Q: You're such a nice guy, how do you prepare for creepy guy?

Michael: "I don't make any effort to play the result of the character, I just try to play the text and the situations as best I can and to be cool about it."

Q: Do you think any of the fans have figured out the real secret of Lost?

Michael: "I don't think so and this subject came up at the panel discussion over the weekend. What the writers said was that there is no single, all-encompassing framework or answer, that it's a combination of elements and if you hit on one or two things, you wouldn't have the whole picture."

Q: What is the relationship between Ben and Juliet?

Michael: "They seem to have a professional relationship that's warm and respectful, they have a high regard for one another.

There seems to be a little bit of unanswered romance in the air somehow. Someone feels a little more warmly about someone else than the other one does."

Q: Do you visit the fan sites?

Michael: "I don't go on much because I'm a little bit of a lud, I'm not real good with the computer. I have a brother who is, he'll alert me to certain tidbits occasionally if they're sort of strange or exciting."

Q: Will Ben make it through the rest of the series?

Michael: "Oh gosh, I don't know. I'm a gypsy actor by trade and I tend not to have a high expectation of survival. So often in show business, it's over very quickly. I wouldn't set down roots exactly in Hawaii, although I like my job and I don't have any reason to think they don't have a good, long storyline in mind for my character. I think it's good to accept that our work is sort of transient. My guess is that there will be some very high level casualties this season on Lost."

Q: Do the writers really put as much effort into every little detail as the fans think they do?

Michael: "I think most of that stuff is intentional, I don't think it costs them much effort.

I think they have fun, I think they're really bright and quick about things. I don't think they're laying awake at night coming up with that stuff, I think it just falls out of them everyday. Some of those details have more weight than others, but very little of it is just a tease. Most of them are parts of some set of images or a set of references or parallel that are informative or enriching to the telling of the story."

Q: Have you had any interesting fan encounters?

Michael: "Most of mine tend to be of a fairly predictable sort, which is that people are delighted to be afraid of me. Even authority figures, like security people at the airport - it's funny and it makes people happy to have someone who scares them."

Q: What do you know about the end date for Lost?

Michael: "I think it's still really being loosely talked about. What they spoke about was sort of abstract idea of why don't we set an end date to give ourselves a deadline so we don't meander with this show for years and years and years and to sort of raise the stakes, to know we only have this amount of time to complete it and also to signal to the audience that we don't mean to tease you forever, that we do have a plan. I don't know how many years they'll allow themselves to wrap up the story. I think they feel like they're in mid-story right now, so it's sensible as writers and entertainers to think how they might wrap it up."

Q: What would people be surprised to learn about you?

Michael: "I expect because of the character I play, I think they'd be surprised to find out how mild-mannered I am in real life."

Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to the fans?

Michael: "I hope they'll go ahead and continue enjoying the ride like we do!"