WENTWORTH MILLER NEWS





12/24/2006


The following article appeared in the December 2006/January 2007 issue of Prison Break Magazine







The following article appeared in the September 4, 2006 issue of People Magazine





The following article appeared in the August 21, 2006 issue of Star Magazine





More Than A Lucky Break

Sewickley Heights' Wentworth Miller plays it tough in the hit TV series ‘Prison Break.'

by Christine O'Toole


Sewickley Heights, has come a long way from his 1990 starring role as Quaker Valley High School's Li'l Abner in the musical of the same name. He's ditched that leading man's overalls for a jailbird jumpsuit in "Prison Break," which begins its second hit season on Fox TV this fall. This season, his character, Michael Scofield, goes on the lam with the brother he's committed to free from death row.

Does that mean audiences will finally see Scofield crack a smile?

"That's really funny," Miller acknowledged in an e-mail interview. "You'd think he'd have a reason to smile now that he's out of prison, but I think things are just going to get darker and more complicated. He's got a government conspiracy, crooked FBI agents and a bounty hunter standing between him and getting his brother safely to Mexico. So all in all, he really doesn't have a whole lot to smile about these days."

By contrast, Miller's career is looking mighty bright. Following graduation from QVHS in 1990 and Princeton University in 1995, Miller landed his first Hollywood role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He landed roles in ABC-TV's "Dinotopia" in 2002 and the big screen's The Human Stain, with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, the following year. In the latter role, in which Miller played a black man who looked white, he drew on an ethnic heritage that includes Arab, European and African-American. This year, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his Scofield role in "Prison Break."

"I think people are drawn to prison stories because they're really horror stories," says Miller. "I think we're fascinated by the dark side of human nature, and prison is a place where people do terrible things."

When the Millers moved to Sewickley Heights at the beginning of Wentworth's senior year, he and his father created a book of cartoons gently lampooning their new hometown. "He'd do the writing; I would do the drawing. A few of our cartoons wound up published in the Sewickley Herald. For me, the experience was mostly about getting the chance to spend a little quality time with my father."

A college English major, Miller reads mainly scripts these days, as his daily pace for "Prison Break" is intense. "Our shooting schedule is 12 to 15 hours a day, five days a week," he explains. "We shoot an entire episode, which is about 45 minutes long, in eight days. On a movie set, 45 minutes of screen time would take about a month and a half to shoot. And on days when we have to put the whole tattoo on" - that would be Scofield's well-muscled, full-body schematic of the prison floor plan - "I'll come in to work three hours earlier than everyone else. Those are long days."

Based in L.A. for the past decade, Miller says he returns to Pittsburgh about once a year - but only to visit family. Chances of his shooting on location at the now-deserted Western Penitentiary, just upriver from his old Sewickley Heights home, are slim. "It's unlikely. But you never know," he says elliptically. "We might wind up back in the slammer down the road. These stories have a way of coming full-circle."

Catch Wentworth Miller in "Prison Break," Monday evenings at 8 p.m. on Fox.



The following news item appeared in the June 26, 2006 issue of People Magazine





Miller worries about breaking out too fast

Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Los Angeles Daily News


Wentworth Miller, in Dallas shooting his hit "Prison Break," has been taking advantage of hiatus times to meet with Hollywood honchos about a film project he's written.

Says the actor, who soared into prominence last season as TV's Michael Scofield, who broke into jail to help his brother break out, "I've seen so many freshly minted TV stars make foolish choices. I'm well aware how quickly fame can go away, and I've turned down offers for movies I didn't think were right for me.

"I've discovered at this stage of my career it's not a matter of simply auditioning for projects but coming up with my own projects. And that's what I've done. I've written a love story with a Hitchcock-style twist, and now it's a matter of getting the project off the ground."

For the moment, Miller is content simply continuing to make "Prison Break" as good as he can. He's glad that the second-season story line has his character and his brother and their cohorts out of jail and on the lam but notes that at first, "I wondered what would happen if we tried to leave prison behind. People like prison stories, they like being scared, and it was a question of if the audience would care enough to follow the characters over the wall."



'Prison Break' star displays lead foot

By Terry Morrow
Scripps Howard News Service


"Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller had his own brush with the law over the summer.

He was pulled over twice for speeding, in two states. The incidents had two different outcomes.

The first time was when Miller, who plays the tattoo-laden Michael on the hit Fox drama, was nailed in Iowa for doing 85 in an 80-mph zone.

"It didn't even occur to me to play The Card," he says, referring to using his celebrity to get out of a ticket.

