The final season: Emerson relishes ‘role of a lifetime’ on ‘Lost’

 By Diana Nollen

As William Hinks he grabbed Emmy's attention. As Ben Linus he has grabbed the world's attention - and another Emmy.

And now actor and Eastern Iowa native Michael Emerson, 55, is in the middle of his last wild ride on ABC-TV's “Lost.”

The hit serial with sci-fi elements is filming its sixth and final season on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

The locations aren't kept under wraps.

“There's too many of them to be a secret,” Emerson says by phone from Honolulu, where he lives from August to April, when the show is shooting. “Lots of people fly here now to take tours of ‘Lost' locations. People do find us. It's easy to see where we're filming, with a hundred trucks and tall lights.

“When people find out, they put it online and the fans show up. The assistant director keeps people from getting in front of the camera. When we have a break, we go over and talk to them. It's very relaxed - there's not that many people.”

The wide-eyed, icy, piercing stare that helped gain the actor notoriety as serial killer Hinks on “The Practice” also is a hallmark of his enigmatic character of Ben Linus on “Lost.”

He's recognized everywhere he goes because of Ben.

“I'm recognized least in Honolulu,” he says. “People who are visiting in New York and Los Angeles are on the lookout for celebrities. No one in Honolulu is on the lookout for celebrities.”

Reactions of the fans “run the full gamut” when they recognize him.

“People are usually excited about the show,” he says. “Sometimes they're nervous because they have such a strong mental impression of my character, so their reactions include to tremble a bit or be nervous or be very formal with me. It's kind of sweet really.

“As intense as the show's popularity sometimes is in North America, it's far more in Europe. ‘Lost' is moderately popular in North America, but it's a staggeringly popular show in some countries in Europe.” He attributes that to two reasons: “because it's both an American show that has strong international appeal and because the themes of the shows cross all borders. It has a strong appeal to young adults.”

Emerson, who is married to actress Carrie Preston, was born in Cedar Rapids, grew up in Toledo and graduated from Drake University in 1976. He and Preston are based in Manhattan, and his parents, Ron and Carol Emerson, live in Grinnell.

Linus is a hard character to describe, Emerson says.

“Ben is a mysterious power broker on the island who's engaged in some great cosmic contest,” he says. “Then there's all that stuff about him being manipulative and ambiguous. Ben continues to be same person. There's no arc - there's a dot and Ben is still on the dot he's always been on. His circumstances have changed - he's battered and beaten and is no longer in charge of anything. He's softer and more likable.

“The wheels are still turning. He's still working on the grand plan, I don't even know what it is. I hope I find out, but I might not.”

The way the final season is playing out is “dramatically satisfying,” he says, but he predicts it will have “loads of loose ends people can talk about and puzzle over for the rest of their lives.”

Scripts come about 24 hours before shooting, and Emerson was preparing for Episode 13 earlier this week. Production days are long, lasting 12 to 14 hours, although he may only work a couple days in any given episode. He expects production to wrap in mid-April.

“As far as the ending goes, no one knows. We're still working on how we get to that ending. I certainly can't see it where I stand right now. I thought it would be clear to me where we were heading, but it's completely obscure to me. I thought the show would begin to contract, but it's still expanding.”

And as for the rumors he might be fitted for fangs to join his wife on “True Blood,” he just laughs.

“It's a joke out there in the realm of the Internet,” he says. “But who knows? I admire Alan Ball. I could do a lot worse than play any kind of role with him.”

FAST TAKEMichael Emerson online: http://michaelemerson.net

What: “Lost” final season premiere

When: 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2  

Where: ABC-TV; locally on KCRG-TV9

Information: http://abc.go.com/watch/lost/93372