Wentworth: (on rumors he is gay) I’m cool with the fact that the rumors exist.
Certain people are going to have certain fantasies. If someone wants to imagine me with
a woman, or a man, or one of each, that’s cool with me as long as you keep
watching the show.
Wentworth: (asked if he cooks) I can toast Pop Tarts. That’s really about the
extent of it. Actually, I do have one dish I can make - spaghetti and meat sauce.
I thought I was so clever the day I decided to add a can of salsa to a jar of Prego to
make a kind of Mexican-Italian bolognaise sauce. I thought it was great. My friends
didn’t agree.
Wentworth (about style): My definition of cool is finding your own definition of cool
and not necessarily taking your lead from what other people tell you or from what you
might read from magazines or see on TV. It’s finding something in your life, in
your wardrobe that feels comfortable for you. That feels right for you, and for me,
that means being fairly casual about the way that I dress. A lot of jeans, T-shirts and
ah Khakis.
Wentworth: (asked how he describes his mixed heritage): I say I’m of mixed race
and if they ask for specifics, I rattle off the details: my mother is Russian, French,
Syrian, Lebanese and Dutch; my father is African-American, Jamaican, English, German and Cherokee.
Wentworth (about education in schools): While you’re at school, I think it’s important to take advantage of everything that your school has to offer. I think it’s a mistake for an English Major to just focus on English. The whole point of a College Education is to expose yourself to as many different disciplines and influences as possible, because you never know where you will find something that provides some kind of inspiration for your work. I know personally, that as an Actor, I can be inspired by a painting or piece of music or a book that I’ve read.
Wentworth Miller (about Prison Break): Each episode is going to have a number of puzzles for viewers to solve, and there are six or seven different subplots swirling around. It's really going to be something that rewards the attentive and patient viewer.
Wentworth (on his low-maintenance short hair look): I've been shaving my head on and off for years, but for a low-maintenance look, it takes
a lot of maintenance I have to cut it twice a week!
Wentworth (on the medias effect on his career): So many doors have opened for me that I
really can't complain.
Wentworth Miller (about his career): In my career as an actor, there is a catchphrase
that Scofield always says often in regards to his brother, `Have a little faith.’
In my own career as an actor, there were times when I was the only one who believed in
myself in the face of the odds.
Wentworth Miller (about Human Stain): I liked the script, Human Stain, a lot because it
resonated with me as a minority. I thought I knew a lot of the subtext of what was going
on with this character.
Wentworth: Dominic told me about the surfing because he's obsessed with surfing it's
in his blood. I think he needs to hit the water with his board once every couple of
weeks or else he goes crazy. That was all useless to me because I grew up in Brooklyn,
New York and surfing is not part of our culture!
Wentworth: In my own career as an actor there were times when I felt as though I was
the only one who believed that I could make a success of it. I was the only one who was
giving myself any kind of support. And in the face of those odds, in the face of a
business that seemed careless and indifferent to what I had to offer I chose to keep
putting one foot in front of the other, largely because I couldn't think of anything
better to do. I didn't have the plan B that Michael Scofield would have had.
Wentworth (on what he thinks of the Hollywood scene): I feel as though we're living in
a time where there is very little distinction paid between the personal and the
professional. I know a lot of actors in my generation seem to be out there at the
parties, in the clubs and their personal lives become in some respects more interesting
and captivating than their work. For me the reverse is due, I think of myself as a very
simple perhaps even boring individual.
Wentworth (on how being the new face of Bean Pole Jeans relates to Prison Break): I
think Bean Pole has a lot in common with Prison Break. They're both enterprises
committed to the highest levels of creativity and innovation, we also have a lot of
respect for our fan base and we're committed to putting out the best product possible.
Wentworth (on being the new face of Bean Pole Jeans): I'm very pleased with being a
part of the Bean Pole family. It's a relationship that makes sense to me. I'm very
pleased to have my name associated with Bean Pole Jeans.
Wentworth (on what
qualities he finds attractive in a woman): Confidence is at the root of so many attractive
qualities, a sense of humor, a sense of style, a willingness to be who you are no matter
what anyone else might think or say and it's true, I do have a certain fondness for
women that have dark hair.
Wentworth (on his favorite personal feature): I hope we all have some features that we
are particularly proud of. For me; my eyes are my favorite feature.
Wentworth (on his social and love life): I've had a few dates that I was able to
squeeze in here and there. The truth of the matter is, I'm working 14-hour-days and
that doesn't leave you too much time to socialize--which can be lonely sometimes. I'd
love to settle down and have a wife and kids, but not right now. There are things I want
to achieve before I do that.
Wentworth: (on weather or not his love life has improved since becoming an actor) I feel
at a disadvantage - people think they know you. I was disappointed when I realized they
were more interested in talking to Michael Scofield. If that's what they're attracted
to, that's not what I have to offer.
Wentworth (on his parents not being supportive, at first, of him becoming an actor):
All they knew was that I didn't have a job, I wasn’t getting out of bed in the
morning at a respectful hour and I didn't have a steady pay. So they were fearful on my
behalf.
