Ben Linus

Ben Linus

MICHAEL EMERSON

ON THE ISLAND:
- Leader of the Others
- Grew up in the Dharma barracks
- As a child, was shot by a time-traveling Sayid
- Young Ben's life was saved when Richard Alpert agreed to take him into the island temple

view all photos of Ben »

Ben SAYS

Previous Quote

So, tell me, John. How do you expect to pilot our submarine? I mean, it's a complicated piece of machinery. You don't just press 'submerge.'

Next Quote
  • Jack Shephard
    about Ben:

    "I want him to experience the moment that we get off the island, and I want to know that he failed. And then I'll kill him."

  • Hugo Reyes
    to Ben:

    "No way, dude. Sayid warned me about you."

  • John Locke
    to Ben:

    "You are the man behind the curtain... the Wizard of Oz. And a liar."

CHARACTER BIO

OFF THE ISLAND: Working with Sayid, Ben has Widmore's key people assassinated. He then convinces Jack to reunite the Oceanic 6.

RETURN TO THE ISLAND: A crash survivor of Ajira Airways Flight 316 in the present time. During his return, he is judged by the smoke monster. When he finally meets Jacob, Ben feels his longtime devotion to him has been forsaken and he murders Jacob.

ACTOR BIO

We were completely creeped out by him in Saw and on shows like The X-Files, and now this Emmy-winning actor keeps us guessing each week on ABC's Lost.

After graduating from Drake University with a major in Theater and a minor in Art, Michael Emerson moved to New York, forgot about acting and landed a job in magazine illustration. He later followed a romance to Florida, where he began acting again and supported himself with a variety of occupations, including directing and teaching. He acted professionally in the south for many years before entering the MFA Program at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (University of Alabama). After graduating, he once again moved to New York as a struggling actor and found a break in Moises Kaufman's Off-Broadway production of Gross Indecency.

On Broadway, Emerson appeared in Hedda Gabler and The Iceman Cometh. His television credits include guest-starring roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, The X-Files and The Inside, among many others. For his performance as William Hinks on The Practice, he was awarded the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Dramatic Series. In 2007, he was nominated for an Emmy for his role on Lost.

On the big screen he appeared in such films as Saw, The Legend of Zorro, Playing by Heart, The Imposters, Jumping Off Bridges and Straight-Jacket.

Emerson is keen on Shakespeare and the classical theater, drawing and ghost stories. He supports off-off-Broadway theater and theater-community charities (BC/EFA and GMHC), as well as publicly-supported radio stations.

Emerson is married to actress Carrie Preston, who currently stars on HBO's True Blood.

WHAT'S BEN UP TO?

  1. 1. The night he met Claire A beautiful relationship begins
  2. 2. Woman calls him a hero Charlie stops a mugger
  3. 3. Liam gives him D.S. ring A family heirloom
  4. 4. Dad teaching him to swim Charlie at summer camp
  5. 5. Hearing himself on radio "You All Everybody" plays

Set Mobile Reminder

Get LOST text alerts sent to your phone or PDA*. You'll be among the first to get new episode details and information about special promotions!

- -
*Standard text message charges apply.

Signing up for texts

Error with text alert sign up

Please try again later.

Signing up for texts

Loading

Set Mobile Reminder

Thanks for signing up!

*Standard text message charges apply.