Post by bobdoc on Jun 6, 2008 20:26:40 GMT -4
Ben figures into this article although there's no quotes from Michael- at least click onto this to find a funny picture in it. From www.variety.com/article/VR1117986960.html?categoryId=3155&cs=1
When we first met Benjamin Linus on "Lost," he had a secret. It was big, but fairly straight up. Maybe he was a meek survivor of Oceanic 815, or maybe he was a dreaded Other.
Now that viewers know something about his wayward history, however, that quandary seems positively quaint. His secrets, with all their tangles and depth, are as much a foundation of the series as the mysteries of Jack's psyche, Locke's faith or simply what the hell is going on.
"Lost" shares a bond of sorts with many of television's other critically acclaimed dramas, just as castaways Ben (Michael Emerson), Jack (Matthew Fox) and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) share something with many of TV's other notable characters.
They have massive, tortuous secrets.
As any writer will tell you, secrets do wonders for characters. They add complexity, texture, even humanity, going back to Superman and those innocent days when a man could hide his true identity behind a pair of eyeglasses.
Now, more than ever, so many great dramas and characters are built around multifaceted secrets. Producers say the trend is significant because to have a character not willing to show all his cards is not only fascinating to viewers -- meaning more eyeballs tuning in -- but also an element of intrigue that attracts topnotch actors.
Look at a partial roll call. Fox's "House" has Hugh Laurie playing a man who's an emotional riddle; on FX's "The Shield," Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) battles to hide the kind of cop he really is; Don Draper (Jon Hamm), on AMC's freshman hit "Mad Men," won't even tell his wife the man he really he is; and on Showtime's "Dexter," Michael C. Hall conceals the small detail that the title person is a serial killer.
Still, for characters with piles of secrets, there's nothing like the group on "Lost."
"'Lost' is a mystery show," says exec producer Carlton Cuse, "and though there's lots of focus on the mythology, we believe what people are really tuning in to see is the mystery of these people."
Exec producer Damon Lindelof says characters on the island and off resonate because people with secrets feel authentic.
"The characters are nothing less than mythic," Lindelof says. "They're rendered out of hyper-real cloth, but they're also very human. They're playing out the same struggles we all have."
At the farther reaches of the hyper-real would be Dexter Morgan, crime stopper and killer. Yet, Hall says, even his character has much in common with the rest of us, and it starts with his secrets.
"We all struggle with a sense of secretiveness, a sense that we are less than completely authentic about whom we present to the world," Hall says. "That's a big part of Dexter's appeal or relatability. It's obviously an extreme, but I don't think any of us is without a sense that there are things we withhold or stories we tell to get through the day."
If Dexter is "fantastical," as Hall calls him, then Don Draper of the meticulously detailed "Mad Men" seems mainstream, if equally nuanced. Draper needs an array of stories to get through his day, all varying on the situation. That makes for a warren of secrets, and for layers of acting and storytelling.
"Mad Men's" creator, Matthew Weiner, says that like many notable TV characters, the privacy of Draper's life, "is like the privacy of all our lives."
"The man has an extraordinary life, bigger than ours," Weiner explains. "But we always try to get back to him as a full-on human being. We hope people see some of themselves in that."
One key to both creating and portraying a man such as Draper, Weiner says, is to let viewers see the psychic cost of secrets. Yet it has to be done subtly.
Hamm uses short looks and brief, unsettled glimpses to show hints of the moods underneath, Weiner says. "Sometimes we see it just for a moment."
All these secrets, the producers say, demand a lot from actors, whether it's Hamm's momentary moods, the shades that cross Hall's face or the rapid blend of action, staunchness, then sudden emotion that "Lost" asks of its characters.
"When Ben was standing over the body of his daughter, that was a compelling moment for Michael and a challenge to play," Lindelof says. "He went through confusion, intense grief, then numbness, then vengeance all in a very short time."
What also comes through is that viewers are never sure if the characters they know so well are good guys or baddies.
