Do you have your own theories about what’s happening or will happen?
I don’t really have any coherent ones. I mean I’m interested in this business of some kind of deceit or warp in the time/space continuum – that people are moving around in ways that are sort of supernatural, but I think the explanation will be a science fiction explanation not a magic explanation. That’s what I’m guessing right now.
What’s your take on Ben? Is he a good guy like he says, a bad guy, or is he somewhere in that gray area?
I think he’s a really smart man fighting some kind of very high stakes war, and I think sometimes his behavior can be ruthless, but I think ultimately – I mean who knows how it’ll play out – we’re going to discover Ben is a good guy. He’s not really a good family man. He’s not really a good friend. He’s a little bit too busy for those kinds of things. He has an unlimited range of skills. He doesn’t seem to know a thing about the world of romance or just anything about gentle or quiet times. He’s sort of on all the time as this sort of commando leader.
You kind of have to think he can’t be all bad, because Sayid’s working with/for him in that flash forward…
That’s right. Sayid has decided that something about Ben’s mission is worthy. At least, Sayid has decided that the other guys are worse than Ben.
What do you make of the relationship with Ben and Locke? I mean this season there’s almost a sibling rivalry thing going on.
I know that’s been funny in the last few episodes. When Locke, Ben and Hurley have been trekking around in the jungle, they’ve been bickering like brothers or roommates haven’t they? It’s been a nice note of humor I think and sort of a softening of the edges of Ben Linus, too. I mean obviously they’re locked in kind of a competition. I think it’s for a sense of control of the island or a sense of being the anointed one or the chosen one to lead, and Ben seems to have lost that battle. It’s now sort of John Locke’s island.
When you’re reading a script, do you sort of scroll to the back and see if your character’s killed off? I know Ben’s in the flash forward but that doesn’t necessarily matter. You never know with this show.
[Laughs] Yeah, it’s true. I don’t worry so much episode by episode anymore. I used to wonder when I first started working there, how long this would run. Now, I feel like I’m woven deeply enough into the fabric of the story, I don’t see how they can do without me say, for example, next season. Beyond that, I wouldn’t wager anything but I think Ben will be there in season five.
Off-camera, are you as intense as the characters you play? Not just Ben, I mean I remember you playing such a crazed serial killer on The Practice.
I enjoy the concentration of the characters I’ve been playing on television. No, I’m not like that. When they say cut, I’m over at the craft service table having teas and bananas and goofing off with the guys in the crew. I’m sort of a technical actor. I sort of clock in and clock out. Some scenes are heavy. Like when Alex died, you try to stay focused on the moment.
Can you offer any insight into the finale without giving too much away?
A bunch of the current storylines are going to get wrapped up. It’s going to be really violent. It’s going to be dark. The notes of whimsy or humor that we’ve seen in recent episodes will not be present. It’s sort of a shocking amount of action and destruction and some casualties along the way, and some big questions of the season will be answered.
Do you think the writers consciously put Easter eggs in to further the plot or are they just messing with the audience. I mean I’m guilty of pausing YouTube videos to make out something here or there…
I think none of them are accidental. I think all of them at the very least are for entertainment purposes. Most of them are germane to the story. I mean some of them are a bit fleeting and some of them are a bit for the pleasure of the writers. When they include the titles of certain books that the writers’ may be reading while they’re writing the episode or books that may contain themes that are parallels or foils to what’s happening in the storyline at that time. Stuff like that is sort of good fun for everybody but not necessarily going to build up to a big payoff.
Couple theories I’d like to pick your ear on. First, what do you think the four-toed left foot is? The big statue.
I think it’s a remnant of some much earlier, possibly very powerful civilization.
The Orchid? What do you think that is?
You mean the station of the same name? Let’s see where we’re at the story. The Orchid is rather whimsically named because to all appearances it’s a greenhouse and orchids would be the natural product of a tropical greenhouse but there’s more to the orchid that meets the eye. There are just levels there. Many levels.
Can you venture a guess what the numbers mean?
You mean ultimately what they mean sort of beyond being the lottery numbers?
Yeah.
I wonder if they’re a mathematical formula or code, a thing that is a key.
One recent rumor is that Abaddon is the grown-up version of Walt…
Oh, I hadn’t heard that. That’s interesting, though. It’s not out of the question. There’s something going on. Some people are not dying they’re just looping. I don’t know I thought the deal was when some people got – Richard Alpert – rather than aging he seems to not age, but maybe he’s just in a different part.
Do you think in the end, we’re going to find out that Cheech Marin, who plays Hugo’s dad on the show, is responsible for all the black smoke?
[Laughs] He’s going to be responsible for some smoke, but not the smoke monster.
Can we expect Gilligan and The Harlem Globetrotters turn up on the island?
I wouldn’t be surprised. Some desert island, right? The most heavily-trafficked desert island in history.
I’m still waiting to see Jeff Probst turn up with an immunity challenge…
I don’t think the writers would be above some kind of surreal gag like that somewhere along the line.
