SciFiNow - 03.2020

MICHAEL EMERSON

Interview

W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^037

You also played Cayden James in
Arrow, can you tell us more about
this role?
So, with Arrow, every year they
have a ‘big bad’ of the season
and I was the big bad for the
first part of Season Six. But
then they pulled the rug out
from under the audience
because it turned out there
was a bigger bad right
around the corner. But it
was fun!

What was it like being the
big bad on an established
show like that?
Well it’s strange because
nobody’s wearing regular
clothes. You’re walking
around with, you know,
comic book characters!
And they give you better
weapons, I mean I had these
glowing metallic spears that
I could throw that would
knock the Green Arrow
across an entire warehouse!
You also get to do that
green screen stuff where
you pretend like you have a
glowing spear in your hand
and then you throw it and
they do it with all the CGI
in the end but it’s fun to
watch once it’s all finished!
Stephen Amell was such a
cool guy, and he was very
hospitable to me.

Another very famous role of
yours was as Zep in Saw,
how did you come on board
with that film?
When I saw the script I
thought it had one the
greatest endings I had ever
read. I didn’t expect that at
all! I didn’t expect the movie
to be big either because it
had a really low budget and
an inexperienced production
team. It was really a rough
shoot. I mean physically
there was a lot of combat
and there were a lot of guns
that were way too big with
blanks that were way too
powerful or loud. I was just glad
to escape that film without being
hospitalised! It definitely worked
out though. That movie became
a monster franchise!

Did you know how gory it
would be?

Everything about that movie

got wilder and wilder as it went

along – the violence, the blood,

the gunfire... I’m sure they had

to cut some stuff out because

some of it was just completely

over the top!

You also played the Joker in

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

How familiar were you with the

story before you took on the role?

You cannot grow up in America

without knowing about Batman.

I never dreamt I would be asked

to do work like that though;

it’s a bit daunting when you’re

stepping into a character which

has had so many brilliant

iterations. I couldn’t help

but think I’d be compared

unfavourably to everyone who

played the Joker. But then you

just go to work and think about

how a character like that speaks

and the tone of their voice. What

kind of laugh would come out

of the character’s mouth... and

you just practice it at home and

annoy your neighbours and then

you go into the booth and do it!

It seemed to work out pretty well

but it was hard work I must say.

In what way was it hard work?

Well, the director had done all

of those animated features and

she was very strict and knew

exactly what she wanted. It

would reach a point where you

would feel you had screamed

yourself out or laughed yourself

out but she would say ‘let’s go at

it again and give it a little more’

and you’d say ‘okay! Be careful

what you wish for!’ She ended

up getting terrific results.

How did you get that voice and

that laugh for the Joker?

I thought he would be tonally

sarcastic and that he’d have

what we in the theatre would

call ‘the silver voice’ rather

than a ‘golden voice’ – an edgy,

crackly quality to his voice – and

that it’d be a little bit high in the

larynx. And as for the laugh,

well you think ‘what would a

laugh sound like in that voice?’

and after some experimentation

you’re good to go!

Is there a different preparation

when it comes to voice acting?

It’s not fundamentally different,

but with voice acting everything

has to be vocal, your face and

your hands aren’t of any use –

although you do end up doing

a lot of hopping around in the

booth! But you have to portray

everything just using your voice.

You’ve been involved in many

genre films and TV shows – have

you noticed any differences

between audiences?

All the fan bases are different.

For example I noticed that my

Person Of Interest fans were

the parents of my Lost fans! So

sometimes it’s generational.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a videogame

called Crucible where I play a

little flying robot, which is fun

• it’s a family game, very sweet.
  I’m also looking forward to the
  second season of Evil, which we
  will start filming in the summer,
  and whatever else comes up
  between now and then!

Season One of Evil is available to

stream now CBS.