Michael Emerson Interview

Lost Finale Still a Mystery to Michael Emerson

Fans are waiting with bated breath to see how Lost will end May 23. Michael Emerson, who plays sinister Island dweller Ben Linus, included.

“I have no idea how it is going to end because we aren’t finished shooting the season yet. I would have thought by this point I would have an inkling, but I don’t have even that,” he told TV Guide Magazine at the premiere for HBO’s upcoming World War II miniseries The Pacific Feb. 2 in Hollywood. “When I go back to Hawaii next week, there are still three more episodes to shoot. Those scripts are unknown. In fact, they haven’t been handed out to the cast because they have not be written and finalized.”

In case there’s still time to make revisions, Emerson hopes the finale “is dramatic and moving. It would be nice if it was also a little bit mind-blowing and contained the a-ha quality. I want fans of the show, myself included, to say, ‘Oh my God. That’s what it was all this time.’”

He didn’t offer much more direction than that although he did say he trusts the show’s writers and producers to come up with something fantastic. He also believes that fans will be satisfied with the series’ conclusion. “We are in good hands with our writers. I think they will give people answers and a wrap-up. I think most people will be happy. There will be some unanswered or open-ended questions at the end still, but I don’t think that will keep it from being satisfying.”

Might they be questions to ponder in a big-screen adaptation a la Sex & The City? “I can guarantee you that you will never see this entire cast all together in one project at the same time ever again,” he continued. “But someone could write a movie and you might get two or three of our actors to do it again but probably not many. I think most people want to go out on top and quit while we’re ahead.”

He does not have his next project picked out yet although he is already prepared to be pigeonholed. “Every time you play a character well, people try to pigeonhole you. It will be up to me to search out a next great gig and hopefully I’ll have the strength not to just take the next sinister part. Of course, that’s mainly what they’re going to offer me. I have to remain steadfast and find a new path. One of the ways I can accomplish that may be to go to another medium for a while. I may try to do some plays in New York and let this all settle. This has been one of the best experiences of my life and I want to honor that.”

Or he may leave the business all together. “I’m not in a rush to really to jump into the next job. My wife [show [True Blood’s Carrie Preston] is on a pretty popular show I may sit back and let her pay the mortgage for awhile,” he joked. “I may quit acting all together and become her personal assistant. In some ways, that job would suit me better. I hold a mean purse.”


source: TvGuide