Michael Emerson: I Will Work With Terry O'Quinn Again—If He Puts Me in His Emmy Speech!

Actor reveals his new project may be a comedy, and weighs in on chances to win as only nominee who nearly lost an eye!

Just one more reason to love television's most insanely talented villain/punching bag of all time: He isn't above having a little fun when it comes to his Emmy competition.

Michael Emerson is up against his good friend and Lost costar Terry O'Quinn for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, and just told me his plans for a new series with O'Quinn could unravel...

"There are a couple of ideas being batted around," Emerson told me earlier today. "I think some veteran writers are cooking things up and eventually if anyone cooks up something really good then somebody might get behind it and shoot it...If a project can be made out of two actors that really work well together and have a great track record and have high visibility, then it should work in our case."

Praise Jacob!

But there is one caveat. When asked if these plans might fall through if either Terry or Michael take home the Emmy and leave the other statueless, Michael deadpans: "I think it just depends on how graciously the winner thanks the other and dedicates all his success to that other castmate. That goes a long way to smoothing out any future business arrangements."

Emmy voters are casting their ballots this week, and this particular fan would like to remind the Academy that not only is Emerson one of the most heart-poundingly gripping TV actors of all time, he's also the only Emmy nominee who nearly lost an eye for his role. Top that!

As you may recall, Emerson suffered a real black eye while shooting Lost's final season—specifically a scene in which Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) punches him in the face in a parking lot before mowing down John Locke (O'Quinn) with his car. Cusick accidentally made real contact, and that real punch was the cut they used for the episode.

"When it happened, it was 9/10 surprise and 1/10 intense pain," Michael tells me. "Then I put my head down on the hood on the car and gently felt to make sure my eyeball hadn't popped out." Still, Michael laughs about the idea he'd be given extra Emmy consideration for his shiner. "I didn't even think about that! Sympathy for wounds in the name of action. They've given out awards for putting on weight or losing weight. And this…It was shocking."

That said, he is hoping the "sentimentalism" over Lost might give the show an edge in its final year at the Emmys. "I was especially pleased that the show was recognized in so many categories. I think people are feeling a little separation anxiety."

As for that show with Terry, Michael says they're hoping for something lighter than their most recent roles. Maybe even a...comedy.

"This is why we were willing to team up," Michael tells me. "Both of us were interested in a change of pace, a change of scene. And both of us wanted to do something more light-hearted. I don't know if that means the new Odd Couple or anything like that, but we're both interested in emerging from the darkness and having a little more fun and a little more twinkle in our eye."

And thankfully, he still has two.