Golden Globe-nominee Wentworth Miller (shown right), the 37-year-old actor who became an overnight sensation and instant sex symbol for portraying the clever and hunky Michael Scofield, gives his last performance of the series in Prison Break: The Final Break. Required to keep most of the two-hour film’s storylines and plot twists close to the vest, Miller (a British-born, Brooklyn native) chooses to reminisce about the four seasons he spent playing Michael Scofield on the hit series.
In this interview with Earl Dittman, the personable and witty Miller (a Princeton grad and a veteran of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer) recalls some of the stranger fan encounters he experienced over the years as Michael, reveals how many packs of cigarettes a prisoner can get for a 8 X 10 of him, why he tries not to pick his nose in public and if being the series’ leading man helped him out with ladies at all. Plus this week’s DVDs and Blu-rays, all after the jump.
After four seasons of brothers Michael Scofield (Miller) and Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) plotting to break out of domestic and foreign prisons and on the run from law enforcement, corrupt government bigwigs and secret criminal organizations, the final episode of the award-winning, critically-acclaimed and highly rated hit series Prison Break signed off this spring. If you caught the finale a couple of months ago, you know what is in the future for most of the PB characters. Prison Break: The Final Break picks right after the brothers are cleared of all wrong doing and before Michael’s unfortunate…well, you know. In The Final Break, we catch Michael and Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) trying to fashion themselves some semblance of a normal life together. Of course, do you really think Michael and Sara could maintain a fairy tale, happily-ever-after life together? C’mon, this is Prison Break. With cast members Dominic Purcell, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe and William Fichtner back for another series of twists and turns, Prison Break: The Final Break offers hungry fans another taste of Scofield’s mind-boggling rescue abilities, in addition to revealing some pretty startling secrets about those around them.
Would you say that you are as you as clever and resourceful in real life as Michael was in Prison Break?
“Not as much as he was. I was hopeless in the math and science in school. So I really relied on the writers to bring me up to speed when it came to mentioning something like ‘Fibonacci.’ I think that it might’ve been an episode or two before I clued into the fact that that was a reference.” [Laughs]
What did you find most surprising about Prison Break, as a series?
“I guess what really surprised me was how powerful a medium that television really is.”
Since television is such a powerful medium, do you still get recognized a lot?
“Yes. Everyone has TV sets. We still have fans all over the world.”
What do most fans usually say to you?
“It was always a positive experience. The fans are so respectful of the show, and it’s a real pleasure talking to them. What they were basically telling me, throughout the time the show was running, is that when they don’t miss an episode they’re making time for you, your story, your work and my life every week. I always considered that the highest compliment.”
How did the success of Prison Break help you out with the ladies — off the screen?
“It was a double-edged sword. Obviously, I had a calling card that works quite well in certain situations. [Laughs] I did have some strange experiences, though.”
What type of experiences, for instance?
“Well, once, I was at the mall, and a woman came up to me, very politely and very respectfully, and she wanted to take my picture, and she had her camera cell phone as they all do. She wanted to take the picture herself and so she kind of sidled up to me, and I put my arm around her and she held up her phone, but couldn’t take the picture because it was shaking like a maraca. She was that nervous, and I could feel her vibrating next to me and it was starting to make me nervous. Then, she had to ask a complete stranger to take the picture for her, and as soon the picture was taken – as soon as she had my image in camera – she stopped looking at me. She continued interacting with me, but she only looked at the image on her camera. She said good-bye to the image on her camera.”
That must have been really weird.
“It really was. I can probably write an essay about the disconnection between perception of image and reality. But it was a very strange moment to stand there and realize that someone – who five seconds ago wanted nothing more than to acknowledge your work – now very much wanted the experience to be over with, because it was almost as though she couldn’t handle the real me standing there.”
How stressful is it for you to be recognized all the time and to have people know who you are and to think they know things about you?
“It’s part of the business. We wanted people to watch the show. And, you want to have a large fan base, and that’s also what I saw when it comes to doing publicity, PR and getting the word out. We were talking about this on set one time, me and Dominic (Purcell), and what we determined is that they don’t pay us to act. They pay us to act as diplomats and ambassadors and politicians and publicists and all those other things that go along with being an actor on a successful TV show.”
Does the lack of privacy ever irritate or bother you?
“You know what, the fans are so respectful that they come up and ask for an autograph or a picture. The interaction is usually done and over with in about five minutes.”
