Portugese Interview With Wentworth Miller

by By Fabio M. Barreto on September 20, 2010

translated by: Wentishy @ Excomm

Wentworth Miller's voice is serene and peaceful. Unhurried to express himself and endowed with great skill, faced a pile of hallucinated questions about Resident Evil: Afterlife and Prison Break, but he ended surprising by demonstrating above-average intelligence and revealing himself as  a screenwriter who is passionate for the art of writing and also for Stephen King and Bram Stoker’s literature. Maybe it was Michael Scofield character who used to distanced him from his true self, or maybe it's the simple notion that common sense has gone from Hollywood, but, anyway, Miller beat them up, he didn’t refuse to answer any questions, always smiling and with a pair of eyes that, in the flesh, would leave many women simply astonished. The power of cinema is nothing for those who don't know how to use it, but, in the case of Wentworth Miller, we see the best of both worlds: raised in an English family and known worldwide through one successful series.

How do you react when you saw that your character would start the film in jail?

Obviously I found it funny. When I first saw the script I thought "you got to be kidding!", but then I laughed because I thought there was place for humor. I liked the idea of Prison Break fans coming to see this movie and having this point of reference. Practically an inside joke. If you haven't watched the series, you don't know me from Prison Break, so when you watch me on the screen is all normal, nothing special. Also thought it was important that, in a context of horror, suspense and stress, could be moments of humor, of hope. Something that make our experience more satisfactory.

No one trusts in their character and I have seen this in many movies. Do you consider the trust as a rare item nowadays?

Interesting question. This is at the core of which is the movie. It's about zombies, is action, is to give the public the scuffle. But it is also about a group of human beings, with different experiences and convergent schedules, being out there, forced to trust on each other, to face this enormous, endless madness. Thus, this film and other zombie films delve in the need of appreciate the humanity. In a light way, the film covers this aspect. Yes.

Now that you jumped again on the radar of Hollywood films, do you think you’ll get to separate, somehow, from Michael Scofield?

Don't think I can turn the page. For some people, I’ll always be Michael Scofield. And that's okay. I respect what the series provided me, respect the fact that on its behalf I won international fans. It’s a way to stay connected with all these people around the world.

How do the reactions to this connection get to you?

(Smile) The first journalist who sat for interview me this morning asked me two questions. And then he began to do a re-interpretation word by word from a scene of Prison Break. He played me, my brother, and suddenly opened the zipper of his coat and revealed a t-shirt with a complete tattoo. At those moments you realize that Prison Break will be always with you, it can appear at any time. And I think it’s important to honor it and not try to delete it, because it’s not possible. The goal is to build a solid career in various aspects of entertainment. Not only have the Resident Evil out, I am also venturing as a screenwriter.

Can you tell us?

This is a script called "Stoker". This name is related to Bram Stoker and, of course, also means "someone who stokes". Is kinda a Gothic thriller, a family drama, an insane love story. There are several strong names involved, but still can't confirm. Has been a powerful experience, because I think an actor that only acts understands a fraction of the activity. It is important to explore the many sides of the industry, so you can enjoy the work of others from a basic level. I get scripts which I don’t necessarily answer, but now I’ve made my own I have a better understanding and respect for what that person has achieved. Even if it is not my liking, I understand that there is a science, an art, and the person came from behind and gave everything for it, crossed barriers. Something that many people don't do, because we don't want to take risks, scared of what's on the other side.

Is there comparison between the dedication and creativity involved both in acting and in the composition of a script?

I haven’t yet gone through the whole exercise of writing, for me it’s still something new and interesting. I love the fact that is a production frighteningly of my own. I'm going to bed and work in an idea in my terms, my way, my time. Acting on TV and cinema is entirely collaborative. The actors respect the ideas of screenwriters and directors, and there are a lot of them coming. Then you sit and wait for a hundred people do their jobs so you can do yours. Sometimes this can be a frustrating experience, therefore, to embark on a project that was completely under my control, where I was the master of the universe that I was creating, was, by far, very exciting.

Did you consider yourself the "master of the universe" in Prison Break? If not, was this that motivated you to write?

Eventually every actor thinks that he can do whatever he wants while filming a feature film or TV show, try different things. But he´s not the one who’s in the editing room, editing his performances. I wasn't completely responsible for the character of Michael Scofield that was presented to the public every Monday night during those four years. I think the desire to have greater creative control is natural.

Fortunately, I’ve never seen your name in gossip magazines or involved in scandals. This was a conscious decision? How it changed your life in terms of facing the profession?

