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What is Michael Schofield's real name?

Michael Scofield’s original name: Wentworth Miller

Wentworth Miller’s profile:

Name: Wentworth Earl Miller III

Birthday: June 2, 1972

Birthplace: Oxfordshire, England

Growing up: Brooklyn, New York

Height: 6' 1/2" (about 1.84-1.85 meters)

Eye color: Blue-green

Constellation: Gemini

Specialties that everyone doesn't know : A cappella (joined the chorus group The Tiger Tones in college and recorded two albums with them)

Ethnicity: African American, Jamaican, British, German, French, Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese

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Favorite TV show: Law and Order

Favorite TV star: Angie Harmon

Favorite game: Scrabble

Own car: 1983 Mercedes 300

Works: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Time of Your Life", "Popular", "ER", "Joan of Arcadia" "Daughter" and "Ghost Whisper"

Harmoniously and uniformly combine the various temperaments of danger and safety, violence and gentleness, evil charm and elegance, thugs and scholars, calmness and madness. "Prison Break" allowed Wentworth Miller to escape from the trap of being a trap and become the most dazzling TV star in 2005. Although he was once abandoned by his first girlfriend because of his ancestry, and was misunderstood by the world because of a cartoon, he entered Hollywood. After 488 failed interviews, he finally did not give up looking for himself. Wentworth really has too many stories to tell...

The first time I met Wenworth was in a movie called "Ghost Whisperer". In the TV series "Ghost Whisper", he plays the ghost of an American soldier who died in the Vietnam War and comes back all the way to see his son for the last time. His whole scene in this TV series lies in his heart-wrenching eyes. What a look! Confused, painful, sad, and finally happy and satisfied, with tears moistening every audience member. Since then, I have been full of curiosity about him, why he is so good at acting, but we have never heard of it. Him? With the launch of the TV series "Prison Break", our wish was fulfilled.

Cynical Youth

Wentworth's parents met and fell in love while studying at Yale University in the United States. On June 2, 1972, our protagonist Wentworth Earl Miller III landed in Oxfordshire, England. Grandma gave little Wentworth his current name. The name comes from Jane Austen's famous novel character "Captain Wentworth". In fact, Wentworth is a surname, so the name Wentworth is composed of two surnames. Wentworth means: "Went" = a river in Northumberland, England, "worth" = this place. Born with a pair of charming green eyes, little Miller spent his childhood in Oxfordshire. At that time, his father received a Rhodes Scholarship to continue studying law in Oxford. When his father finished school, the family moved back to New York. Wentworth recalled a concept that was instilled in him since he was a child. If you want to do a job, stick to it and never give up halfway. Every day before he went to school, his father would say the word "accumulation" to him. "Every test, every question and answer from the teacher, every conversation with the teacher will affect the final grade and will affect your future study and success." Life is beneficial. All the subtleties that you cannot notice will be the foundation for your great success." It is this attitude towards life and his first stage experience that seems to have determined his future career direction as an actor. . And his father unknowingly played a very big role. Miller recalled: "My first performance was in kindergarten. We were going to do a fairy tale about dinosaurs, and I played the role of a tyrannosaurus. At that time We all needed to make our own performance costumes. Most of the children made dinosaur hoods out of paper of various colors to wear on their heads, but my father used other materials to make a huge tyrannosaurus head in a whimsical way. When I walked up to the stage wearing that thing, everyone was stunned... It was very sensational." Throughout his schooling, he participated in various stage performances as long as his parents allowed it.

When he enrolled at Middlewood High School in Brooklyn, he was deeply traumatized for the first time in his life. In sixth grade, Wentworth decided to describe his family history during a homework assignment.

His girlfriend did not know at the time that Wentworth was of mixed race (African-American, Jamaican, British, German, French, Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese). When she learned about it, she actually said to Wentworth: "Go back to the plantation, Black Ghost!" This was the first and last time he felt deeply hurt because of his family lineage. They then moved to Sewickley, and Wentworth attended Quaker Valley High School. After graduating from Quaker Valley High School, Wentworth entered Princeton University. He himself said: "I grew up in an environment where traditional education was supreme. Everyone thought that I should follow the path of college-work-career. They thought it was very important. Move forward on a reasonable path in life.”

