 Michael Emerson won an Emmy for Ben! |
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By: jess815
25/09/2009
5:35 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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Since the Emmys don't hand out awards for Best Evil Dude Ever in the History of TV, Michael Emerson of "Lost" had to settle for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama on Sunday night's broadcast. That's a pretty nifty consolation prize.
And it's confirmation of what we "Lost" fans have known for years, ever since the 55-year-old actor first appeared during season two: Emerson's Benjamin Linus makes the show. Or, rather, he remakes it, season to season and often episode to episode. His schemes, manipulations and lies have become the show's plot engine, and each twist in his character arc — he's good, wait, he's bad, no, no, he's simply misunderstood — has forced us to recast our idea of where the show is headed and what it's been about the entire time.
In a less gifted actor's hand, these shifts would leave fans with a Linus who is schizophrenic goo, indistinct and unlovable. Emerson's portrayal leaves the impression that it's the audience that's been getting everything wrong. Snakelike, he peels away each layer to reveal a truer essence underneath. Who knows how many layers are left to go?
How the hell does he pull all this off? How do we love to hate him — and hate to love him — this much as he goes from helpless prisoner to control-crazy leader of the Others to freelance manipulator with a suspect agenda? He never blinks, which is just plain creepy. He never raises his voice. His line readings are variously chill-inducing or sardonically hilarious. But no amount of list-making can capture the fact that the guy is ridiculously good at what he does. |
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By: jess815
25/09/2009
5:36 pm Yahoo! Profile:
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Working in relative anonymity until landing the gig on "Lost," Emerson delivered a heartfelt Emmy speech from the point of view of an actor who clearly never thought he'd be up on a stage like this in front of his peers — though he was there once before, actually, when he won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama for his stint on "The Practice." "I feel like I'm living out a character actor's dream," he said. "One day I flew to Hawaii to do a guest spot and four years later it has become the role of my lifetime."
He then thanked his "steadfast and beautiful" wife, the actress Carrie Preston, who might deserve a little future Emmy love for her work as waitress Arlene on HBO's "True Blood." From her seat, Preston looked on with watery eyes and a sublimely proud smile.
Linus' character took another turn toward the end of last season, and we saw him as a man unbound, questioning the actions he's been taking and, for the first time ever, beginning to whine about it. Next year marks the beginning of the final episodes of "Lost," and while there are too many plot strands interwoven at this point to grasp, we can be sure of a few things: Emerson will be at the center of it all, we won't be sure if we should love him, or hate him and it would be a crime if he's not in the Emmy mix again come next September. |
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