The Wave Magazine Interview

The Fugitives

Spoiler Alert: Season two of Prison Break will be titled Prison Break 2: Electric Boogaloo.

By Fred Topel
TV SHOW: Prison Break
STARRING: Wentworth Miller, Dominic Prucell, Robin Tunney, Amaury Nolasco
CREATOR: Paul Scheuring
STUDIO: Fox Television

Sorry to spoil it for you, but if you missed the season finale: They broke out. What did you expect ? It’s called Prison Break, not Stay in Prison for Years. So, the show’s over, right ? Wrong. Now all the convicts are on the lam for season two, and we’ve got the stars in one place.

Interview with Wentworth:

Wentworth Miller Before Prison Break, we didn’t know Wentworth was a first name. We’re still not sure it is, so we’ll just call him “the tatooo guy”. Using the ink covering his arms and torso as a map, Michael Scofield (Miller) broke his wrongfully convicted brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), and a few rightfully convicted stragglers out of maximum security. Can he still be the man with the plan on the outside ?


The Wave: Is Season Two going to be harder for you ?
Wentworth Miller : There is a great deal of running required, of course. We don’t have these leisurely scenes where we’re standing around the prison yard, talking about bolts. And it’s hot out. I am dropping a lot of the weight that I packed on up in Chicago, which is nice.

TW: Won’t people be confused if they turn on Prison Break and you’re not in prison?
WM: I did wonder, going into the second season, “Well, the show is called Prison Break. Prison is the big hook. It’s such an easy in. It’s so easily understandable, from an audience perspective. What happens now?” But the fact is, I think prison was just our launching pad. Now that we’ve really established who these characters are, we can take them anywhere. Who doesn’t want to see what T-Bag gets up to?

TW: Do you still have to have the tattoo?
WM: I think the tattoo will be a little bit lighter. I won’t be referencing the map part of it, certainly, but Michael has hidden codes, diagrams, names, numbers, symbols in the tattoo, that are only needed post-escape, so unfortunately for me, the tattoo is not going anywhere.

TW: How would you do in prison?
WM: Oh, I wouldn’t last five minutes. I talked with a lot of inmates who were working on our set as extras, playing inmates, oddly enough, and they would commonly refer to prison as Gladiator School. It sounds like a bloodthirsty business, and I’m sure I wouldn’t have lasted long.

TW: How do you like being a sex symbol?
WM: It can be a little bit strange, because any actor worth his salt wants to be respected for the work, first. But, I rationalize all that sex symbol stuff as a tribute to the character that I’m playing. The fact is, I look the same as I’ve looked for the last 10 or 15 years. My eyes aren’t suddenly a more compelling shade of green. So, it must have something to do with the character that I’ve created, and what’s going on behind the eyes.



Interview with Dominic:

Dominic Purcell Dominic Purcell actually gets top billing on Prison Break, but he played second fiddle all of last year. As Lincoln, he’s just sitting there on death row, spending much of the year in solitary. Now that they’re all out, maybe he’ll finally earn his high ranking screen credit.

TW: Was it difficult as an actor to be locked in a cell for so many episodes?
DP: Yeah. I mean, as an actor, I was getting bored towards the end of the show, because I thought we had kind of exhausted “the hole”. And it was hard, but that’s my job, to come up with imagination for the role. Creatively, my imagination started to dry up, but I always knew that we were breaking out, and we’ve broken out now. It’s just good times ahead.

TW: You knew because the show was called Prison Break?
DP: I know what happens in the first few years. I’m not telling you, though. I always knew that we were breaking out, so this year is wonderful in that we’re getting to see Lincoln and Michael and all the characters in a different light. People are going to be blown away this year, because they’re going to see sides of these guys that they’ve never seen before.

TW: Sounds like a lot’s different this year. What will remain the same?
DP: I don’t think anything’s going to be the same. I think we’re obviously going to be in for a lot of surprises. This season is going to be better. I’ve seen a rough assembly of Episodes 1 and 2, and people are going to be shocked. Season Two is better than Season One in that we get to see a lot more exploration and character development. We get to see the scope of where we are, lots of action, planes, trains, car crashes, jumping across buildings, and just a lot of interesting, cool stuff.

TW: Are they letting you do any stunts yourself?
DP: Yeah, I’ve always liked being physical. It takes a stuntman to really say, “Look, we don’t want you to do this. No, no, I’m serious, you’re not going to do this,” to get me not to do my stuff. I’m just thankful that we’re out now, because now I feel Lincoln is reborn. I’m taking this guy in a completely different direction. Well, not a completely different direction, but certainly you’re going to see a lot more shade and color to Lincoln this year.