Wentworth (on asking for family support in times of struggle): There
were certain things I wasn't going to share with my family, certain things I needed to
handle on my own, so when I did finally make it I could say: "I did this myself".
Wentworth (on living in L.A. before he became famous): There were some lean years. I
remember going through my CDs figuring out what I was willing to hock because I needed
an extra $15 to make rent.
Wentworth (on his life as a high school student):
I was well-known, but I wasn't necessarily well-liked at high school. I didn't have
much of a social life then. Any childhood demons I may - or may not have, I get to
express by playing Michael. It's me taken to an extreme. It's a healthy, therapeutic
outlet.
Wentworth (on weather or not he would sing again): Singing is
something I did in college and I was too scared of the idea of acting. But it's been too
many years and too many cigarettes.
Wentworth (on the process of getting into the Michael Scofield's character): At this
point, it's kind of like a second skin. I mean I've been playing this character for
forty some odd episodes so I feel like I know him, and I know the people that I've been
working with, we have a certain chemistry. I understand how Dominic (who plays my
brother) works, so the two of us are like a little Jazz combo.
Wentworth: If you're going to be with a story; season after season, playing in the same
playground; episode after episode, it has to be something with a little bit of meat on
the bone.
Wentworth: I always enjoy running into someone who appreciates the show [Prison Break].
It means a lot to me.
Wentworth (on Prison Break): It's been kind of fun to explore where our characters
converge and where we contrast.
Wentworth (on what fascinates him about Prison Break and his character Michael Scofield):
They've created a universe in which every character exists in a gray scale. No one is
black or white, good or evil. Michael's a good man that sometimes has to do bad things
to get the job done and that's a lot of fun to explore.
Wentworth: (on why he chose to play Michael Scofield) It was kind of the pay check, to
be perfectly honest with you [laughs] I hadn't worked in a long time and I was looking
for something that I could really sink my teeth into, and this character was the hero or
one of the heroes but not your traditional hero.
Wentworth (on working in Dallas, Texas): I've seen precious few cowboy boots in Dallas
which was kind of disappointing, I understand you have to go to Fort Worth for that,
but I have caught myself saying 'Do what now?' a couple of times. (laughs) So I'd like
to feel as though I'm getting into the local culture. Dallas has been very, very good to
us.
Wentworth: 'Prison Break' is so far-fetched, I had to make viewers believe that Michael
is capable of making the impossible possible.
Wentworth on Prison Break: It was 9 in the morning and I was standing on a frozen
cornfield. It was zero degrees and I wasn't wearing a coat or a hat or gloves, and I
was doubled over, gasping for breath because we'd literally been running all night,
take after take after take and suddenly the director yelled "Cut!" and just like that,
from one moment to the next, we were on hiatus.
Wentworth (on Prison Break): It's called Prison Break, it's about prison, but it's
really about family, I think, underneath that it's about how far one man is willing to
go to save a loved one.
Wentworth (on the experience of watching Prison Break): It's comic book at the end of
the day and I think it's a lot of fun. There's a lot of pay off to buckling up and
taking that roller coaster ride with Michael.
Wentworth: (On weather or not he would do what Michael Scofield did) I do have siblings
and I think I would lay down my life for them but I don't think I could pull off
something like Michael's attempting to pull off I just don't have the mathematical
scientific savvy.
Wentworth (on relating to his character Michael Scofield): He's not an ordinary man in
extraordinary circumstances. He's not an extraordinary man in extraordinary
circumstances. I don't think there's anybody who would be crazy enough to attempt what
he's trying to do but the one thing I can relate to is the feeling of love an loyalty
for a family member.
Wentworth (on his similarities with his character Michael Scofield): We have some
overlaps, there are some characteristics that we have in common, I do have respect for
discipline and organization and follow-through but I think my character is those parts
of me taken to an extreme.
Wentworth (on the most romantic thing he ever did): This one time I had a girlfriend
that was out of the country a lot. So I gave her a watch and set it to
‘my time’ so wherever we were, we’d always be on the same time.
I thought that was pretty romantic.
Wentworth: I enjoy swimming, reading and naps. I am writing a screenplay or two of my
own and in Chicago I try to go to a different restaurant every week. I spend a bit of
time at The Art Institute Of Chicago because music, painting, movies and theatre can
all contribute to the work of an actor. You never know where you are going to find
influences. By and large, I try to keep my down time fairly low-key as the job itself
can be so draining.
Wentworth: Grandmas actually cross over the street when they see me coming now. I think
I make old people feel uneasy. But on the other hand, I have fans running into me at my
local Chinese restaurant and they're always disappointed to find that I'm not MICHAEL
SCOFIELD scheming over a plate of chicken and broccoli - it's just me having lunch.
Wentworth: It was just expected that I would go to college. Both my parents are teachers
and they tolerated acting, but I was going to go to a school of quality or bust. Which
made my downshifting back to acting afterward a little difficult. My parents have always
been incredibly supportive, but they come from academic backgrounds, and they
don’t know anything about an actor’s life. All my father knew was that I
had a hell of a lot of free time on my hands, and that’s never a good thing.