Did you get, or still get, a lot of romantic emails or letters?
“I’ve gotten a few romantic letters, absolutely, which is flattering. But I also know that they have feelings, if you want to call them that, for the character that I played on TV.”
Did actual prison inmates, who were still incarcerated, ever send write to you?
“Yeah, I got a few letter from inmates. Apparently, a Prison Break headshot would get you a pack of smokes. [Laughs] But, the truth is that in a number of state pens they were not allowed to watch the show, because they might get encouraged to imitate it, I guess.”
Being a diplomat of sorts, as you mentioned, for the show, have you always felt a responsibility to act a particular way in your public life – like not getting into legal trouble and not being able to let loose in public?
“Well, you don’t want to embarrass yourself. So, you always might think twice about picking your nose in public.”
Do you do that a lot?
“Picking my nose in public? [Laughs] Sometimes, sometimes there is a small sacrifice in terms of anonymity and privacy, but you never know what you’re going to be asked to sacrifice until it’s already been sacrificed. There were so many pros to this job, so many perks and so many doors that it opened for me that I really can’t complain.”
Looking back, what did fans usually want to know about the series?
“In the first couple of seasons, they always wanted to know about my relationship to Dr. Sara. Everybody would always want to know what the deal was between Michael and Dr. Sara.”
What do you usually tell them?
“There was only so much that I could tell them. What I would say, and this is after they first escaped, is ‘While Michael is now literally free, physically free, I think that his mind and heart are back at the prison.’ If you remember, in the last two episodes of the first season, he lost both a surrogate father figure in the Warden Westmorland and fatally, perhaps, compromised his love interest. So, I’d say, ‘Mentally and emotionally, he’s still very much a prisoner.’”
Throughout the series, you took several cross-country journeys. Early on, what were some of the more interesting things that you saw on your initial treks across North America?
“I stopped off in Santa Fe – which is a beautiful part of the country – and, apparently, where hippies go to die.” [Laughs]
Are you a big souvenir-buying guy? Did you pick-up a lot of nick-knacks at every new location shoot during the series run?
“No, my house would be packed with them by now if I had.”
To do a show as physically challenging as Prison Break, I imagine you had to be in good shape. Did you have a regular work-out routine?
“My work-out routine usually involved eating less. [Laughs] That was tough when we were shooting the first season in Chicago. If you are trying to eat less, Chicago is a dangerous place to be, because the food was so good and the portions were so large, and it was difficult to establish and exercise routine while working five days a week, fourteen hours a day. When we moved to Dallas for the second season, I had a little more free time, because there are so many different storylines, and Michael wasn’t in every scene driving the plot forward. So, I actually hit the pool every once in a while, which was nice.”
Are you an avid swimmer?
“I am. I am.”
Since you can never really reveal plot points, in Prison Break: The Final Break, is Michael still going to be the cool bad-ass that audiences have come to know and love since Season One?
“Absolutely, absolutely, but you’ll get to see other things that I couldn’t or wouldn’t show you in the series. Michael walks that very fine line between brilliance and someone with very serious issues. When I first read the very first script for Prison Break, I thought that this was just a story about a man who was sacrificing his entire life to save his brother. But, now on the other end of four seasons – even after the twenty-two episodes of Season One – I always wondered if that life was worth holding onto because everything that we saw about him in the flashbacks, Michael was driven, lonely, isolated and unhappy. So, I don’t think it was a question of him sacrificing his entire life. It was more of a question of him never having been more alive than he did when he decided to go to prison to save his brother. It’s going to answer a lot of questions about Michael, I promise you.”
Prison Break: The Final Break Blu-ray + DVD Bonus Features: Featurettes and deleted scenes.
ON DVD AND BLU-RAY THIS WEEK:
The Great Buck Howard
An overlooked cinematic gem, The Great Buck Howard is an offbeat and brilliantly funny comedy. Featuring one incredible performance after another from an all-star cast made up of Colin Hanks, his dad Tom Hanks, John Malkovich, Emily Blunt and Steven Zahn, this show business satire tells the madcap story of Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) an unemployed law school drop-out who lands a gig working for Buck Howard, a has-been mentalist (Malkovich) who was once casino headliner and Tonight Show regular. Although Troy’s dad (Tom Hanks) believe his son is still in law school, the young go-getter tries to help – with the aid of a fiery publicist (Blunt) – the arrogant Buck Howard become the star he once was. Thanks to a wild stroke of fate, Buck is thrown back into the national spotlight – but for what? In this charming film, Colin Hanks proves he’s inherited his dad’s leading man status and ability to win over audiences. The Great Buck Howard will mesmerize movie-lovers daring to take a chance on this ecclectic A+ comedy.