Before enrolling in school, Wentworth was particularly worried that his classmates and roommates would not accept him. He doesn't know how to explain his ancestry? Does he have to explain everything to someone new every time he meets them? At this time, his parents gave him a very good suggestion. You should fill your dormitory with our family photos, so that when your friends come to the dormitory to see you, they will understand everything immediately when they see these photos. You don’t have to go out of your way to to explain. In fact, because Wentworth was once discriminated against and hurt, he was once very extreme and disagreed with his birth. Along with his bad form came a bad reputation and the nickname "Stinky" from Middlewood to Princeton. "I used to have a really bad attitude, but now I'm a good kid," Wentworth recalled. This bad attitude got him into a lot of trouble while studying at Princeton in 1994. Later, after the success of "The Human Stain", he was exposed again. The following is a report from the famous magazine "The New Yorker": "He published a cartoon in the Daily Princetonian, satirizing the then Professor Cornel West, an African-American The black professor was poached by Harvard University at that time. This cartoon depicts a white student imagining Professor West's first class. The professor said: "I am the most qualified to teach today's class. The topic is rhythm -" —Why none of you have one, and how should you master the rhythm? 'This cartoon also describes Teacher West as a 'newly purchased slave', which is a student's evaluation of a professor." In fact, Wentworth just said it. Inadvertently, it ended up being misunderstood by readers as malicious racial discrimination. People who don’t know Wentworth’s background think that this cartoon is a mockery of black professors as Harvard’s newly purchased slaves. This incident caused a big fuss. Many people wrote letters to protest, and it was eventually published in Time magazine. Wentworth became a sensational and controversial figure. Throughout the incident, Went never used his identity to defend his actions, but chose to remain silent. Wentworth believes, “If others don’t understand my intentions, I don’t need to bother to explain them. To most people, I’m just a name they saw in the newspaper. They don’t know me, and most of them think of me as "White." Years later, when Wentworth saw the script for "The Human Stain", he thought he was suitable for the role. However, he also had small concerns about whether he would be stereotyped if he played this role. Playing a black character. But I finally went for the interview. Wentworth confessed his life experience to Deb Aquilla, the director in charge of the interview, and also mentioned the scandal at Princeton. Deb was moved by Went's sincerity, and Went succeeded in his first attempt. In the second round of interviews, Went impressed director Robert Benton, but before getting the role, Went was asked to provide proof of his background. Went recalled that when he stood in front of the photocopier to copy his family's photo album, he looked at the faces of his ancestors and imagined what they had gone through. For a moment, he didn't know whether the effort was worth it. Fortunately, Went got the role in the end, and he hugged everyone present. After leaving, a grateful Went called his mother to tell her the good news. After the film was completed, Went wrote a letter of apology to Cornel West, but did not receive a reply. Coincidentally, the actor who played Coleman's mother in "The Human Stain" was friends with Professor West, so when Professor West appeared at the New York premiere of "The Human Stain", the professor gave Went a hug, and the two finally reconciled. Past suspicions. After this incident, Went devoted himself to his studies and joined an on-campus male choir, "Tigertones", and no longer got involved in similar sensitive events. Wentworth spent his time like this, "This year he toured all over the country, We also went to Europe in the summer, where we performed on the streets to earn lunch money. This is the best way for you to observe and experience the world." In his last year at Princeton, Wentworth decided to start English. A thesis for literature majors. This thesis is about how to understand and perceive yourself in today's era where white men dominate.

This paper is of far-reaching significance, including Wentworth's personal experiences and insights over the years, and even affected his future career, allowing him to understand how to become an excellent actor of black descent in the Hollywood world.

