| Michael Emerson | |
|---|---|
Michael Emerson, January 2007 |
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| Born | September 7, 1954 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse | Carrie Preston (1998–present) |
Michael Emerson (born September 7, 1954)[1] is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.
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Emerson was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and grew up in the nearby town of Toledo, where he attended South Tama County High School. In 1976, after graduating from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he studied theater and art,[2] he moved to New York City. Unable to find acting work, he took retail jobs and worked as a freelance illustrator.[3] In 1986, he moved with his first wife to Jacksonville, Florida. There, from 1986 to 1993, he appeared in local productions at Theater Jacksonville and The Players by the Sea and worked as a director and teacher at Flagler College.
Emerson considered forgoing a career in acting in favor of a more stable vocation in teaching. He decided to instead further his studies with a Master of Fine Arts that might also introduce him to theatre professionals and directors in his chosen trade. In 1993, he enrolled in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's University of Alabama-sponsored Master of Fine Arts/Professional Actor Training program; and, upon graduating in 1995, he returned to New York where he appeared in the annual Alabama Shakespeare Festival showcase.
Emerson got a starring role in 1997 as Oscar Wilde in Moises Kaufman's critically acclaimed off-Broadway play, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and then followed up with several other notable stage performances. In 1998, he performed opposite Uma Thurman in the off-Broadway production of Le Misanthrope. In 1999, he played the part of Willie Oban in The Iceman Cometh with Kevin Spacey. He co-starred with Kate Burton in both Give Me Your Answer, Do! and Hedda Gabler.
In 2001, Emerson won an Emmy Award as "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series", for playing the (fictional) confessed serial killer William Hinks in several episodes of The Practice.
In 2006, Emerson began a guest-star role as Benjamin Linus on the serial drama television series Lost. This casting was a result of his work on The Practice because the Lost producers liked his work there and thought he was a good fit for the character they were developing.[4] Emerson was originally set to appear in a small number of episodes, then returned for Season 3 as a main cast member and eventually became a main antagonist of the program. He received an Emmy nomination in the "Outstanding Supporting Actor" category in 2007 for his work in the third season and was nominated again in 2008 for his role in the fourth season. He won the award in 2009 after being nominated for his role in the fifth season. Emerson was nominated in 2009 for a Golden Globe in the "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role" category. He was nominated for an Emmy for each season in which he was listed in the main cast.
Emerson met actress Carrie Preston (graduate of the prestigious drama programs from The University of Evansville and Juilliard), while he was performing in a stage production of Hamlet in Alabama.[3] They married in September 1998, and both Emerson and his wife starred in Straight-Jacket (2004). On Lost, Preston portrayed Emily Linus, Emerson's character's mother, in the flashback sequences of the episode "The Man Behind the Curtain".[4] The two teamed up again, with Emerson portraying Preston's gay next-door neighbor, in the film Ready? OK! (2008). According to a recent interview, Emerson is also interested in making a guest appearance with Preston on the TV series True Blood, where she plays waitress Arlene.[5]
On July 31, 2010, Emerson and Preston read A. R. Gurney's Love Letters, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, at the Charleston Stage. They performed it as a fundraiser for the Stage, a South Carolina theatre. The reading was followed by a brief and intimate Question and Answer session.[6]
Emerson was set to reunite with former Lost cast member and friend, Terry O'Quinn, in a comedy-drama tentatively titled Odd Jobs, by J.J Abrams. It was expected to start filming by the end of 2010, but further development of the show has been postponed. Emerson has since joined the cast of another Abrams series, Person of Interest that debuted in September 2011 CBS. He plays a billionaire who teams up with a supposedly dead CIA agent to fight crime in New York City.[7]
He is a long-time supporter of the charities connected to the theatre community, including the Actors Fund, Broadway Cares, Gay Men's Health Crisis, and Off-Off Broadway, in addition to publicly supported radio stations and Habitat.[1][8]
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | The Journey | Michael | |
| 1998 | The Impostors | Burtom's Assistant | |
| Playing by Heart | Bosco | ||
| 1999 | For Love of the Game | Gallery Doorman | |
| 2002 | The Laramie Project | Reverend | |
| Unfaithful | Josh | ||
| 2004 | Saw | Zep Hindle | |
| Straight-Jacket | Victor | ||
| 2005 | 29th and Gay | Gorilla | |
| The Legend of Zorro | Harrigan | ||
| 2006 | Jumping Off Bridges | Frank Nelson | |
| 2008 | Ready? OK! | Charlie New | |
| 2010 | Goldstar, Ohio | Steve Harper | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Orpheus Descending | Clown | TV movie |
| 1998 | Grace & Glorie | Arnold Dudley | TV movie |
| 2000 | The District | Man in Bar | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2000–2001 | The Practice | William Hinks | 6 episodes |
| 2001 | The Education of Max Bickford | Unknown role | Episode: "Herding Carts" |
| Sounds from a Town I Love | Unknown role | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Gerry Rankin | Episode: "Phantom" |
| The X-Files | Oliver Martin | Episode: "Sunshine Days" | |
| 2003 | Without a Trace | Stuart Wesmar | Episode: "Victory for Humanity" |
| Skin | Scarpelli | Episode: "Secrets & Lies" | |
| Whoopi | F. Thomas Erickson | Episode: "The Fat and the Frivolous" | |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Allan Shaye | Episode: "Ritual" |
| 2005 | The Inside | Marty Manning | Episode: "Pre-Filer" |
| 2006–2010 | Lost | Ben Linus | Recurring character (season 2); Series regular (seasons 3-6) |
| 2010 | Front Line | John Winthrop | Episode: "God In America" |
| 2011- | Odd Jobs | TBA | |
| 2011- | Person of Interest | Mr. Finch | Series regular |
| G.I. Joe: Renegades | Doctor Venom | Episode: "The Anaconda Strain" | |
| Generator Rex | Alpha Nanite | Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United | |
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