Carrie Preston Says She Thought Her Husband Michael Emerson Was Gay When They Met

Carrie Preston had a big misconception about her husband, Michael Emerson, when they first met nearly 30 years ago.

During the Tuesday, Oct. 7 episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s “Dinner’s On Me” podcast, the Elsbeth actress, 58, opened up about how she and Emerson, 71, met while performing in a production of Hamlet at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival 31 years ago.

“I was like, ‘Who the hell’s that guy?’ ” the Good Wife alum recalled of seeing Emerson for the first time.

“…He walked into rehearsal with the three-piece suit, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s gay.’ I was like, ‘He’s gay. Oh, no, OK, I have another crush on the gay guys,’ ” she joked. “Because they’re the coolest ones, and they’re always well-dressed and so polite.”

“Totally stereotyping there,” she joked.

According to Preston, her brother, fellow actor John G. Preston, who was also starring in the production of Hamlet, eventually told her that she should pursue a romantic relationship with her now-husband.

“I was like, ‘Hey, you know, well, what do you think about this Michael Emerson?’ ” she shared, adding that her brother was “trying to hook me up with some other guy.”

“I was like, ‘But he’s gay, right?’ And he’s like, ‘No,’ ” she joked in an exaggerated voice. “He was like, ‘He’s so not.’ “

The actress said that she immediately became “shy” around the Lost alum after her conversation with John — but Emerson returned her romantic interest, bringing her flowers and inviting her to a party.

“A month later, I was calling my mom, ‘You need to come meet the man I’m gonna marry. I’m not gonna tell him that. But you need to come meet the man,’ ” Preston recalled.

The couple later tied the knot in 1998 and recently celebrated 27 years of marriage.

Speaking with PEOPLE about their relationship just last year, Preston shared that despite their busy schedules and hectic lives as television stars, they have ways to “[keep] things fresh.”

“We have to, because of work, spend a lot of time apart,” explained the actress. “I think he and I, maybe more than some other couples who are together all the time, we really appreciate the time that we do have together.”

Noting how the distance “keeps things fresh” in her relationship with the Lost alum, she adds, “I do think there is something to the old adage, ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ I really do think that is true.”

The couple “try not to take for granted any time that we are given to be together,” she added.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Last year, Preston also spoke about her love for working alongside Emerson, telling TV Insider that one of her dream guest stars for Elsbeth would be Emerson. 

“We’re hoping that he’ll come to the Elsbeth world now that he’s done with [Robert and Michelle] King’s other show Evil,” the True Blood star said. “That would be wonderful.”

As for the role Preston wants for the Saw actor, she has a few ideas. “It would be fun to see Michael not be a murderer or someone evil,” she said. “It would be fun to see him maybe even be a part of the police department.”

Although the casting decisions are out of her hands, Preston joked, “I’ll take him in any role that I can get him in.”