But the policeman was willing to fold once he took Miller's license and registration information.

"Where did you come from?" Miller remembers the policeman asking.

"Chicago," Miller said.

"And what do you do there?" the officer asked.

"I'm on a show called 'Prison Break,' " Miller recalls telling him.

Turns out that the officer's wife was a big fan of the show.

"Guess who got off with a warning?" Miller says with a laugh. "I felt a little guilty driving away."

A similar thing happened in Utah, but with a different ending.

"I was pulled over doing 80 in a 75 [mph zone] in Utah," Miller says. "The cop was ready to bust me for it."

And he did.

Yes, it was a "bummer," says Miller, but "you got to play by the rules."

The roadside action was part of his summer vacation.

Instead of working on other projects during his break, he got in his Toyota Corolla and drove solo from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Miller says he was seeking a stress-free adventure away from scripts and network executives.

He'd stop into diners and at gas stations, where he'd meet up with fans.

In the second season (beginning at 8 tonight on Fox), Michael and his brother, Lincoln, finally bust free and are on the lam.

Outside the prison, Michael will be a different person, Miller says. He says he will explore other sides of his character.

In one episode, the stone-faced Michael will even laugh.

"I told the writers when Michael is in prison he is a man with a mission. He is guarded," Miller says.

"But when he is off with his brother, away from [prison], he is allowed to show a side of himself that he is not allowed to show [when] others [are present]."



8/22/2006


The following article appears in the August 25, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly Magazine





The following photos appeared in the August 2006 issue of Details Magazine





Wentworth Miller Interview@MediaBlvd Magazine



Wentworth Miller Celebrity Q&A
People.com

The Prison Break star dishes about his whirlwind year and life on the lam (It can get very sweaty!)

By Brenda Rodriguez


After being cooped up behind bars last season in the FOX drama Prison Break, Wentworth Miller, 34, is finding life on the outside can get very hot. Not that he minds sweating it out as engineer-turned-inmate Michael Scofield, a breakout role for the Princeton grad who once toiled as a temp and PA in between auditions. The show picks up its second season in Dallas, where Miller's character is on the run after making a great prison escape. PEOPLE recently caught up with the catch-him-if-you-can actor to talk about life in the Lone Star State, cowboy boots and tattoo maintenance.

Is Michael going to defer to his older brother now that they're on the outside?

There may be some(thing) interesting between the brothers as far as who is going to be alpha dog. But the truth is, Michael has the book smarts, Lincoln has the street smarts.

What do you guys do on set during breaks?

I'd like to say none of us dives for our BlackBerries and iPods when they yell, "Cut!" but we do (laughs). We have become very much like a fraternity. There are some practical jokes but more with the quick one-liners. We all pretty much know each other by now and we know what buttons to push.

What are you finding to do in Dallas when you're not working?

I've seen a lot fewer cowboy boots than I thought. Strikes me that Dallas is well on its way to becoming L.A., Texas-style. It's got great restaurants, great culture, a lot of places to hang out. Not that I necessarily go, but I know that the W Hotel does exist and it's there for me should I decide to indulge.

How do you stay cool in this heat?

I don't mind the sweating. They (Michael and brother Lincoln) are on the run. They're looking over their shoulders. It's very in keeping with the vibe of the second season.

Does the Prison Break tattoo melt off?

Eventually it starts to and you can't photograph it on the second day. And it is a challenge in that I'm wearing long sleeve shirts. It can get a little bit sticky.

Would you consider a tattoo yourself?

No, no, no. That's never been quite my speed.

What did you do during your summer hiatus?

I drove across country from Chicago to Los Angeles after we wrapped. It was a way to distance myself from a whirlwind year. It was just what the doctor ordered.



The following article appeared in the August 21, 2006 issue of Jet Magazine





7/16/2006


The following article appeared in the June 19, 2006 issue of TV Guide Magazine





The following news item appeared in the April 2006 issue of The Works Magazine





Must-flee TV

By Cary Darling
Star-Telegram/Pop Culture Critic


Rockwall – Wentworth Miller is the calm in the midst of what feels like a desert storm.

The thermometer is pushing into the mid-90s in this secluded area just east of Lake Ray Hubbard, and stunt men, technicians and guys in baseball caps and shades are working out the details of how his character, Michael Scofield, will run out of the bushes to leap aboard a passing freight train.

But the 34-year-old star of the hit Fox television series Prison Break isn’t even breaking a sweat as he calmly sits under a tree, having found scarce shade from the blazing North Texas sun. Never mind that he’s sporting his “prison-issue” sweat shirt, blue slacks and black hard-soled shoes. It’s not exactly summer attire.

