“Their stories have been told (and told).”
Donald PadgettIf there is a sixth season of the popular television series Prison Break, it will be without Wentworth Miller. The 48-year-old actor, screenwriter, and 2013 Out 100 Newsmaker announced on Instagram Sunday he was leaving the series because he was tired of being a gay man playing straight characters.
“On a related note... I'm out. Of PB. Officially,” the star wrote in the post announcing his departure, later explaining “I just don't want to play straight characters. Their stories have been told (and told).”
Prison Break costar Sarah Wayne Callies quickly responded on Instagram, writing that “with deep love” she was voicing her support for Miller’s decision to leave the show. She also directly addressed fans of the show, assuring them Prison Break “is a queer friendly space” expressing “full throated support” for the LGBTQ+ community.
Miller spoke of both the support and hateful abuse he has received over the years, and wanted to assure fans his departure was not the result of “static on social media (although that has centered the issue).”
The show follows Miller in the role of Michael Scofield, who deliberately sends himself to prison as part of an elaborate escape plan to free his wrongfully imprisoned brother, Lincoln Burrows, portrayed by Dominic Purcell, who sits on death row.
The actor came out in 2013 in a letter rejecting his invitation to the St. Petersburg International Film festival. Saying he was “deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government,” Wentworth said he could not “in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly.”
Miller ended his message Sunday addressing fans who might have taken more than a casual liking to the character he portrayed in Prison Break.
“If you're hot and bothered [because] you fell in love with a fictional straight man played by a real gay one... That's your work.”
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