Post by Edith S. Baker on Nov 15, 2011 13:53:44 GMT -4
by Andrew Ryan
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 5:00PM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 6:03PM EDT
There's always something beneath the surface with Michael Emerson. The former Lost star currently holds forth on the new series Person of Interest, where he plays Mr. Finch, an enigmatic billionaire who has developed a computer program capable of predicting violent crimes. He spoke to us from Los Angeles.
Not really. I've jumped from my second favourite island to my favourite one, because Manhattan is where I've lived for many years. Being able to go to work in the town where I live and then go home and sleep in my own bed is really appealing. And you know, we shoot all over the five boroughs and we end up in graveyards and parks and buildings I didn't even know existed. It's been like an obscure tour of unknown New York.
How did you research the computer genius Finch?
I came up with a set of character traits or personality details. You know, actor stuff. I looked at the speeches by great computer geniuses on YouTube, but I wasn't finding much that I could use, given the highly dramatic and active circumstances of the show. Frankly, once you get going, the scenes tell you how they are to be played. That's the way it is for me.
How much of you is in the character?
If you left out the scientific genius part and the [disabled] part and the mystery part, there's some little bit of me in there. I do like to dress up and Finch is a smart dresser. You'll see as it goes along. And I think of myself as a precise person and I think he is too; and he's verbal, he's certainly that.
So far Finch seems to have a mysterious agenda for helping people. Will we ever learn more?
Just as I was on Lost, I'm not sure where things are going. I'm just winging it, which I'm always happy to do, and I assume that the writers and producers in their own sweet time will let us see where all of this started. I can go along day by day and make my own speculations about how we came to be in these circumstances. It makes me anxious to read these new scripts, I'll tell you that.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
SOURCE: Globe and Mail