The last time viewers saw Scofield, at the close of season one, he and a few of his closest friends — er, inmates with names like C-Note and T-Bag — had just bolted out of Fox River State Penitentiary in Joliet, Ill., thus putting the “break” in Prison Break . On Aug. 21, the second season will pick up exactly where the previous left off — but with one major difference. Instead of being filmed in the Land of Lincoln, the production has moved lock, stock and jailhouse tattoo to Dallas-Fort Worth.

This is what has got Miller perplexed. “We ended last season running across frozen cornfields outside Chicago, where it was zero degrees and our breath was steaming in the air,” he recollects. “The first episode back, second season, and we’re stripping off our layers and the sweat is running down our spines.”

He laughs.

“Well, in the world of Prison Break , we can get away with pretty much anything,” he says. “I think we’ll give a nod to the abrupt change of scenery and then go about our business.”

That “business” is producing a series that has been a decent-size hit since its debut last August, averaging about 9 million viewers. And it’s business that may mean an infusion of around $30 million into the local economy, according to Dallas Film Commission director Janis Burkland, as the show began shooting the first of 20 to 22 episodes here last month; it’ll wrap up around spring.

It’s taking the sting out of losing the upcoming movie based on the TV show Dallas , the bulk of which will be filmed in Shreveport, La. (though about four weeks of the three-month shoot will take place in Dallas).

“A TV series is way better. They stay longer and employ more people,” explains Burkland. “Television is the golden goose.”


Break from Chicago


When plotting out the first season of Prison Break — in which Scofield got himself sent to prison in order to engineer the escape of his brother, Lincoln, who’d been wrongly convicted of killing the vice president’s brother — producer Garry Brown didn’t really need to overly concern himself with the location. Much of the show was to take place inside the confines of Fox River, where Lincoln, Michael and his loyal cellmate Fernando navigated prison dangers and intrigues while hatching their plan.

But when it came time for season two, when the boys would be on the lam, Brown wanted a change of setting. Shooting in Chicago had gone well, but he needed the show to be in a place that could easily pass for urban or rural, desert or plains; had local crews; and had access to cultural amenities for a cast that would be living there for several months. (From pre- to post-production, each episode takes 16 days to complete.)

The production staff came up with a handful of places: New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana and, within Texas, Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth. While New Mexico may get some spillover when a desert locale is required, Brown — who’d worked in Dallas before on Walker, Texas Ranger — said it wasn’t too tough a decision. They visited the other states, but when it came to Texas, they scrapped their planned visit to Austin altogether after touring the Metroplex.

“We needed to shoot in a place where locations are more accessible [than Chicago],” Brown says. “You can find a small town within a 10- to 30-mile radius of Dallas. And we have two cities we can shoot — as Dallas and Fort Worth or anywhere else — as [the prisoners] make their way across middle America.”

Texas does not have as extensive a tax-incentive program for filmmaking as its surrounding states — a factor that drove Dallas to Shreveport — but Barry says that didn’t deter him too much. “We were able to move to Dallas and economically match or beat the cost of doing business in Chicago,” he says. “It’s great to have tax breaks, but for us, economically and creatively, this works. And there’s a solid crew here in Dallas.”

While there are no concrete plans to shoot in Tarrant County, Barry says we shouldn’t feel left out. “Fort Worth was one of our principal stops when we scouted the area,” he says.


Dallas connections


Back on the set, the actors appear excited about the change in locale. In fact, for some it’s like coming home — literally. Lane Garrison, who plays the young inmate nicknamed “Tweener,” grew up in Richardson and went to J.J. Pearce High School, once the academic home to the scholarly Jessica Simpson.

“It’s very odd coming back home after leaving and people thinking I was crazy for going off to do what I did and then come back,” says Garrison, 26, in his trailer. “After high school, when I graduated, I packed up my car and had, like, $400 to my name, and drove out west.”

He landed commercials, small parts and a major role in the 2004 indie film Quality of Life . But Prison Break is by far his most notable accomplishment.

With both of his parents dead, though, Garrison says his homecoming is bittersweet. “There are a lot of memories of my parents, and that’s hard,” he says. “But it’s also great. This is my hometown. I’m familiar with it, and I still have friends here.”

One of the biggest changes between this time around in Dallas and his last is where he hangs out.

“Lately, it’s been all Uptown,” he says. “Back in the day, it was the Whataburger on Coit Road.”

