| Wentworth Miller |
Miller as Michael Scofield on Prison Break. |
| Birth name: |
Wentworth Earl Miller III |
| Date of birth: |
June 2, 1972 |
| Birth location: |
Chipping Norton,
Oxfordshire, England |
| Notable role(s): |
"Michael Scofield" in
Prison Break |
Wentworth Earl Miller III (born June 2, 1972) is an American actor, who achieved fame as Michael Scofield on TV's Prison Break.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
- 2 Filmography
- 3 Controversy with Cornel West
- 4 Trivia
- 5 References
- 6 External links
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Biography
Early life
Miller's father is of African American, Jamaican, English, German and Jewish descent, and his mother is of Russian, French, Dutch, Syrian, and Lebanese descent.[1] He was born in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England where his father, a Rhodes Scholar, was studying.[2]
Miller was raised in Brooklyn, New York after his family moved back to the United States. In an interview, Miller stated: "My father is black and my mother is white. Therefore, I could answer to either which kind of makes me a racial Lone Ranger, at times, caught between two communities."[3]
Miller's first three years of high school were spent at Midwood High School in Brooklyn. He then transferred to Quaker Valley Senior High School near Pittsburgh, where he graduated in 1990. In 1995, he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English. During his time at Princeton, he traveled the world performing with the school's famed a capella group, The Princeton Tigertones. Subsequently, he headed to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. He ended up spending years doing behind-the-scenes work to support himself before devoting himself seriously to auditioning for acting roles.
Career
Miller's first starring role was as the sensitive and introverted David in ABC's mini-series Dinotopia. After appearing in a few minor television roles, Miller moved on to co-star in the film The Human Stain (2003), playing the younger version of Anthony Hopkins' character.
Miller further increased his profile in 2005 when he starred in singer Mariah Carey's music videos, "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together." He currently has a main role as Michael Scofield in the successful Fox Network television drama Prison Break, for which he received a 2005 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series.[4]
Filmography
| Year |
Title |
Role |
Notes |
| Television |
| 2005-present |
Prison Break |
Michael Scofield |
TV series |
| 2005 |
Ghost Whisperer |
Sgt. Paul Adams |
- Season 1, episode 1 - "Pilot"
|
| 2005 |
Joan of Arcadia |
Ryan Hunter |
- Season 2, episode 21 - "Common Thread"
- Season 2, episode 22 - "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
|
| 2002 |
Dinotopia |
David Scott |
TV miniseries |
| 2000 |
ER |
Mike Palmieri |
- Season 7, episode 1 - "Homecoming"
|
| 2000 |
Time of Your Life |
Nelson |
- Season 1, Episode 6 - "The Time the Truth Was Told"
- Season 1, Episode 11 - "The Time They Got E-Rotic"
|
| 2000 |
Popular |
Adam Rothchild Ryan |
- Season 1, episode 16 - "All About Adam"
- Season 1, episode 18 - "Ch-Ch-Changes"
|
| 1998 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
Gage Petronzi |
- Season 2, episode 20 - "Go Fish"
|
| Film |
| 2005 |
Stealth |
voice of EDI |
|
| 2005 |
The Confession |
Prisoner |
Short film |
| 2003 |
Underworld |
Dr. Adam Lockwood |
|
| 2003 |
The Human Stain |
Young Coleman Silk |
|
| 2001 |
Room 302 |
Server #1 |
Short film |
| 2000 |
Romeo and Juliet |
Paris |
|
Controversy with Cornel West
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Miller as "Coleman Silk" in
The Human Stain. © Miramax Films 2003
In 2003, Miller was cast as 'Coleman Silk' in The Human Stain. It was revealed that he had an intense personal connection to this mixed-race character. Not only did Miller possess a similar racial background, but he also caused a controversial incident during his time at Princeton for making an apparently derogatory (though misconstrued) remark about African-Americans, much like the character in the movie.
In 1994, while he was a junior at Princeton, Miller published a cartoon in The Daily Princetonian featuring Cornel West teaching an introduction to an African-American Studies course called Rhythm – Why None of You Have It, and How You Can Get It. The cartoon referred to West, who was the Professor of African-American Studies at Princeton University before being hired away by Harvard University, as "newly-purchased", an innocent academic term for newly hired that was taken as a reference to slavery.
The New York Times later published the story about novelist Toni Morrison writing an angry letter to Miller. Despite his multiracial background, Miller was considered a campus racist. Like 'Coleman Silk', Miller declined to explain the reasons behind his action.
After filming The Human Stain, Miller wrote a letter to West apologizing for the cartoon, but received no replies. However, West was present at the premiere of the movie. Incidentally, West is a friend of actress Anna Deavere Smith, who played Coleman Silk's mother in the film. He unexpectedly gave Miller a bear hug (implying to some observers that West had decided to forgive, if not forget, what had happened).[5]
Spoilers end here.
Trivia
- Miller made appearances in the videos of Mariah Carey's "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together". Both music videos were directed by Brett Ratner, who directed the series pilot of Prison Break.
- According to Bret Ratner on the Pilot audio commentary on the Prison Break Season 1 DVD, Wentworth auditioned for the role Superman/Clark Kent when the project was still in Brett's hands.
References
- ^ The Race Card. The New Yorker (November 3, 2003). Retrieved on January 26, 2006.
- ^ Wentworth Miller - tvguide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved on July 23, 2006.
- ^ An Interview with Wentworth Miller Entertainment Insiders (30 October 2003). Retrieved on 30 August 2006.
- ^ 2006 Golden Globe Nominations & Winners. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved on January 26, 2006.
- ^ Wentworth Miller's biography. Yahoo!. Retrieved on January 31, 2006.
External links
- Wentworth Miller at the Internet Movie Database
- Wentworth Miller at TV.com
- Wentworth Miller's biography at Prison Break's official website
Categories: 1972 births | American film actors | American television actors | ER actors | Joan of Arcadia actors | Living people | People from Brooklyn | Princeton University alumni | Prison Break actors