I think I was allowed to a few things that some other actors aren’t, which is very difficult and rewarding. I think we are living at a time, culturally, where you can go from zero to sixteen in sixty seconds. To experience the creation of a movie and suddenly I'm carrying the next movie on the back. Or your name’s in the title. If it works, great. If not, the fall can be very significant. Back then I was able to break down barriers and make mistakes, but in a context where no one was watching, or no one cared for awhile so when the success came, I was prepared for this degree of responsibility, resulting in attention. I won't lie, it’s not easy to have people worried about his every step. It’s a disturbing experience. It’s strange, is weird, is unusual. Also is abnormal. But at the same time I was aware of the pitfalls of fame. One of them is super exposure, another is getting known more as a personality than as an artist or actor. Just after leaving four years of Prison Break, I anticipate the difficulty of trying to reinvent myself to the public. All we've seen actors who fail and end up destroying themselves because of this stigma. So, I kept my feet on the floor. Also helps the fact that I don't find the Hollywood scenario fascinating, there is nothing about premières, parties, bars and clubs which attract me. Even if I were a counter wouldn't be doing these things or trying to be part of this scenario. I'm actively involved in building a persona who’s on his way to fulfill himself, like Michael Scofield or Chris Redfield [character of Resident Evil: Afterlife]. Especially today with a machinery of popular culture that needs to be replenished full-time, it is important to keep some things for yourself.

And the new wave of online interaction, which many actors use to keep their fan base?

You certainly are encouraged to do so (tweet, blogging, facebook, etc). These have become part of Hollywood marketing tools. Is a powerful phenomenon have on Twitter people following an actor, a director, having a prior "peek" at what is still a project. Is a powerful tool, no doubt. But not because I am interested I'll pass online my daily movements for hundreds, perhaps thousands of strangers. It just seems weird to me. I think it’s more interesting when I'm on the set, playing a character. Is part of the reason why we’re in this business. I had an excellent coach who once told me that the average person spends his life running away from intense human experiences and emotions, because there is the threat of being overwhelmed. And the work of the actor is to run in the direction of these things, is what we get paid to. So, I don't have to go wild at the supermarket and Tweet about it. I'll keep my attacks for the movie sets, when is the most secure environment possible and I'm getting paid to do so.

Do you already became interested in knowing how many people would follow you or would be interest in your daily life?

 I entered the internet once to see these things, because I was told that there are many "me” online. Many pages of Facebook and MySpace and Twitter accounts in my name, and I am not associated with any of them. I suddenly felt the potential risk of a fan of 13 years of some distant country communicating with someone who she thinks it’s me. This to me seemed potentially dangerous. So, I created an official page to avoid this type of problem. Don't know to what extent people believe it’s me, but I did my part.

 Likes games?

No video-games. Never been a gamer.

What has occupied your life at the moment?

To write. I'm working hard. Is part of why Prison Break was an experience so challenging for me, because it was a success and needed to be sustained, and I was very happy to do so. Filming the series ten months per year and promoting in the other two. It was practically my life during four years, and I gave my best for it with satisfaction. The process of writing the screenplay has been a plan long time ago. Told myself by four years that I couldn't write it and then sat down one day and suddenly, there I am, writing. And four weeks after I had finished, because they were ten to twelve hours of work per day, every day. Was kind of obsessive, something very powerful, I loved the experience.

You mentioned Bram Stoker as strong influence to your script. Where does this binding with terror and fantastic come from?

 I grew up reading Stephen King novels. I couldn't play video games or read comics, it was always only homework. But read books I was allowed, as long as they were really books. Always liked this genre. I think these shadowy figures, such as vampires, Frankenstein's creature, zombies, represent, consciously or unconsciously, the more obscure and sinister parts of ourselves, of human experience. Is hallucinatory to dive in this world and experience it from your armchair in cinema.

In terms of gender, what can we expect of Stoker?

It has elements of a family drama, but firstly was intended as a thriller, something to cause shivers.

Did you feel safe delivering a script or you agree with that idea that scripts are never ready ... the deadline arrives and there is more to be done?

I knew that at some point I’d have to deliver the "child", and would be in the position of having another person responsible for the development of my creature. I was aware of all that thanks to Prison Break, because the writers came with something that made sense to them in a room with air conditioning in Los Angeles, and there we were in the wilderness of Texas in a heat of forty degrees, about to shoot, and finding that certain things might not work when we tried to make them reality on stage, wouldn’t stand. So the actors, at that time, had to rearrange a few movements and words. It was a very collaborative process in which the writers relied on our active participation, piecing together the story from week to week. Looking back, this was part of my training, definitely.

How did you face the completion of Prison Break? Mission accomplished?

I'm not sad at the end of Prison Break, feel that we told the story and honored those characters, we have a beginning, middle, and end and is now over. What I miss is the feeling of community and continue seeing the same faces in the course of four years, which is quite different from being in films: You meet, have these quick and intense connections for two months and say farewell. There’s a familiar aspect in doing TV, even more if it’s a long show, which is unique, and of which I feel homesick.

What you value more as an actor? Leveraging, now it's time to focus on film or TV is still an option?

Is the role, the story of the character, that matters. Tomorrow I could be back doing television, theatre or cinema. I'm trying to keep myself open to options, and do not decide that my career must be of the form A, B or C. Because I think this is a guarantee that it will go looking like D, E and F. 

Like the 3D?

Since the story being told is worthwhile, the 3D enriches this experience. If there’s a story at the center, is only a trick.