Wade Williams, who plays vicious guard Brad Bellick, has close friends here. “I grew up in Atlanta, and we had a doctor move in next door to us. He was, like, the biggest positive influence in my life, and [now] he lives here in Dallas with his family,” he says. “He got me interested in opera, classical music and guitar. . .  . It’s kind of like being home. It’s good for my family, as my wife [now] has an instant family. It took six months to meet people in Chicago, and now we’re gone.”

Robert Knepper, who portrays the villainous inmate T-Bag, says he’s been fascinated with Dallas ever since playing Robert Kennedy in the 2001 telemovie Jackie, Ethel, Joan: the Women of Camelot . “The first thing I did when I got here, I went to Dealey Plaza,” he says.

“I hate the heat. That’s going to [tick] us off,” Knepper continues. “But what I love about it is it’s an injection of a new environment, a new world. If we’d gone back to Chicago — I’m not sure ‘complacency’ is the right word — but we’d know we’re going to have to deal with that winter or the 2 1/2 hour drive to shoot something that you can get to in a half-hour in Dallas.”


Anywhere USA


One of DFW’s selling points to Prison Break producers was that it could be a substitute for anyplace else, whereas windy and broad-shouldered Chicago is always recognizable. But is it a good thing that North Texas can so easily shuck off its identity and take on another? An outsider might think it has no personality of its own.

Miller laughs at the suggestion. “Dallas, in a good way, has a fairly schizophrenic feel to it,” he says. “Some neighborhoods feel East Coast, some neighborhoods feel Midwest or Southwest.”

Producer Brown says that, as the inmates work their way across America, Dallas and Fort Worth may play themselves, rather than serve exclusively as civic stand-ins. If that happens, it’s an added boost.

“You get that extra marketing,” Burkland says. “That’s the greatest thing about Dallas the feature film, or Walker, Texas Ranger . People might call and ask ‘Where is that courthouse?’ There is a tourism aspect to that, and it affects the convention and meeting business.”

When that added visibility is not possible, she’ll take what she can get. “In the Jessica Lynch movie, we were West Virginia and Iraq. In Boys Don’t Cry , we were Nebraska. Am I sorry we had those? No.”


After hours


After the first assistant director yells, “Bring on the train!” and the stunt coordinator — Eric Norris, son of Walker, Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris — cries, “Action!,” a crossing-gate siren blares and a locomotive lumbers into view. Actors Rockmond Dunbar (who plays Benjamin “C-Note” Franklin), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows) and Peter Stormare (John Abruzzi) sprint out from behind foliage to hop the train. With each take, it seems like the sun beats down just a little bit harder.

Extras not in the shot stand or sit hard against building walls, pressing for any slice of available shade. Bottled water flows freely and, no doubt, some among the cast and crew are thinking, “We’ve got at least three more months of this ?”

But don’t feel too sorry for the Prison Break gang. When they’re not wilting in the Texas heat, they’re taking in game six of the NBA Finals or accepting invites to the opening of trendy Ghostbar at the new W Hotel. Most of the stars seem to have found homes or condos in Uptown or Turtle Creek.

Miller’s only previous experience with Texas was a drive through Dallas and a week spent at a University of Texas atAustin swim camp while in high school. He says he wants to explore the area, but he’s a little wary these days. “I love running into fans and people telling me they never miss an episode,” he says. “But I’m a fairly low-key person and I generally don’t like to attract a lot of attention. I’ve been in a couple of situations where I’m swarmed in a mall, and I’m just there to buy a pair of jeans, not hold a press conference. But that’s the nature of the beast, so I have no complaints.”

Amaury Nolasco, who plays Fernando Sucre, Michael’s cellmate and best friend, is less circumspect about his Dallas playtime. “We’re having fun already,” he declares. “And I love that the sun sets at 9 o’clock.”

Being from Puerto Rico, Nolasco says the heat doesn’t really bother him that much. He says, laughing, “I’m getting a beautiful tan.”



Making a 'Break'

TV: Fox's inmates on the run take refuge in North Texas for filming

By ED BARK
The Dallas Morning News


ROCKWALL – Three key inmates from Fox's Prison Break already are stretching their legs on this seasonably sweltering early Tuesday afternoon. First they sprint out of the woods; then they outrace a lumbering freight train.

Better to be on the wrong side of the tracks than behind bars, says panting Peter Stormare, otherwise known for his sinister use of a wood chipper in Fargo.

"We really went a little nutty. When you're an actor you're like a wild horse. You want to scream, you want to do something. It was like visiting a concentration camp every day."