Hollywood Dream

After graduating with a degree in English Literature in 1995, Wentworth faced employment problems. "Princeton is a very conservative university. One-third of graduates will stay in school to continue their studies, and then one-third will go to other universities or places like Wall Street. Becoming an actor is really the biggest adventure in my life." He put all the dissuasion behind him and moved from New York to Los Angeles just to enter the film and television industry. His plan: Become an executive producer, stay behind the scenes and earn a steady income. At this time, he felt that being an actor was too risky, and he would definitely be full and hungry. But Luoshanji is not that easy to get along with, and he has never adapted to the cultural environment here. At first, no crew was willing to recruit him, so he was constantly looking for a job. "My first year here was all about doing small jobs, sending faxes or organizing various files. I also had to change light bulbs and help the boss feed the fish. It is said that usually a young man will do these jobs when he first arrives in Hollywood. If If there was a fire alarm in the building on the weekend, they would just call me as the new person to deal with it. "At this stage, he has been trying to find his place. "I would go to the office every weekend because there was no air conditioning where I lived and Los Angeles was a hot stove. I hung out in the conference room, plundered food from the company kitchen, and looked at films sent by various production companies. Yes. One day I suddenly realized that I had been fantasizing about 'if... I would...', but there was no if, so I decided to quit this life. " "It's a bit scary to say, I rushed into the boss's office and said, ' You know, I want to do this, I want to be an actor. 'She said, 'Okay, I've just been hired as a director at a television company, and I think you can follow me and be my assistant. ' That job pays. It’s $40,000 a year. It’s an opportunity to make a fortune, far beyond my minimum requirement.” “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do most and what I don’t want to do after graduation. This is a problem that young people face. Eventually, I realized that if I took this job and did a good job, I would live a comfortable life, but in my heart I would always regret not becoming an actor; but if I became one, "I am an excellent actor, but I will never regret not accepting the assistant job." "So I had to reject the boss's offer. She said: 'You are destroying your career, and you will definitely regret it. . 'But my attitude is very firm, even if I live a poor life from now on, I need acting as much as I need air." He used to work in a bookstore, "the income was at the lowest level, and he wore a tie every day. The badge is standing behind the counter... I measure myself. If you wait every day and think about taking a break every day, you won't have time to put your photos and resume into envelopes and send them to every agent. "Every agent in the company, you can't be an actor, you can't even get a ticket." When Wentworth was at his worst, he looked at all his belongings every day and considered what he should pawn today to pay the rent. .

After that, Wentworth attended actor training classes for two or three years until 2002. "There is no such thing as necessary formal training. Some actors will tell you that you have to give up yourself when performing. But for me, acting is a process of self-discovery. When performing, you are usually unwilling to express or are ignored by the environment. The repressed self is revealed. I think the actor course is to maximize how a middle-class young person can abandon the inherent middle-class thinking and action patterns, because we have been told what is appropriate and what is inappropriate all our lives. . In my opinion, everyone needs to indulge, so why not use this indulgence to make money?”

He only appeared in two small supporting roles in 1998 and 1999. , got a little income, and then had no income at all for a year. Then he had to return to his original place as a clerk. "I'm glad she didn't say to me: 'How's it going? I told you a long time ago that you would regret it, right?' Since then, I have been working as a clerk for some big productions. Actors were writing contracts. More often than not, I was just sitting in a chair, and I even wanted to study online and get a law degree. That time was completely wasted by me." He appeared in 2000. On some small TV shows, he also participated in a movie. In 2001, he did not have any performances, except for a short film "Room 302". It seems he still can't find his place in Hollywood. "Every day I was being chosen or eliminated in various interviews. This is the real Hollywood." Then "The Human Stain" gave him a break, but in the end Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman were too good to overshadow Wentworth's performance. . In the end, Wentworth was just one step away from success. From 2003 to the end of 2004, he was unemployed again. During this period, he began to wonder what was going on with me, and occasionally did some theater work.

Changes in life attitude

Between 2003 and 2004, Wentworth learned the most important lessons in life, which changed his outlook on life. "I was told that The Human Stain gave me a chance to be an actor, and that it opened a few doors for me. But when I walked through those doors, I realized that I was working with a group of people who were regularly in magazines. The male stars on the cover are competing. Hollywood is a playground for fame and fortune. The latest trend is that when your movie comes out, you have to throw a big party to celebrate, invite celebrities from all walks of life, and even deliver pizza to the crew. You have to take care of everyone. At the same time, you have to accept a lot of invitations from magazines. This is definitely an incredibly frustrating experience, but in the end you have to play by the rules of the game for your own sake.” He followed the rules of the game, accepted invitations from a lot of famous magazines, appeared on the cover, revealed his feelings, and also shot for famous men's fashion magazines, such as "L'uomo", "Vogue" and "Abercrombie" and Fitch”. The change in his attitude is also reflected in his interviews, "I have recently realized that the secret of interviews is not to think of yourself as an interviewer, and don't be cautious for fear of performing unsatisfactory. The interview is like you are participating in it When a stranger invites you to a family dinner, you should never treat yourself as a guest, lest you knock over the cup and stain the carpet. You should treat yourself as the host and entertain the interviewers who are standing in front of you to measure your performance. " I realize that the difference between Anthony Hopkins and most actors is not in the choice of roles. When an actor reads a script, he will first have a very specific image of the character in his mind. He will have an idea of ??how to dress, how to walk, how to eat and speak, and all the details. But most actors have doubts about their character concept, so after they walk into the interview room and perform, they often ask: ‘Is this right? ’ ‘Do you like this? ’ ‘Does this work? ’ Such doubts made them lose the election in the end. And Anthony Hopkins, when he decides on his concept, he performs it in a very certain way, without any doubt, as if the character was born to behave this way. This change in attitude made me more confident and comfortable in future interviews. "