They had their concerns.
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.
Wentworth: 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.
Wentworth: I want to aspire to something like what Denzel Washington does, which is try
to find scripts written for white actors - or Jodie Foster, who reads scripts for male
actors.
Wentworth (speaking on Robert Knepper): It actually disturbs him when he's out on the
street and just minding his own business and people kinda grab their kids and run in the
opposite direction. He's really a sweetheart."
(During filming the movie Human Stain)
Wentworth: I went out and rented every
Anthony Hopkins film available. And Hopkins met me halfway, like they put a mole on his
left temple like the one I have. Hopkins was able to watch home movies of me when I was
younger as well.
(During breaks on the set of prison break)
Wentworth: 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.
Wentworth: I'm a private person, but that implies that I'm sitting on a mountain of
secrets. The fact is, I'm a fairly quiet person. I have to laugh internally when I'm
asked in interviews what nightspots I like to hit. I just don't have answers for those
questions. So sometimes I make them up.
Wentworth: Many people hesitate before talking to an actor, but my character has
received a lot of mail (and some of them using steamy language.) My character has had
more success than I have had (laughs). When I am walking down the street, women ask me
for my autograph, a kiss and take pictures with their cell phones.
Wentworth: Robert Knepper [T-Bag] gets a lot of racy fan mail, actually. People find his
character arousing.. and Amaury Nolasco [Sucre] gets a lot of pats on the back and
bear hugs, as though he’s everybody’s best friend. People tend to be much
more formal with me, so I get a lot of polite handshakes from fans of the show.
Wentworth: I have people calling my agent asking which myspace page is mine and there
are about a dozen.
Wentworth: I hadn't worked for a year when I had my
Prison Break audition and it was the easiest audition I've ever had. I got the script
on Friday, went to the audition on Monday and got the part on Tuesday. I was shooting
the pilot a week later. I didn't have time to be nervous - it happened so quickly.
Wentworth: I'm not sure if it's a function of the character I play or the quality of
fans the show has but they seem to be a respectful, well-behaved group. I was going to
a chat show in New York when the car was surrounded by fans who wouldn't let us out
until we gave autographs. I'm enjoying it, though.
(If he watches American Idol)
Wentworth: Actually, I've never seen 'A.I.' but I am
grateful to them. That show is one of Fox’s biggest moneymakers, and some of that
money goes to pay for shows like ‘Prison Break.’ Simon Cowell’s been
signing my paychecks and for that I say thanks.
Wentworth: It was never about the money. Because acting for me, at its best, you're
working on a project that touches you in some way…There's a kind of thrill that
comes along with that that I have not been able to find anywhere else. So even if I had
to go back to temping, even if this is not the beginning of an amazing career, I would
not regret making that jump.
Wentworth (if he wasnt starring in prison break): I’d love to be on
'Law & Order’ or maybe do voice work for 'The Simpsons.' I’d be happy
anywhere, just as long as I was surrounded by really talented people and working on
material that inspired me.
(On his favorite show of all time)
Wentworth: I have too many to pick just one.
Different shows have meant different things to me at various times in my life. For pure
nostalgic value, I’d have to go with 'The Muppet Show.' When I was a kid you
could bet that come Monday night at 7:30, I’d be sitting an inch away from the
TV screen, ready for Kermit and company to lay it on me
Wentworth: L.A. has been my home for the last ten years. I’ve come to like it a
lot. But it’s very much about the entertainment industry, and it can be a little
incestuous. That’s what I liked most about working in Chicago -- not everyone I
met was somehow connected with the business. Not everyone had a stack of headshots in
the backseat of their car. Not everyone was working on a script.
Wentworth: I've never been Mr. One-Night-Stand.
Interviewer: What does Wentworth
look for in a woman?
Wentworth: I believe that confidence is the key to many
things. One can talk about a sense of humour or style but the most attractive aspect of
a woman is her confidence; that she feels comfortable in her own skin. Ideally, I would
like to find a woman that understands what it is like to be with an actor without being
an actress herself. I want a woman who keeps my feet on the ground and holds my hand
while I am off going around in
circles. Like somebody who works in the accounting
department of a film
company. (laughs) …
Interviewer: Halle Berry has said that for her it was very difficult growing up in
America with a white mother and a black father. What has your experience been like?
Wentworth: I have had a different experience because you can not tell my race by my skin
colour. I have always been with white people. I have also found myself with them when
they make jokes about black people. At that moment you find yourself in a dilemma: Do
you stop the party and tell them that you are black and that the joke was done in bad
taste or do you say nothing at all?
Interviewer: What other interests do you have besides acting?
Wentworth: I like to
swim, read and take naps. I am also writing a script. I really enjoy looking at
paintings, listening to music, seeing movies, going to the theatre; everything that
surrounds an actor. You never know where you are going to find something that inspires
you. it disturbs me on a profound level.
Back
