Evil star Michael Emerson teases what to expect from the final episodes

With only a few episodes remaining of the hit horror series Evil, things are beginning to amp up towards what I'm sure will be a climactic series finale. Ahead of the new episodes, 1428 Elm had the chance to chat with series star Michael Emerson, who has played the villainous Leland Townsend throughout the show's entire run.

We spoke with the actor about what fans can expect from Leland specifically, since when we last saw him (SPOILER!) Sheryl had orchestrated his arrest before she died and Timothy had been taken from his care and delivered to Kristen. He also told us whether he thinks the show has a satisfying conclusion and more!

1428 ELM: What can tease about Leland's arc in the final four episodes?

MICHAEL EMERSON: Well, Leland is consistent, if nothing else. He always sort of manages to wriggle his way out of a bind. He seems like he's in a pretty deep one but then, you know, he works his connections and seems like he's going to recover his position and his power. Yet something kind of comes out of the blue and puts him in a spot where he will be—at least for a while—unable to affect the affairs around him.

1428 ELM: What did you think when you saw that scene with him and the manager in the script?

MICHAEL EMERSON: Oh, I thought, wow, this is shocking. But then I thought what recourse has he really? Because he's doomed by the terms of the job he was supposed to do, or the thing he was supposed to achieve. So there's nothing to do, and it's, it's bold of him. Every once in a while, because mostly I don't think of him as very courageous or anything like that, but it was very bold of him to take on the manager. And then logical of him to take it to its end. You can't just hurt the manager, or mock him, or try to drop him down. He must be killed. That's the only way the demons in the room do not swarm him because they respond to swift violence. They're as thrilled by it as Leland is. That's their currency. He played with that currency about right.

1428 ELM: Your character works with the goat manager and many other demonic creatures As an actor, what is your experience like playing in that world and seeing these monster effects in person?

MICHAEL EMERSON: Well, it's, it's always shocking at first. I mean, the first time I walked on the set, and I was with the goat-headed psychiatrist, who is eight feet tall or more, in a small room. I thought, "This is so wild." But then you realize that it teaches you the best way to play it is that you're unimpressed by any of it. These are, you know, the guys at the next desk that are a pain in the ass, and you're tired of them, you're tired of their jokes, and they're trying to lord their demonness over you and stuff like that. It becomes funny how you can be totally cool as a cucumber in the presence of a glaring monstrosity. And then, of course, that's a comment on how we can grow numb to madness and monstrosity in real life. So, it's rich.

1428 ELM: I spoke with Christine [Lahti, who plays Sheryl] too, about the Leland and Sheryl dynamic and everything coming to a head in their relationship, culminating with Sheryl's death. What was your initial reaction to learning she was going to die? Were you surprised or did you see things going that way?

MICHAEL EMERSON: I was surprised when, Christine came to me one day and said, "I have to talk to you. I've just seen the next script, and they're writing me out of the show." I was floored. I mean she's been my main scene partner for a number of seasons and we get on really well. It's fun working with her. I thought, well, then, that means we're nearing the end of things, right? I think it's kind of all right to perish. If you perish in a great way near the end of a great show, then you're talked about, and as we saw in her playing of her last few episodes, she totally ruled in the last few. I mean, that, that scene where she's in the confessional.

1428 ELM: Yeah, I loved that scene, we chatted about that.

MICHAEL EMERSON: She owned it. That is for the ages, that scene. She covered the bases. She just killed it. So I thought, look, you know, maybe, maybe the best thing is to hope for a good death on TV. That has a great build up to it.

1428 ELM: You got to play something quite different in the "finale" with the flashback to a younger Leland. It was so much fun to watch, it's great to see how Evil mixes the humor and horror so well. That must be fun to play as an actor.

MICHAEL EMERSON: I love being the bully and braggart that Leland tries to project to the world and then also be the whining, whimpering little weenie that he is when, whenever his plans don't go well, which is most of the time.

1428 ELM: I know that the show is ending after the next four episodes. Do you think that the ending is gonna be satisfying for long-time fans of the show?

MICHAEL EMERSON: Well, I, mean, people that truly love the show, they will be unhappy that no more stuff is coming. I think there will be a sense of closure, something satisfying that isn't too airtight or isn't, maybe, permanent, or too tightly knotted. It feels like they leave open the idea that some ongoing version of this material is not out of the question somewhere in the future.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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