Wentworth Miller

Wentworth Miller has come out of anonymity through the front door. His role as Michael Scofield in Prison Break has brought him into millions of homes around the world. At a time when series are experiencing an explosive boom, Miller has become as well known and respected as a movie star. But Miller humbly states: “You look at my resume and you see I’ve had twelve projects, but I’ve auditioned for about 450 times. With what I have heard, there are many more no’s than yeses”.

Vocational overtones accompany Miller’s words, and it is that he must have loved acting a lot to dedicate himself to it, since he did not exactly receive the typical actor’s education. He was born in 1972 in Oxfordshire (England), although from a very young age he lived in Brooklyn, New York. The son of a teacher and a lawyer – both graduated from Yale – it is not surprising that Miller graduated from Princeton in English Literature. He began acting in his college years, plus he was the baritone in an a cappella group. He himself admits that he did not trust that singing would feed him, given his qualities, so he opted for interpretation. At first his parents didn’t take his choice very well.

With very clear ideas, he traveled to Los Angeles in 1995 to work in a small production company specializing in telefilms. However, she soon left him, as being on the other side of the cameras was not her thing. His desire was to act, and it was what he fully dedicated himself to. In 1998 he made his debut in a chapter of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Television was the one who gave him his first opportunities, and it was on it that he got his first leading role. It was in 2002 when Miller played one of the leading brothers in Dinotopia , a fantastic family miniseries. Other of his television interventions were in ER (2000) and Joan of Arcadia (2005).

In his first foray into the cinema, he had the responsibility of playing the young version of the character played by Anthony Hopkins  in The Human Stain (2003). The renowned actor starred in the film alongside Nicole Kidman . His first contact with the cinema could not have been more satisfactory, both because of the cast and because it was directed by Robert Benton ( Kramer vs. Kramer ). His next cinematographic step was as a secondary in Underworld (2003), a fantastic film about the millenary battle between werewolves and vampires.

Miller combined his interventions in film and television. On the big screen, she had some leading role in Stealth: The Invisible Menace (2005). It can be said that he was the true protagonist of the film directed by Rob Cohen ( Full throttle ), but to be honest, in this film only his voice was heard since he was in charge of giving life –through words– to EDI, an unmanned combat aircraft that was becoming self-aware. Then Michael Scofield knocked on his door. Prison Break characterit turned him into an engineer who goes to prison to rescue his brother, unjustly imprisoned. What might sound like a hackneyed argument takes another approach when learning that Miller’s character has tattooed most of his body with a complex encrypted code, with the plan to escape from prison. As Miller himself assimilates, “the tattoo is one more character in the series.” Not surprisingly, they take about four or five hours to put it on. This complex tattoo was designed by Tom Berg, who was responsible for the one worn by Ralph Fiennes in The Red Dragon .

“I think it’s a fantastic story with a great script and a great cast. It also has suspense, action, romance and adventure,” says Miller. And it is that this series must have something that has dazzled half the world and that in 2005 earned a Golden Globe nomination for its tattooed protagonist. What he has shown is that Prison Break is more than a jail.

For now, Wentworth Miller’s future is still tied to Michael Scofield’s, but just in case, he appeals: “I’d love to play General Zod from the ‘Superman’ comic, so I hope if Bryan Singer makes a sequel to Superman Returns , call me.” You know, Wentworth, it will be a matter of work and patience.