TW: Would you be good in prison?
DP: No. I don’t think anyone’s good in prison. Prison is a terrible, terrible place. Obviously, I’ve done a lot of research on it, and it can destroy anyone. I know the etiquette, what to do, because from my research, part was talking to inmates and what have you – but, no, I wouldn’t be good.

TW: What’s the worst crime you ever committed?
DP: I got into a fight when I was 18. I was drunk and I got put into a holding cell for the evening.

TW: What was the fight about?
DP: I can’t remember. I just woke up. They didn’t charge me, though.

TW: Were you a wild youth?
DP: Yeah, I was pretty wild, silly and stupid. I haven’t had a drink now in 15 months, been sober for a while. I’ve managed to clean up my ways. It’s the best thing I ever did. It was time, and it’s time to grow up.



Interview with Amaury:

Amaury Nolasco Spanish-speaking families shouldn’t let their kids watch Prison Break because Amaury Nolasco is slipping in dirty words the uni-lingual censors don’t understand. He plays Fernando Sucre, Michael’s cellmate, who joins the breakout because his pregnant fiancé is going to leave him for the pimpdaddy next door. Good thing TV offers minorities a chance to break their stereotypical typecasts.


TW: You said “conio” in one of the episodes. Will you slip more Spanish curse words by the censors?
Amaury Nolasco: It’s not that bad. It’s not saying f---. Conio is like “damn.” Of course, I’m getting it by the censors, I guess, and they’re saying it’s okay. I haven’t heard anything about it. Not only that, but I’m getting a few other words [past] them. I think it just says who my character is. He’s from the streets. He’s a guy who wouldn’t be able to speak cleanly, so the only few words that I can pick that are not that bad are those, and they’re going by.

TW: Will you be featured in your own episodes as the gang separates?
AN: Yeah, actually I just did Episode 3, which is pretty much my episode, and it’s phenomenal. I just read 5, which is also a great episode for me. There’s going to be a few changes in him and the way he is.

TW: What could change him more than prison time?
AN: I don’t think prison did anything to this guy. When I did the research with inmates, a lot of these people, what drove them was hope, something outside prison. And I have to say that I don’t think prison got to him. He kept that image of his girl outside. That’s what drove him, like “Okay, every day I’m looking forward to seeing my girl. This is what I’m going to do.” So I think he somehow shielded himself from what prison can do to you.

TW: Would you break out of prison for a girlfriend?
AN: Absolutely not. If I had 18 months to go, I’d rather do those 18 months and get out. If you can’t wait for me, screw it, then I’m not good enough for you.

TW: Do you miss the prison?
AN: No, I don’t. I had a great time and it was amazing. It was a new experience, though I love to shoot outside. It’s hot, but I don’t care. It’s better than cold. We’re seeing different scenery every day, a different location. I’m having a great time.

TW: What’s the worst crime you committed?
AN: I got caught when I was a kid for shoplifting a few CDs.

TW: Which ones?
AN: I think it was Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits and Ted Nugent. So that was the worst I ever did. I don’t even know if my parents know this.

TW: What were your thoughts on playing another Latin criminal?
AN: That’s a very good question, and I didn’t want to play the stereotypical Puerto Rican behind bars. He’s one of those guys that could have been somebody, like Brando said in On the Waterfront. He just fell through the cracks. So I think I’ve given that much to the character completely opposite of the stereotypical Latino behind bars.


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[play_mate]

WOW! Fantastic read! Thanks for posting

oooo. love these. very nice.

That is great... thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting that! I love reading interviews with the boys!

I love reading interview with 'the boys' too, but i would also love an interview every now and again with Rob Knepper and Lane Garrison.
Doesnt anyone love T-Bag and Tweener as much as me??
I've read about two or three interviews each with those too, and i want more!!
But anyway, loved the interview, and loved hearing about Doms little criminal life when he was younger

Originally Posted by DomFan

The Fugitives

TW: How do you like being a sex symbol?
WM: It can be a little bit strange, because any actor worth his salt wants to be respected for the work, first. But, I rationalize all that sex symbol stuff as a tribute to the character that I’m playing. The fact is, I look the same as I’ve looked for the last 10 or 15 years. My eyes aren’t suddenly a more compelling shade of green. So, it must have something to do with the character that I’ve created, and what’s going on behind the eyes.

This man's got modesty in spades

Originally Posted by twoblinks

This man's got modesty in spades

I think that's what I like best about him. Many men are good looking but many are stuck on themselves. Not Wentworth....and that's admirable.