"That's the fun of it," Hall says. "For every argument you can make that Dexter's evil, you can make the opposite argument that he's good. The last thing I want to do is clear up the muddle. I'm not letting anybody off the hook, including myself."
Now that viewers know something about his wayward history, however, that quandary seems positively quaint. His secrets, with all their tangles and depth, are as much a foundation of the series as the mysteries of Jack's psyche, Locke's faith or simply what the hell is going on.
"Lost" shares a bond of sorts with many of television's other critically acclaimed dramas, just as castaways Ben (Michael Emerson), Jack (Matthew Fox) and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) share something with many of TV's other notable characters.
They have massive, tortuous secrets.
As any writer will tell you, secrets do wonders for characters. They add complexity, texture, even humanity, going back to Superman and those innocent days when a man could hide his true identity behind a pair of eyeglasses.
Now, more than ever, so many great dramas and characters are built around multifaceted secrets. Producers say the trend is significant because to have a character not willing to show all his cards is not only fascinating to viewers -- meaning more eyeballs tuning in -- but also an element of intrigue that attracts topnotch actors.
Look at a partial roll call. Fox's "House" has Hugh Laurie playing a man who's an emotional riddle; on FX's "The Shield," Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) battles to hide the kind of cop he really is; Don Draper (Jon Hamm), on AMC's freshman hit "Mad Men," won't even tell his wife the man he really he is; and on Showtime's "Dexter," Michael C. Hall conceals the small detail that the title person is a serial killer.
Still, for characters with piles of secrets, there's nothing like the group on "Lost."
"'Lost' is a mystery show," says exec producer Carlton Cuse, "and though there's lots of focus on the mythology, we believe what people are really tuning in to see is the mystery of these people."
Exec producer Damon Lindelof says characters on the island and off resonate because people with secrets feel authentic.
"The characters are nothing less than mythic," Lindelof says. "They're rendered out of hyper-real cloth, but they're also very human. They're playing out the same struggles we all have."
At the farther reaches of the hyper-real would be Dexter Morgan, crime stopper and killer. Yet, Hall says, even his character has much in common with the rest of us, and it starts with his secrets.
"We all struggle with a sense of secretiveness, a sense that we are less than completely authentic about whom we present to the world," Hall says. "That's a big part of Dexter's appeal or relatability. It's obviously an extreme, but I don't think any of us is without a sense that there are things we withhold or stories we tell to get through the day."
If Dexter is "fantastical," as Hall calls him, then Don Draper of the meticulously detailed "Mad Men" seems mainstream, if equally nuanced. Draper needs an array of stories to get through his day, all varying on the situation. That makes for a warren of secrets, and for layers of acting and storytelling.
"Mad Men's" creator, Matthew Weiner, says that like many notable TV characters, the privacy of Draper's life, "is like the privacy of all our lives."
"The man has an extraordinary life, bigger than ours," Weiner explains. "But we always try to get back to him as a full-on human being. We hope people see some of themselves in that."
One key to both creating and portraying a man such as Draper, Weiner says, is to let viewers see the psychic cost of secrets. Yet it has to be done subtly.
Hamm uses short looks and brief, unsettled glimpses to show hints of the moods underneath, Weiner says. "Sometimes we see it just for a moment."
All these secrets, the producers say, demand a lot from actors, whether it's Hamm's momentary moods, the shades that cross Hall's face or the rapid blend of action, staunchness, then sudden emotion that "Lost" asks of its characters.
"When Ben was standing over the body of his daughter, that was a compelling moment for Michael and a challenge to play," Lindelof says. "He went through confusion, intense grief, then numbness, then vengeance all in a very short time."
What also comes through is that viewers are never sure if the characters they know so well are good guys or baddies.
"That's the fun of it," Hall says. "For every argument you can make that Dexter's evil, you can make the opposite argument that he's good. The last thing I want to do is clear up the muddle. I'm not letting anybody off the hook, including myself."