The show's principal actors, including Mr. Stormare as unsavory John Abruzzi, were incarcerated in an abandoned Joliet, Ill., penitentiary for most of the first season. Now they're letting loose in North Texas, where filming on Prison Break: Manhunt is in the second week of a scheduled 10-month shoot. Everyone is still getting acclimated, save for local-kid-makes-good Lane Garrison. The 26-year-old J.J. Pearce High School graduate joined Prison Break last October as inmate David "Tweener" Apolskis. Now he's a full-fledged regular who still has a hard time believing it's all for real.

"For me it's definitely a homecoming," he says. "It's been a surreal experience. ... People in the cast call me every night. Where do I go to eat? Where do I go to meet beautiful women? I just tell them, 'Go to the gas station. Everyone here is beautiful.' "

Many of those same beautiful women might be on the lookout for Wentworth Miller, who became the show's uncontested heartthrob during the course of season one. His character, Michael Scofield, orchestrated his own imprisonment as part of a grand plan to get wrongly accused brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) off death row and on the lam. Many magazine covers later, Mr. Miller is of two minds about sudden fame.

"It has been an adjustment," he says while we sit on handy wooden apple boxes during a break from filming. "Everywhere I go, I run into someone who's a fan of the show. And that's a good thing. You want people to love your work because you want to stay employed.

"At the same time, I'm a very private person. I try to lead a very low-key life. And sometimes you just want to go to Chili's and have a margarita and some chicken fajitas and not have the experience wind up on a Web site somewhere."

Mr. Miller says he's driven through Texas several times on cross-country trips. And as a high-schooler, he spent a week in swim camp at the University of Texas.

"Of course I only saw the inside of a pool, so I didn't really get to explore what Austin had to offer. I'm really looking forward to having some time to check out Dallas. I've heard great things about the food, the culture and the JFK museum. There are a lot of things on my to-do list."

Mr. Stormare, whose homeland is Sweden, already has been to the museum and recommended a visit to his cast mates. "I must say they've kept it very nice and open, airy and eerie. It really broke my heart. It gives you a sense and a scent of the times."

Another seasoned actor, William Fichtner, joined Prison Break on virtually a moment's notice after co-starring in ABC's recently canceled Invasion series as secretive Sheriff Tom Underlay. Now he'll wear another badge as fugitive-chasing federal agent Alexander Mahone, a role he agreed to play just a day before shooting began on June 16.

"I was packing my bags, reading the script, trying to figure out who this guy is," Mr. Fichtner says. "When the material is good, you can find the little moments. You've got eight days to get this puppy [each one-hour episode] done. It's a lot of work. It's four pounds of baloney in a two-pound bag. So if you're an actor with some ideas, I'm sure it's appreciated."

Mr. Fichtner had a mercifully easy day Tuesday, donning a suit and tie for a brief mid-morning scene. He planned to spend the afternoon looking for a comfortable place that will make Dallas seem more like home than an extended waystop.

"I don't want it to be a totally transient experience, you know. There's too much in this town and this area. Fort Worth, Arlington, Six Flags. I want to do all of that."

Mr. Purcell, the show's other principal co-star, just spent three months in Africa on the feature film Primeval. He had never been to Dallas until this month.

"And now I'm living just three blocks away from the place where Kennedy got shot," he says. "It can become a surreal kind of experience."

Texas isn't as foreign to Paul Adelstein, who plays sinister Secret Service agent Paul Kellerman. He also moonlights as a guitarist-vocalist whose rock band Doris (named after his mother) performed several years ago in Deep Ellum en route to Austin's South by Southwest music festival. If one of the local clubs will still have him, he might throw a cast party, Mr. Adelstein says.

All concerned say the searing heat of summertime in North Texas beats the frigid cold of Illinois. Co-executive producer Kevin Hooks, who's also directing the first episode, says during a break in filming: "My theory is that hot is always better than cold."

The show's 22-episode second season is supposed to encompass just three weeks in the lives of its characters. This means the fugitives are stuck with their short-cropped prison haircuts. Or as Mr. Miller says, "So you're not going to see me in dreadlocks by the end of the season."

There's a good chance of seeing one or more of the cast about town in the next 10 months, though. And Dallas' own Mr. Garrison wouldn't mind leading a few expeditions.

"I keep telling them that people in Dallas are wonderful and humble and nice," he says. "It's a lot different than the hustle and bustle of Hollywood."

On the set photos from Prison Break.



The following article appeared in the April 17, 2006 issue of In Touch Magazine





The following article appeared in the April 17, 2006 issue of TV Guide Magazine