Pushing Daises: The Complete Second Season
A law should be passed – in both Canada and the US – charging negligent TV audiences for abusing their viewing privileges by recklessly ignoring first-class comedy series and causing them to be cancelled before their time. There should be a price to pay for all of you who overlooked Emmy Award-winning Pushing Daisies (the story of Ned, a handsome young pie-maker who can resuscitate the dead with just a touch of his finger) in lieu of some silly, inane reality series. It’s beyond a shame that a visually stunning show with sharp dialogue, and heartfelt storylines and performances from an immensely talented cast – Lee Pace, Kristin Chenoweth, Swoosie Kurtz, Anna Friel, Chi McBride and Ellen Greene. It’s too bad Ned can’t revive this fantastic comedy series, but, fortunately, Season Two is being resurrected on Blu-ray and DVD (along with four fun featurettes) for fans to enjoy all over again and for all those guilty of missing the 13 episodes that aired this year to pay penance by experiencing it for the first time. Season Two finds Ned, his crime-solving buddies Emerson Cod (McBride) and Chucks (Friel) – his longtime love that he brought back to life but cannot touch without causing her to die for good – trying to unmask the men and women who murdered the innocent and not-so-innocent. Seriously, you’ll enjoy every moment of this imaginative show; so, pay your dues and go out and get seasons one and two and sit back for the time of your (after-) life.
Monk: Season Seven
With just one more season to go, it seems just like yesterday when actor Tony Shaloub turned the quirky, obsessive-compulsive Detective Monk into a modern-day comedic icon. Already having taken home three Best Actor Emmy’s for his work (and likely to score a couple more wins after the upcoming Season Eight), in Season Seven, Shaloub continues to demonstrate why the mystery-solving Monk is one of the funniest law-men on TV today. It’s an amazing feat considering that Detective Monk fears just about everything outside his sterile, germ-free home: Including large crowds, tiny spaces, animals and bodily contact. But, in the tradition of off-beat, crime-fighters like Columbo, Monk always gets his man, woman or beast. Featuring the headline-making 100th episode, this four-disc DVD box set (with video commentaries and a behind-the-scenes featurette) also includes all of the season’s 16 episodes with dynamic guest star performances from Brad Garrett, David Straithairn, Eric McCormack, Sarah Silverman, Hector Elizando and John Turturro. If you are ready for an evening or two of top-notch comedy and mystery writing (the writers have a few Emmys in their office, too) Season Seven is just what you’re looking for. To really get in the mood, make sure you wash your hands before you microwave the popcorn and sterilize the remote control before carefully putting the DVD in.
An Empress and The Warriors: Special Collector’s Edition
Let’s be honest, Hong Kong/martial arts action flicks are now a dime a dozen and not many of them deserve the “classic” label. An Empress and The Warriors is more than worthy of the acclamation (and you can throw in “epic” and still not be overstating its brilliance). Directed by acclaimed action choreographer and three-time Hong Kong Film Award winner Tony Ching Siu-Tung (the man behind the martial arts sequences in House of Flying Daggers and the Jet Li vehicle Hero), this Special Collector’s Edition (featuring commentary and a making-of featurette) elevates the martial arts genre to whole new visual and storytelling heights once considered unimaginable for a Hong Kong film. Complete with massive battle sequences, awe-inspiring costumes, weapons and armour, An Empress and The Warriors is a true martial arts masterpiece. Starring award-winning actors Donnie Yen (Seven Swords, Flash Point) and Kelly Chen (Infernal Affairs) the duo play a sword-wielding general and a princess who must stand tall on the battlefield in order to avenge their murdered emperor and to save the lives of their people. Spectacularly shot by cinematographer Ziao Xiaoding (Curse of the Golden Flower, House of Flying Daggers), An Empress and The Warriors (released on the prestigious Dragon Dynasty label) will undoubtedly keep fight fans glued to their HD and plasma screens.
