Here's an interview from the last year in a German magazine. Credits to bohemianrhapsody at Excomm who translated it. She said she didn't have part 1. I don't know what to think of it, because he mentions a girlfriend. Although, he did say once before that he had a girlfriend in the beginning of season 1 and it may be her. It sounds like a real interview. I can't help feeling bad for Dom and his marriage hearing about him being a family man. Here you go....
A talk with two TV-inmates, part 2
In TV-Serien-Highlights 06/2007 we published the first part of our big interview with the likeable Prison Break lead characters Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. Now that the show fascinates the viewers on RTL (but there could still be more tuning in!), we continue our chat.
The second meeting with the RTL-TV-inmates was again exciting. No surprise that journalists from all over Europe were lining up to document the event. Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller showed the best faces and answered every question obediently.
TV: What do you like about your role, Mr. Purcell?
DP: I like characters with good and bad sides, who show several aspects of their personalities. In my opinion that’s the true structure of every human character. No one is just good or bad, everyone has several features. Usually, one aspect is defined stronger than the other, by life and your environment. My role in Prison Break is like this, that means, it’s more realistic and creates more authenticity and dynamic, is simply truer.
TV: Recently you shot in South Africa and were recognized even there? How did this feel?
DP: The people went crazy (laughs out loud). I was stared at, as if I was one of the Beatles. Now, seriously. It felt strange. You are thousands of kilometers away from home and people get nervous when they see and recognize you. That’s the price one has to pay. As an actor in an internationally successful show you are in the centre of the publics’ interest.
TV: So you’re not the type of guy who wears a disguise when going out?
DP: I can’t and don’t want to hide or disguise myself. In my case that would be ridiculous. I think everyone would see and think there’s something wrong with the person behind the disguise. I’m just a one-of-a-kind bloke, cos I am how I am. With all my weight-liftiging added, I’m not your typical guy on a street.
TV: Mr. Miller, what’s your view on your popularity?
WM: Right from the start, you must try to find a fine balance. Let’s be honest, today’s commercialization of an actor is part of every TV production and show. The more successful the show, the bigger the commerce.
TV: You sound rather detached?
WM: Well, we want the success, that is, we want peple out there to know about Prison Break. In this way, eventy like this come to life, that means publicity tours to advertise the show immensely. It would be naïve of me to not be interested in having a long, successful career as an actor. I want to have a steady income which makes a certain lifestyle possible. So you have to endure a certain amount of publicity work.
DP: I think it’s about the right dosing. You have to learn to know when it’s enough and when it’s time to step on the brakes. As soon as you feel under constant observation, then it’s definitely too much press work.
TV: Is preparation for a TV show different than for a movie?
DP: It’s best going to the set prepared. You should know your lines and your schedule for the day. It is especially important if you have to shoot very emotional scenes, so that you are set into the right mood for such a day of shooting.
TV: And with action scenes?!
DP: It’s similar. You have to start loosen up already at home. Even though hairy scenes are shot by stuntmen, we do a lot ourselves, otherwise it would look fake. I shoot as much as possible myself.
TV: But it often happens, that the complete shooting schedule is changed in between minutes….
WM: Yes, that’s true. In a show very often. I guess what Dominic wants to say is, that we always have to be prepared for all kinds of eventualities.
DP: That’s the great thing about the show. It demands us in every possible kind of way. We have to do research, to follow details from the scripts. For example, we talked to former inmates from Chicago, men who were imprisoned for 20, 30 years. One of them was a really wretched guy. By his behaviour he received several facilitations of his prison requirement, still he has to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
TV: What good did those encounters with convicts do you?
DP: Well, in emotional scenes where you have to portray angst, frustation etc., it is important to know how people deal with it. You can see at animals in the zoo that they go mad if the cage is too small or the areal too boring.
TV: They go mad?
DP: Exactly! Yet, they react differently. Some become aggressive, other lethargic or they hurt themselves or rot away. Prison is just the same. The longer the imprisonment, the fewer the perspectives, the more their behaviour assimilates. And to be honest, we are not that different to animals!
WM: Hahaha! That’s true! Prison Break is a show about a zoo full of people.
TV: What I have always wanted to know is, how do you learn your lines so quickly? Sometimes you receive your scripts only a few days in advance…
WM: There are several techniques to study. Thankfully you learn them at acting school. They teach you methods and tricks at seminars, how to memorize your text. I find mindmapping quite helpful.
TV: Mindmapping?
WM: I memorize the last word my partners have to say. Okay, you have to learn your text and the dialogues. But usually we pratice scenes one or two times. It also depends on your partner.
DP: Oh, that’s true. And each of us has good and bad days. The production of a show like Prison Break is exhausting, both physically and psychologically. An actor has many diverse requirements. Practicing scenes is important to make it easier for everyone.
TV: How would you describe Prison Break?
WM: It will never get boring. It’s very versatile and you have to hang in there. Tiny details that seems unimportant at first sight can play a big role later on.
DP: Somehow we have almost everything: action, brotherly love, hate, sacrifice,love, romance, brutality, angst, suspense, adventure. As I said, Prison Break is entertaining and goes far beyond your typical prison stories.
TV: How long is a day of shooting?
DP: That depends! Usually about 11-13 hours.
TV: Without breaks?
WM: No, that would be too realistic! (laughs out loud, Purcell joins in)
DP: Well, we did have 17-hour-days. Five days a week. When the weekend comes, you’re beat.
TV: How do you sustain your private life then?
WM: During the first season I hardly saw my girlfriend. That wasn’t fun. But we made it through. As strangely as it may sound, but I took Dominic as a role model.
DP: That’s the right way, little brother!
WM: Yeah, big brother! Dominic reserves a lot of his time for his family. He has fixed times and those are sacred to him. In private, he is a family guy. I was impressed by that. Okay, his wife and family are going along with it. But the onger you do it, the better it works.
DP: Family is important, you should never forget that!
WM: And so I copied his ways of dealing with it and am doing it the same way.
TV: Wentworth, are you still singing?
DP: Singing? Under the shower?
WM: No, I gave up singing for the time being. That was a side project at college. Probably to overcome my stage-fright. Back then it was my creative output to deal with certain things. On the other hand I wasted a lot of time with it and definitely smoked too many cigarettes. One thing I can say with certainty about myself, I couldn’t make a living with singing!
