LOST Interview!

"If the finale of season three of "Lost" seemed bleak for Michael Emerson's character, Ben Linus, who was left tied to a tree by the survivors of the wreckage of Flight 815 as they phoned an off-shore freighter for rescue, the actor said that season four will be worse.How does Emerson define worse? More violence and fewer allies for his character, as the mysterious "freighter people" land on the island, a group that Ben, in season three, warned the survivors "will kill everyone on the island."

"I'd say season four will be far rougher than anything (Ben) has seen," Emerson said in a phone interview about the ABC-TV hit series about survivors of a plane crash and the mysterious supernatural island they are stuck on.Emerson, as Linus, the apparent leader of the mysterious Others, ended last season on the brink of losing control of that group, after a failed raid on the survivors' beach results in an ambush, which left the raiding party dead. Flight 815 survivor John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) challenges Ben's authority by demanding an audience with Ben's boss, the even more mysterious Jacob.

In true Ben fashion, Emerson's character shoots Locke, leaving him in a ditch filled with the bodies of the failed Dharma Initiative, the research group that Ben orchestrated the deaths of, in conjunction with the island's inhabitants. Even Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) has defected and is aiding the 815 survivors."The violence doesn't stop; it ramps up," Emerson said. "Ben is in dire straights. His army has disappeared; he doesn't have the loyalty of Juliet. It will be Ben living by his wits."Season four will include Ben making some sort of pact with one of the splinter groups of the 815 survivors."He never really teams up in the conventional sense. He will, for convenience or leverage, do whatever he needs to do to further his agenda," Emerson said. "And because he is the great chess player, he's always eight to 10 moves ahead of everyone else."

Emerson is sure of one thing — Ben Linus will be part of the "Lost" story through season five."He's so deeply interwoven, I'm sure he's good until the end of the season. I'm gonna guess he's good to the end of the fifth season," Emerson said. "I should say this guardedly; they kill people off left and right."More looks aheadThe new season also will see more use of the "flash forward," introduced at the end of season three to tell more of the story, he said."All that stuff that happens in the future becomes very poignant as season four goes along. We live in that world a lot more," he said. "Think of the possibilities that open up. We explore the expance of who does survive the island, and how and at what cost — those sorts of issues."

"Lost" fans also will learn more about the story of Alex (Tania Raymonde), daughter of the French explorer Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), whose ship was wrecked on the mysterious island and gave birth to Alex, only to have the infant snatched by the Others days later.The now-teenaged Alex calls Ben "dad," but Emerson isn't giving away whether Ben is her biological or step father."His relationship with Alex will be explored in much more detail and nuance in season four," he said.Is he her biological father?"That's a mystery," Emerson said.

Another mystery yet to be revealed to both Emerson and the audience is Jacob, the man who Ben tells Locke he answers to."I'm not sure who or what Jacob is. In two or three frames (in "The Man Behind the Curtain"), we did see somebody sitting in that chair," Emerson said. "On the (season three DVD) boxed set, I understand the scene is easier to see."Another mystery he spoke about is who was in the coffin in the season finale during a "flash forward.""I don't know (who it is). I think there is a more intriguing answer and a sadder answer than Ben," he said.The actors also seem to know as little about future "Lost" episodes as viewers do."We'll get a script anywhere from three to seven days before we shoot the episode, and we don't know anything beyond that," Emerson said. "I don't know what's in the next episode or two beyond that."

From guest to regular, the role of the devious Ben started for Emerson two years ago this month, as a guest star. The role originally was a three-episode cameo as Henry Gale, an industrialist on a round-the-world balloon trip who crashed on the island and was captured by Rousseau and the Flight 815 survivors as a suspected "Other.""I flew to Hawaii for first time two years ago . . . the following morning I was hanging from a tree in the jungle," Emerson said. "It was a whirlwind, going from the dead of winter in New York City to the steaming jungle of Oahu in 24 hours."The role of Henry Gale/Ben Linus was offered to him on the strength of past TV work. Such offers are not common, he said."I wish I knew how I landed it. I played a variety of other damaged characters on lawyer and cop shows," Emerson said. "At the time it was three ("Lost') episodes. It seemed like a good one; it was an (story) arc. I had no idea it would turn into the rest of my career."But it is a role which blossomed from the meek, seemingly victimized Henry Gale into the more sinister, calculating Ben.Emerson said he has a simple approach to playing Ben."

Ben is sort of in-the-present moment at all times. In a way, it's freeing," he said. "I don't have to worry about big story arcs or where it is going. I just have to worry about the story at hand."Not like BenThose are modest words from a man who is a Shakespearean actor, has several Emmy nominations and has had parts on shows ranging from "The Practice" to the "X-Files," "Without a Trace" and "Law and Order" on the small screen, to a role in the horror film "Saw."

But Emerson insists that off camera, he's not like Ben. He's playing a part on an upcoming movie "Really? OK," which he calls a bittersweet comedy about a 10-year-old boy who wants to be a cheerleader. Emerson is the sympathetic neighbor next door, a role he thanks his wife, Carrie Preston, for."It's one my wife and partner produced over the summer, a sweet, quiet movie," he said. "I don't have a big part. This role couldn't be much more different than Ben."In turn, Preston played the mother of young Ben Linus in "The Man Behind the Curtain" episode of "Lost.""It's a Freudian nightmare.

That was my dear wife lying in the jungle giving birth to little Ben," Emerson joked.In real life, Emerson said there aren't a lot of characteristics he shares with Ben."I'm not a great planner and not a manipulator of people, which are all trademarks of Ben. I tend to be a cool person, a reasonable listener and not over emotional," he said."Something about Ben is satisfying for me to play. I get to live out a kind of fantasy.""

Source: APP