The Lucy Show: The Official First Season
Once I Love Lucy finished its history-making run as television’s first bonafide ratings phenomenon, Lucille Ball packed up her bags, kissed her fictional hubby Ricky Ricardo (and real-life mate Dezi Arnaz) good-bye, grabbed Ethel Mertz (I Love Lucy costar Vivian Vance) and made another home for herself in the Top Ten by developing and starring in the hilarious sitcom, The Lucy Show. Premiering in 1962, The Lucy Show featured Ball as Lucy Carmichael, a widowed mom of two teenagers, sharing a house with her divorced BFF Vivian Bagley (Vance). Even though Lucy and Vivian are good pals (as they also were when they weren’t onscreen), they are constantly getting into little tiffs about the things like money, how to raise children and how to resolve all of Lucy’s hair-brained schemes. Starting to sound familiar? It should. Much like I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show was not only a hit during its initial run, but in syndication it has turned several generations of Baby Boomers (and their offspring) into Lucy fans. While I Love Lucy will always be considered a comedy classic, Ball’s follow-up certainly gives its predecessor a run for its money. More down-to-earth and realistic than ILL, the The Lucy Show was Ball’s successful and triumphant return to ‘60s primetime TV. A four-disc DVD set, you’re treated to all 30 episodes from the first season of The Lucy Show and such bones features as an interview with Lucille Ball, vintage promos, merchandise commercials, show openings and closings, cast commercials, several featurettes and hysterical “flubs.” In The Lucy Show, TV’s favorite redhead and her loyal sidekick deliver even more laughs than they did with Ricky and Fred.
Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods Final Cut
Originally conceived as the pilot episode for Stargate SG-1 (the television adaptation of the Stargate motion picture) that would run for an astounding ten seasons, the Children of the Gods Final Cut DVD is a re-mastered and “re-imagined” feature length film based on the pilot – with enhanced visual effects, an updated soundtrack (including an entirely original score) and a more self-contained storyline. Picking up nearly a year after the events in the 1994 Stargate movie, Children of the Gods chronicles a mission led by Air Force Colonel Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and Major Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping), from the flagship Stargate team, as they head to the planet Abydos to fight a warrior clan headed up by their nemesis Ra. To complicate matters, the team must stop General Hammond (Don S. Davis) from embarking on his own plan to stop the warriors, a plan that could bring the brutal Gou’ald to their front door. Loaded with special features, this DVD is no simple re-release: It’s an alternate, re-cut, re-imagined look at the episode that would launch Stargate SG-1, the recently-concluded spin-off series Stargate Atlantis (five seasons) and the upcoming, highly-anticipated follow-up series Stargate SG-U (Universe).
Hotel: The First Season
Based on Arthur Hailey’s bestselling novel of the same name and brought to life by television’s most successful producer, the late Aaron Spelling (the mastermind behind Dynasty, Melrose Place, Charlie’s Angels, 90210 and Charmed), this lavish drama (that debuted in 1983 and ran for five seasons) stars Golden Globe-nominees James Brolin and Connie Sellecca as the managers of San Francisco’s elegant St. Gregory Hotel. With an ensemble cast that includes Shari Belafonte and Anne Baxter, each episode takes on all the up and downs (romantic or otherwise) going on in the lives of the hotel’s high-class clientele (played by such legends as Mel Torme, Morgan Fairchild, Heather Locklear, Lynn Redgrave, Martin Landau, Gary Collins, Jon-Erik Hexum, Jose Ferrer and Shelly Winters, to name a few). A six-disc set with 22 first season episodes, this collection includes the rarely seen two-hour pilot movie for Hotel, which features one of the last television appearances from Hollywood icon Bette Davis. Provocative, sexy and often moving, Hotel is mid-‘80s primetime drama at its finest hour. Go ahead, reserve a room.
Psych: The Complete Third Season
Psych (which begins its fourth season next month) follows the crazy adventures of young police consultant Shawn Spencer (James Roday), who solves crimes with powers of observation so acute the precinct detectives think he’s psychic — at least that’s what he lets them believe. Starting the “Psych” private detective agency, Shawn’s partner-in-crime-solving is his best friend and reluctant sidekick, Gus (Dule Hill). And, usually joining in to help catch the bad guys is Shawn’s disapproving father (Corbin Bernsen), who ironically was the one who honed his son’s “observation” skills as a child. Having developed a reputation for taking on strange and unusual cases, these sleuths-in-training always find themselves trying to solve crimes that range from the abnormal to the oddly paranormal. In Season Three, guest stars who try to help (or hinder) Gus and Shawn solve their cases include Cybil Shepherd, Phylicia Rashad and Gary Cole. The bonus features on the four-disc DVD set run the gamut from audio & video commentaries, deleted scenes, montages, gag reels, Podcast commentaries and of course, non-stop laughs.
