Post by bobdoc on Jan 29, 2010 9:14:40 GMT -4
From the Sioux City Journal at www.siouxcityjournal.com/entertainment/television/article_b38e9c15-5710-59e8-a63b-ba5123dc94d5.html
LOS ANGELES -- When Michael Emerson was brought in to do a guest spot on "Lost," he thought it was going to be a pleasant little gig.
"There were no expectations from them," he says. "Had I known I was entering a TV marriage of four years I would have wrecked it."
Now, the Iowa native admits, "Lost" is family.
"On a certain level, it's an easy job," the two-time Emmy winner says. "I don't have to invent character every day. I don't have to jump start a whole story like you do when you're doing a play."
But "Lost" isn't like other television assignments. Because its twists and turns are known only to writers and producers, Emerson and the others can't tailor their performances to foreshadow the story's end.
"Working on 'Lost' has upset most of my previous ideas about actor preparation," he says. "It's actually better, working on this show, to be in the dark, just groping around a bit. And it's nice not to be burdened with the secrets."
As Ben Linus, a mysterious member of the "Others," Emerson has seen moments of great drama and crackling storytelling. Since he and Terry O'Quinn (as the equally mysterious Locke) frequently square off, "I have lots of fond memories of breathless confrontations in small rooms....Those kinds of scenes are always so dark and scary. I love those. But the working moment that captures the whole of it best for me is when Ben and Sawyer (Josh Holloway's character) are standing on the cliff, looking out over the seas and trading quotes from Steinbeck...and I had a rabbit in a backpack. It was so absurd and beautiful."
Emerson is an expert in twisted characters. He won his first Emmy as a serial killer on "The Practice," then played Zep Hindle in the horror film "Saw." Linus has given him ample opportunity to mine all sorts of emotions. Last fall, his work on "Lost" brought a second Emmy.
Winning, he says, was both exciting and dizzying. "You have a lot of conflicted emotions. I had hoped for it the first time I was nominated and then I didn't get it. I told myself I should just stop wishing. As soon as I gave up hope, it came to me. I think a lot of things happen that way."
When O'Quinn won the same prize two years earlier, Emerson was even more pleased. "It seemed so wonderful and natural and deserved. I never felt so wholeheartedly that way."
Since both play villains, their shared scenes could be an explosion of actorly technique. But, Emerson says, the best approach is to "keep it simple...play in the middle and let the audience draw its own conclusions. It's a load of fun. The best kind of acting is to play mysteriously."
Ben and Locke are great foils for one another, he says. "They're constantly circling around each other's center of gravity. They're like black and white."
When the show's secrets are finally revealed, Emerson says, "I may change my opinion. But now, the relationship is still fun."
And the future? Life will change, the 55-year-old Cedar Rapids native and Drake University graduate says. "I'm sure 'Lost' will have changed me as an actor, but I won't be able to tell how until I go back to the stage, learn lines and rehearse."
"There were no expectations from them," he says. "Had I known I was entering a TV marriage of four years I would have wrecked it."
Now, the Iowa native admits, "Lost" is family.
"On a certain level, it's an easy job," the two-time Emmy winner says. "I don't have to invent character every day. I don't have to jump start a whole story like you do when you're doing a play."
But "Lost" isn't like other television assignments. Because its twists and turns are known only to writers and producers, Emerson and the others can't tailor their performances to foreshadow the story's end.
"Working on 'Lost' has upset most of my previous ideas about actor preparation," he says. "It's actually better, working on this show, to be in the dark, just groping around a bit. And it's nice not to be burdened with the secrets."
As Ben Linus, a mysterious member of the "Others," Emerson has seen moments of great drama and crackling storytelling. Since he and Terry O'Quinn (as the equally mysterious Locke) frequently square off, "I have lots of fond memories of breathless confrontations in small rooms....Those kinds of scenes are always so dark and scary. I love those. But the working moment that captures the whole of it best for me is when Ben and Sawyer (Josh Holloway's character) are standing on the cliff, looking out over the seas and trading quotes from Steinbeck...and I had a rabbit in a backpack. It was so absurd and beautiful."
Emerson is an expert in twisted characters. He won his first Emmy as a serial killer on "The Practice," then played Zep Hindle in the horror film "Saw." Linus has given him ample opportunity to mine all sorts of emotions. Last fall, his work on "Lost" brought a second Emmy.
Winning, he says, was both exciting and dizzying. "You have a lot of conflicted emotions. I had hoped for it the first time I was nominated and then I didn't get it. I told myself I should just stop wishing. As soon as I gave up hope, it came to me. I think a lot of things happen that way."
When O'Quinn won the same prize two years earlier, Emerson was even more pleased. "It seemed so wonderful and natural and deserved. I never felt so wholeheartedly that way."
Since both play villains, their shared scenes could be an explosion of actorly technique. But, Emerson says, the best approach is to "keep it simple...play in the middle and let the audience draw its own conclusions. It's a load of fun. The best kind of acting is to play mysteriously."
Ben and Locke are great foils for one another, he says. "They're constantly circling around each other's center of gravity. They're like black and white."
When the show's secrets are finally revealed, Emerson says, "I may change my opinion. But now, the relationship is still fun."
And the future? Life will change, the 55-year-old Cedar Rapids native and Drake University graduate says. "I'm sure 'Lost' will have changed me as an actor, but I won't be able to tell how until I go back to the stage, learn lines and rehearse."