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Prison Break interview - Wentworth Miller
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| Wentworth Miller plays Michael Scofield in Prison Break |
We talk to Wentworth Miller, star of Channel 5's hit series Prison Break, about playing Michael Scofield, an inmate desperately trying to save his brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), from the electric chair for a murder he did not commit...
Your character has a massive tattoo covering his body as part of the plan to escape. How difficult is that to get on?
Wentworth Miller: It's a very ambitious process. It's the most ambitious pro tattoo ever attempted for TV or film. It takes four or five hours and two people applying it. Fortunately, we only have to do it once per episode. It's a series of details that fit together like pieces of a puzzle - maybe 24 that cover the entire upper body and arms. You strip moisture off the skin with rubbing alcohol so it adheres properly, apply a layer of glue, put down the decals with water proof sealant on top so it stays. If you don't tamper with it, it will start to deteriorate but it will probably last for a week or two. But it's a bit like wearing fly-paper, it stains so you have to scrub it off at the end of the day with solvents.
What does it do to your skin?
Wentworth Miller: It's incredibly dry, but very exfoliated. It will last for a week but you don't want to bring it home with you because you still stick to the sheets.
Does it help to make you feel like a bad ass - someone who could survive in prison?
Wentworth Miller: [Laughs] I need all the help I can get to feel like a bad ass. It feels like you are wearing a piece of art. It's extraordinary. And on the rare occasions when I have worn it home and I am walking down the street I get some pretty strange reactions. Grandmas tend to give me a wide berth and I will get people who actually have the full sleeves for real come up, thinking we have some kind of experience in common. And then they are always looking at me with a little contempt when they realise it’s not the real deal. Also a bit of envy when they realise it’s not the real deal and that my tattoo didn’t hurt.
Do you have to keep in good physical shape for the role?
Wentworth Miller: It's hard to establish an exercise regime given the hours we work. Plus, I made the decision that my character, Michael, wasn't going to be particularly built, that the only thing he had going for him was his smarts. So that he was, in fact, physically vulnerable. I let Dominic Purcell bear the brunt of the big action-hero, muscle-bound thing. Michael can continue to be the brains of the situation.
When people do recognize you, what are some of the stranger things they say?
Wentworth Miller: Fortunately, the interactions face to face have been very positive. By and large I hear, "I never miss an episode", which is the highest compliment. I did go online, which I wouldn’t recommend, and read some chat rooms about the show. It's like reading someone's diary. I don't do it very often. Someone posted something that said: "I just found out Wentworth is British. I guess that explains the crap American accent." [laughs] Which is both untrue and unflattering. Both of my parents are American but lived in England for a couple of years when I was born there. So I have dual citizenship. I have a special place in my heart for the UK. I was raised in Brooklyn, New York, so it's for real.
Where were you trained as an actor?
Wentworth Miller: I was trained classically but not so much method. I think American actors spend a little bit too long worshipping at the altar of Marlon Brando and James Dean, where it's all about the emotional authenticity of the part. There is something to be said for style, diction and accent and all the things that one gets at RADA or an equivalent somewhere else. I have been in class for about six or seven years and am fortunate to be sitting next to someone who works from the perspective of: "What do you have specific to you that we can sell today?" As opposed to: "Here is what we know works, let's break you down and build you back up in this predetermined fashion."
Have you had many offers from female fans of the show?
Wentworth Miller: I haven't. People vary in their reactions to the different characters on the show. Robert Knepper [the actor who plays inmate T-Bag] gets a lot of racy fan mail, actually. People find his character arousing. And Amaury Nolasco [Michael's cell-mate, Sucre] gets a lot of pats on the back and bear hugs like he's everybody’s best friend. People tend to be much more formal with me, I get a lot of polite handshakes, which I think has a lot to do with the characters. That's one of the interesting things about TV, when you come into their home each week playing a certain character on TV, they automatically start to believe that that's who you are. And they develop a relationship to you based on their perception of you as that character.
Photo: Fox