This American Life: Season Two
This fascinating DVD collection, based on the widely popular, award-winning Chicago Public Radio, allows fans to hit the road with host Ira Glass and his crew as they uncover and reveal gripping stories of “everyday” Americans. These citizens range from two prisoners attempting to escape from prison using simple dental floss to movie star Johnny Depp stepping in to voice the thoughts of a young man who has lost his ability to speak and interviews with several “John Smiths” from around the country and tell their recount their true stories – which are simultaneously dramatic, emotional and often funny. Heard on over 500 radio stations and boasting 1.7 million weekly listeners, the pioneering This American Life radio show changed the medium forever. It seems to be doing the same with the medium of television, scoring several Emmy nominations for best non-fiction series, writing, directing, cinematography and editing. An unbelievable look an unbelievable people, in six episodes, the DVD for the second season of This American Life also includes never-before-seen extended episodes, audio commentary from host Ira Glass and director Chris Wilcha and a feature length live theatre presentation.
NOW ON BLU-RAY:
Watchmen: Director’s Cut
There is only way to watch director Zack Snyder’s action-packed superhero blockbuster and that’s on his Blu-ray Director’s Cut (with an additional 25 minutes of footage not seen in theatres). Synder’s adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, his story about the search for the person responsible for killing our everyday heroes was made for Blu-ray: Don’t see it any other way. Special Features: “The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics” documentary; Watchmen Webisodes; the music video for My Chemical Romance’s “Desolation Row”; Digital Copy; the Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode; director walk-ons with scene analysis; picture-in-picture video from the cast and crew; side-by-side comparisons of the graphic novel and the film; timeline comparisons of our world events to those from Watchmen; photo galleries of production stills and storyboards; the featurettes “Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes” and “Mechanics: Technologies of a Fantastic World” and BD-Live!
Echelon Conspiracy
A hi-tech cyber thriller starring Shane West (ER), Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) and Martin Sheen (The West Wing) is an enthralling tale of greed, intrigue and the price of national security. When unidentified cell phone messages inform a young American engineer (West) that he is going to be filthy rich, he unknowingly becomes the target of a deadly international plot. The engineer is soon on the run from gun-toting, merciless security operatives that chase him across the globe. At the same time, a high-ranking government official is pursuing a top secret agenda that could destabilize the entire planet. Echelon Conspiracy is a truly breathtaking, edge-of-your-set conspiracy tale.
Coraline: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition
Featuring the voices Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), Ian McShane (Scoop) and Dakota Fanning (Push), this visually stunning 3D stop-motion animated feature (based on the dark and mysterious novel by Neil Gaiman) – directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas helmsman Henry Selick – is an unexpected cinematic marvel. Exploring the fantasy world behind a secret door in her new home, Coraline (Fanning) must quickly find her way back to home when dangerous forces try to keep from returning to the real world. Special Features: Deleted scenes; the featurettes “The Making of Coraline,” “Voicing The Characters” and “Creepy Caroline,” commentary with Selick and composer Bruno Coulais; D-Box Motion Enabled; U-Control; BD-Live! And four pairs of 3-D glasses.
300: The Complete Experience
Released to coincide with his most recent blockbuster, director Zack Snyder’s cutting-edge visual masterpiece is the perfect film for an enhanced Blu-ray experience now with two hours of new bonus content. Taken from the bloody and violent graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City), 300 is the retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae – the titanic clash between King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans and the massive army of Persian ruler Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). Special Features: The featurettes “The Complete 300: A Comprehensive Immersion,” “Creating A Legend: Frank Miller and Zack Snyder Interpret a Classic Tale,” “Bringing the Legend to Life: Building a World From a Comic” and “The History Behind the Myth: The Real Story of the Hot Gates”; Bluescreen Picture-In-Picture; audio commentary; the additional documentaries “Who Were The Spartans: The Warriors of 300,” “Preparing for Battle: The Original Test Footage,” “Frank Miller Tapes,” “Making of 300,” “Making 300 in Images,” and “The 300 - Fact or Fiction?” The disc also features nine Webisodes; additional footage; Warner Bros. BD Live!; Digital Copy and a 38-Page book.