By Jon Chattman
I’m not exactly checking fan sites, rewinding and fast forwarding old episodes, and examining theories on the web every waking second, but I love Lost. I’d argue that this current season of the series is the best since year one. At the forefront of that logic, aside from the superb acting and brilliant storytelling, is one Michael Emerson, who brilliantly plays “Other” leader and self-professed good guy Benjamin Linus. Never has a character had such an impact on a show in my book: Manipulative. Brilliant. Fearless. Those are just some words you could throw around at the character, but I’ll add one more: scary.
What can I say, the bugged-out character just creeps me out, and last week, when I had the good fortune of interviewing Emerson, an Emmy winner for his guest starring arc on The Practice years back (he played a serial killer- go figure), I had the same feeling. Let’s just say never have the words “Jon Chattman please” freaked me out so much while on the phone. While he’s far removed from the murdering, always-one step ahead character he plays on the series, Emerson sounds the same (hanging each word on every syllable) and seemed intense (not “Ben” intense but intense nonetheless) during the interview.
Rather than hear me speak, I’ll cut to the interview. Want to know what the Orchid is? Want to find out what happens in the season finale Thursday? Want to know if the cast watches the show and stare at each other afterwards with a “WTF” grin? Read on. Places every body: Polar bears stage left. Cue the Michael Giacchino music.
When you signed up for the part did you know how pivotal Ben was going to be?
No, I don’t think they did either. My understanding of it originally was it was going to be a guest spot. Three episodes I think was the original discussion.
How much of your own personal touches have you been able to put on Ben? Is every thing scripted or are you allowed to play around with him a little bit.
I have to say the script is never negotiable. We have to honor that. Whatever I’m doing comes in the form of nuance and delivery, which is enough. That’s my understanding of what actors do anyway. I wouldn’t really be comfortable having a more creative role. If you’re asking was their collaboration on character. There were never discussions between me and writers or me and producers who this guy was or how it ought to go or where it’s heading. I was just sort of left to my own devices, but that was fine. My instinct luckily was sort of right on target for the part.
Did you watch the show before you signed on?
Sure, yeah. My wife more than me. My wife was always a loyal Lost viewer from the pilot right on.
Your wife, Carrie Preston, played your mother on the show. Any weird feelings there?
No, it was so much fun to go to work and see your own spouse there because the place I work is such a weird place.
Do you follow any of these Lost theories on the web? It’s unreal how many there are…
I guess I haven’t had time to explore those things, but once in awhile I hear one when it makes it into the mainstream press. I know Damon (Lindelof) and Carlton (Cuse) have this sort of theory contest last month which yielded some interesting results I thought. I haven’t paid much attention. Most of the theories I hear are too sort of partial. I haven’t heard good sort of mastered theories that make sense of everything. What’s finally going to reveal itself is a thing that cannot be contained in a line or even a paragraph. It’s a big machine…
With a lot of moving parts…
Yeah, that’s right.
When you’re filming, I assume you get it by a script-by-script basis - do you guys have tabs as a cast what’s going to happen next?
Yeah. Eventhough we all work on the show, we’re all sort of fans of the show as if it was something apart from what we’re working on. The product that airs on TV is a little disconnected from our day-to-day work since it’s all sort of edited and formatted and it has music so we watch it as fans, too. Yeah, we speculate on where things are going or what the hell the writers are doing or thinking. We enjoy it in many of the same ways that the viewers do I think.
Do you guys like sit down altogether and watch the episodes?
Sometimes. I think they did it religiously during the first season when everybody felt a little more temporary there. The way the show worked in the first season was everybody worked every day. That’s no longer the case. The work days are much more fragmented now because we have so many more storylines. So it’s not quite the communal undertaking it once was, and I came in late of course to the series. People have sort of moved on. A lot of people have family and kids, PTA all that stuff, so we don’t tend to get together quite as much as they once did.
Was there ever a time you were concerned with where the writers’ were taking your character or the show or do you always feel like they know exactly where they’re going?
I always feel like they know where their going. I have, upon occasion, thought ‘wow, this is really what they want?’ Like in Ben’s flashback in the third season when we learned the demise of the Dharma Initiative, I thought ‘wow that is dark,’ and it does not paint him in a very good light. Ben seems to be more cold, ruthless and murderous than I would’ve given him credit for earlier. But the writers assured me that those events would be reexamined and recontextualized later. And they’re great at that so I though ‘that’s good enough for me.’
It must be exciting as an actor to not know exactly where your character is going…
Yeah, I think it’s just fine. I’m actually relieved not to have to be a) a keeper of secrets or b) the keeper of the master storyline in my head. I’m not troubled with the scene I’m working on today, does this work out in terms of what I’m doing at the beginning of season six or something.
Do you have your own theories about what’s happening or will happen?
