By Adam Spunberg

While it might seem trivial to focus on the Best Supporting Actor, Drama Series award, I found myself particularly spirited when Michael Emerson won for LOST. Ask any person who watches LOST with some degree of regularity and he/she will tell you how effective Emerson is in playing the ignominiously repulsive genius, Ben Linus. Mention that name and you’ll see some variation of skins crawling, spines chilling, and facial contortions on par with Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

The tragic irony is that people know him as Ben Linus the character and not Michael Emerson the actor. In fact, he’s so typecast that even after he won the Emmy, people still stumble on his name (and it’s not exactly a difficult name to pronounce). Could it be that Emerson is so effective in tormenting his victims on LOST that he has become a victim of his own success, to the point of transcendental anonymity?

To date, Emerson’s most notable work outside of LOST was in Saw, where he played another somewhat murderous character. I hope Emerson’s new prize, coupled with the augmented exposure LOST should garner in its final season, will open doors for the elusively talented actor. He belongs on the big screen, perhaps accepting another award at an event called the Oscars.