Can you tell us more about your
new show Evil?
It’s a story about a clash
between belief and scepticism.
There’s a team of three people
who work for the catholic church
who investigate what appear
to be supernatural events,
including demonic possession,
exorcism and clairvoyance. The
leader of the team is a priest
in training, but he works with
a forensic psychologist and a
technician who’s an expert at
debunking false events. So they
get involved in these cases but
the answers are never as easy
or as cut-and-dry as they expect
them to be. A lot of questions get
raised but they don’t necessarily
get answers.
I would say there’s a horror
dimension to it which you would
have unlikely previously seen
on the CBS network, so it’s fun
in that way and it’s really scary.
A lot of people tell me they can’t
watch it before they go to bed!
Where does your character fit in
with the show?
I play what appears to be their
permanent adversary – a man
that the priest has been at war
with for years and he seems to
be the master of a dark net web
of demons or would-be demons.
He has a kind of frightening
power. He likes to set traps
for humans. He likes to goad
humans into certain behaviours
to see how it works out.
Did you read up on any real-life
occult events before taking on
the role?
No, the writers – Robert and
Michelle King – feel that
everybody knows enough
about this world of ghosts and
demons and possession, just
from reading the papers and
watching other media. I’ve never
really been one for research of
a subject matter. I kind of tend
to take a script at face value
but play it in a way that kinda
sounds like I do.
INTERVIEW
Michael Emerson036 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
Michael Emerson
We speak to genre legend Michael Emerson about fighting the Green Arrow, finding the iconic laugh for
the Joker and always being the bad guy WORDS RACHAEL HARPER
Can you tell us about your
process when developing a
character like this?
I try to imagine a character’s
voice and I try to think of the
elements of character that are
outside the realm of good and
evil. I initially try to think
‘what is their work? How do
they see their work? To what
extent do they enjoy their work?
And why might they enjoy
it?’ And then I try to find the
lightest notes possible – are
they sarcastic? Are they ever
funny? Or is there an element
of drollery?’ And I have cobbled
together a character for this man
in Evil who is, so far, the arch-
villain of the series. He always
seems to be involved in the
really bad stuff.What do you mean by the ‘notes’
of the character?
Well, in every role I like to say a
line until it sounds right to me
and it sounds right in every way
for the moment, for the project.
People can take character work
for granted. Character work is
kind of intuitive for me now so
I have other ways of judging or
other goals for the performance,
and sometimes they’re a little
abstract, it’s like my private
thing but if it works it works!How do you go about choosing
a role?
I go by the writing. For Evil,
the Kings’ pilot script was
stunning – not just for clarity,
I mean not just the twists and
turns of it, but the surprising
language; they’re real people
talking, they’re having real
arguments and they’re smart
about not saying certain things
so there’s mystery built in to
the show. I like all of that. But
there are factual considerations
too – I knew that Evil was going
to shoot in New York City, for
example, so I wouldn’t have to
relocate and I had wanted to
work with Robert and Michelle
for a long time. My wife hasworked a lot with the Kings over
the years and she really liked
them. I thought I’m not going
to see a better pilot script this
season so let’s just jump on it.You’ve played a lot of bad guys,
why do you think you choose
those types of characters? Is
it because of the complexities
that playing a character like
that affords?
The complexities yes. I mean,
I’m not choosing the ‘bad’ I’m
choosing the ‘interesting’. The
characters with layers. There’s
something inexplicable about
them. Those are the things I
gravitate to and I have to say
that in the culture of American
television the villains are
usually the better talkers. They
tend to be a little more verbal.
Good guys are usually quiet
and steady but the villain can
be colourful and flamboyant. I
guess I gravitate toward it!Another famous role you’ve had
is as Ben in Lost – what did you
know about the show when you
joined? Did you have any idea on
how big it was going to be?
No, I had no idea! I was actually
hired to do a guest spot which
was supposed to be a three-
episode arc, so I went in not
expecting it to change my life.
I went along just to have a
paying job and to get away from
the New York winter for a few
weeks! And it worked out!Did you know the way that Ben’s
character would progress from
the outset?
I had no idea where the
character was going or what
the writers’ intentions were.
Actually that probably served
me well – if they’d have said
‘look you have to play it kinda
cool’ at the beginning cause
we’re gonna blow this thing up
into something wild, I might
have jumped the gun. But as it
was, my ignorance was my bliss
because I played it straight andover the course of many episodes
and many seasons I realised that
it was the best policy anyway.
I’m not one to call the writers
and say ‘where is this going?
What do we mean when we say
that?’ I just tried the lines until
they sounded intelligent to me!
If that turns out to be a little
inexplicable to the audience then
so much the better! That way I
think you create intrigue.How did it move on from a guest
spot to a regular role?
It was in small increments. I
think that they were happy with
my work. I think, perhaps, that
the three-episode arc was a kind
of audition. It was a way for
them to test the idea of putting
a face and a name to the
darkness of the island. And I
think I passed that test!Lost ended up going for six
seasons and Ben went though a
huge story arc, what was it like
being in a show and being with a
character for such a long time?
It was a wonderful way in which
the creators of Lost turned the
audience’s feelings in a new
direction – Ben went from being
someone that the audience
hated to someone the audience
felt a kinship with. With the
writing on a thing like Lost, you
just hold on and hope that you
can stay up with the idea and
with the drama and depth of
the scenes. I was fortunate that
the show had such a large cast
because sometimes a villain
can be overexposed but with
Lost, episodes would go by in
which you wouldn’t see Ben.
It was more like you felt he
was out there doing things and
you would have to wait to see
what they were. So that was
good, otherwise he could have
overstayed his welcome! After a
while we realised how damaged
Ben really is – bad childhoods
make for bad adults! For such a
criminal mastermind he could
also be a bit of a bumbler.