I don’t really have any coherent ones. I mean I’m interested in this business of some kind of deceit or warp in the time/space continuum – that people are moving around in ways that are sort of supernatural, but I think the explanation will be a science fiction explanation not a magic explanation. That’s what I’m guessing right now.
What’s your take on Ben? Is he a good guy like he says, a bad guy, or is he somewhere in that gray area?
I think he’s a really smart man fighting some kind of very high stakes war, and I think sometimes his behavior can be ruthless, but I think ultimately – I mean who knows how it’ll play out – we’re going to discover Ben is a good guy. He’s not really a good family man. He’s not really a good friend. He’s a little bit too busy for those kinds of things. He has an unlimited range of skills. He doesn’t seem to know a thing about the world of romance or just anything about gentle or quiet times. He’s sort of on all the time as this sort of commando leader.
You kind of have to think he can’t be all bad, because Sayid’s working with/for him in that flash forward…
That’s right. Sayid has decided that something about Ben’s mission is worthy. At least, Sayid has decided that the other guys are worse than Ben.
What do you make of the relationship with Ben and Locke? I mean this season there’s almost a sibling rivalry thing going on.
I know that’s been funny in the last few episodes. When Locke, Ben and Hurley have been trekking around in the jungle, they’ve been bickering like brothers or roommates haven’t they? It’s been a nice note of humor I think and sort of a softening of the edges of Ben Linus, too. I mean obviously they’re locked in kind of a competition. I think it’s for a sense of control of the island or a sense of being the anointed one or the chosen one to lead, and Ben seems to have lost that battle. It’s now sort of John Locke’s island.
When you’re reading a script, do you sort of scroll to the back and see if your character’s killed off? I know Ben’s in the flash forward but that doesn’t necessarily matter. You never know with this show.
[Laughs] Yeah, it’s true. I don’t worry so much episode by episode anymore. I used to wonder when I first started working there, how long this would run. Now, I feel like I’m woven deeply enough into the fabric of the story, I don’t see how they can do without me say, for example, next season. Beyond that, I wouldn’t wager anything but I think Ben will be there in season five.
Off-camera, are you as intense as the characters you play? Not just Ben, I mean I remember you playing such a crazed serial killer on The Practice.
I enjoy the concentration of the characters I’ve been playing on television. No, I’m not like that. When they say cut, I’m over at the craft service table having teas and bananas and goofing off with the guys in the crew. I’m sort of a technical actor. I sort of clock in and clock out. Some scenes are heavy. Like when Alex died, you try to stay focused on the moment.
Can you offer any insight into the finale without giving too much away?
A bunch of the current storylines are going to get wrapped up. It’s going to be really violent. It’s going to be dark. The notes of whimsy or humor that we’ve seen in recent episodes will not be present. It’s sort of a shocking amount of action and destruction and some casualties along the way, and some big questions of the season will be answered.
Do you think the writers consciously put Easter eggs in to further the plot or are they just messing with the audience. I mean I’m guilty of pausing YouTube videos to make out something here or there…
I think none of them are accidental. I think all of them at the very least are for entertainment purposes. Most of them are germane to the story. I mean some of them are a bit fleeting and some of them are a bit for the pleasure of the writers. When they include the titles of certain books that the writers’ may be reading while they’re writing the episode or books that may contain themes that are parallels or foils to what’s happening in the storyline at that time. Stuff like that is sort of good fun for everybody but not necessarily going to build up to a big payoff.
Couple theories I’d like to pick your ear on. First, what do you think the four-toed left foot is? The big statue.
I think it’s a remnant of some much earlier, possibly very powerful civilization.
The Orchid? What do you think that is?
You mean the station of the same name? Let’s see where we’re at the story. The Orchid is rather whimsically named because to all appearances it’s a greenhouse and orchids would be the natural product of a tropical greenhouse but there’s more to the orchid that meets the eye. There are just levels there. Many levels.
Can you venture a guess what the numbers mean?
You mean ultimately what they mean sort of beyond being the lottery numbers?
Yeah.
I wonder if they’re a mathematical formula or code, a thing that is a key.
One recent rumor is that Abaddon is the grown-up version of Walt…
Oh, I hadn’t heard that. That’s interesting, though. It’s not out of the question. There’s something going on. Some people are not dying they’re just looping. I don’t know I thought the deal was when some people got – Richard Alpert – rather than aging he seems to not age, but maybe he’s just in a different part.
Do you think in the end, we’re going to find out that Cheech Marin, who plays Hugo’s dad on the show, is responsible for all the black smoke?
[Laughs] He’s going to be responsible for some smoke, but not the smoke monster.
Can we expect Gilligan and The Harlem Globetrotters turn up on the island?
I wouldn’t be surprised. Some desert island, right? The most heavily-trafficked desert island in history.
I’m still waiting to see Jeff Probst turn up with an immunity challenge…
I don’t think the writers would be above some kind of surreal gag like that somewhere along the line.
Hope it`s just a tiredness after such a tuft season. 
