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Emerson was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and grew up in the neighboring town of Toledo, Iowa. After graduating in 1976 from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he studied theater and art, he moved to New York City. Unable to find acting work, he took retail jobs and worked as a freelance illustrator. In 1986, he moved with his first wife to Jacksonville, Florida. There, from 1986 to 1993, he appeared in local productions, and worked as a teacher and director. He won an "Outstanding Guest Actor" Emmy in 2001 for a part on The Practice, but is currently most famous for his roles as Zep Hindle in the 2004 film Saw and Ben Linus in the television series Lost.

Emerson considered foregoing a career in acting in favor of a more stable vocation in teaching. He decided to instead further his studies with a Master of Fine Arts, that might also introduce him to theatre professionals and directors in his chosen trade. In 1993, he enrolled in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's University of Alabama-sponsored Master of Fine Arts/Professional Actor Training program and upon graduation, he returned to New York where he appeared in the annual Alabama Shakespeare Festival showcase. Emerson got his big break in 1997 when he starred as Oscar Wilde in Moises Kaufman's critically-acclaimed off-Broadway play, Gross Indecency: The Trials of Oscar Wilde, and then followed up with several other notable stage performances. In 1998 he performed opposite Uma Thurman in the off-Broadway production of The Misanthrope. In 1999, he played the part of Willie Oban in The Iceman Cometh with Kevin Spacey. He co-starred with Kate Burton in both Give Me Your Answer, Do! and Hedda Gabler. In film and television, Emerson made a name for himself playing somewhat dangerous, damaged characters. He would play the roles as having an ambiguity about them, with the mild-mannered package not looking like the contents.[2] In 2001, he won an Emmy Award as "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series", for playing the (fictional) confessed serial killer William Hinks in several episodes of The Practice. One of Emerson's most well-known works was in 2004, as the character Zep Hindle in the horror movie Saw. In that year he also played the loyal somewhat Alfred Pennyworth-like butler to a Rock Hudson-like heartthrob, Guy Stone, in the comedy film Straight-Jacket. In 2006, Emerson began a guest starring role playing Ben Linus (formerly called "Henry Gale" on the show) on the serial drama television series Lost. Originally set to appear in a small number of episodes, Emerson returned for the third season as a main cast member, earning a 2007 Emmy nomination for his work on the series. Emerson met his second wife, actress Carrie Preston, while he was performing in a stage production of Hamlet in Alabama.[2] They married in September 1998, and both Emerson and his wife starred in the 2004 film, Straight-Jacket. On Lost, Preston portrays Emerson's character's mother in flashback sequences.

• Is a stage actor who makes occasional films.
• Michael graduated from the prestigious Professional Actor Training M. F. A. program at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in 1995.
• Graduate of Drake University, where he earned a degree in Theater Arts.
• Worked as a freelance illustrator for publications like The Boston Globe and The New York Times.
• On "Lost" (2004), he played Ben Linus, the son of Roger Linus, played by Jon Gries, who is actually 3 years the junior of Emerson. The age difference is explicable because Roger is first seen in flashbacks to Ben's birth and childhood. Ben's mother was played by Carrie Preston, who in addition to being (like Gries) about the same age as Emerson, is also his real-life wife.

• "I've had the blessing of doing classic plays on Broadway, which was one of my great dreams forever."
• "It worries me a little bit the reach and power of TV. More people saw me in 'The Practice' than will ever see me in all the stage plays I ever do. Which is sort of humbling. Or troubling. Or both."
• "You work four days, and then one line is left when you see it. Demoralizing." - about doing "Unfaithful"