He also observed and analyzed the operation of the complex Hollywood system and came to the following conclusion: "In this industry, it is easy to become a young Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks. People know what to do when they see you and say, 'Ah, a younger version of Tom Hanks. The old one was so successful, this young one should do better. ’ But when he realizes that there is nothing special about the person in front of him, he will immediately change his face and say: ‘You can go out now, your face is useless, wait until you can create something new. '" This change of attitude soon gave him a stable job opportunity. In 2004, he participated in another short film "The Hour", which was also a prison drama. Coincidentally, a few months later he was Notified to participate in the interview for the TV series "Prison Break" "When I walked into the interview room, I was probably the third person in line, and many of the 30 or so TV executives present recognized me immediately. ”

Wentworth recalled that the process from the beginning of the interview to the end when he got the role was very short. He interviewed on Monday, was informed of the offer on Tuesday, and got the script on Friday. He didn’t have time to worry about losing, but he had to be quick. Faced with the intense work, because the interview was only a few days away from the start of filming, he was immediately fascinated by the role of Michael Scofield in "Prison Break" because the character is smart, ruthless and charming. I have also had questions, “How should I integrate myself into this role? "This character has to keep his head clear even if a knife is pressed against his ribs. He is not a bad guy, but he is forced to do some bloody and illegal things. This is not a horror movie, but a true story about a family. : In order to save a person you love deeply, what is the bottom line of what you do? As far as Michael is concerned, this is a way to break through the layers of surveillance of the high wall. This is a great TV series that makes us think deeply. Family relationships, thinking about what we should be loyal to and how to become a real man. In this story about family, society and choices, all imprisonments are exactly the same as in reality. Mostly to show the liberation of the soul. In "Prison Break", he played a white man who encountered two different factions in prison: whites and blacks, and was asked to choose a camp, but at the same time he chose neutrality. Oppressed by two factions. Does this sound familiar? Considering Wentworth's background, the Prison Break crew designed the plot specifically. He did not participate in any racial conflicts from beginning to end and remained neutral.

< p>At the end of November 2004, they filmed the first episode and submitted it to the TV station's executives for review. Whether the TV series will eventually be released depends on whether this episode attracts the interest of the executives.

After the first episode was filmed, director Brett Ratner received an invitation from Mariah Carey to help her film two MTV videos, "Its like that" and "We belong together." The director immediately thought of letting Wentworth star, which would increase his popularity. This proved to be the case, and Wentworth became even more famous.

Escape from the cocoon

Many people began to ask around, who is this handsome man? Then he started gossiping about Wentworth with gusto, such as discussing whether he looked like Hayden Christiansen or more like Channing Tatum. His race was once again discussed, as Mariah Carey is also of mixed race, and people speculated whether it was because of this that Wentworth was chosen to star in these two MTV shows. Luck struck Wentworth again when he was chosen to star in the last two episodes of the TV series "Joan of arcadia", playing Ryan Hunter, a demonic character who can also talk to God, just like the protagonist Joan.

After seeing Wentworth's outstanding performances in two MTV and "Joan of Arcadia", the TV station executives finally gave the green light to the launch and continuation of the TV series "Prison Break". He then left Los Angeles and moved to Chicago's Millennium Park, close to where "Prison Break" was filmed.

The promotion of "Prison Break" was very slow, but when the promotion activities were fully launched, the effect came out. Cinema short film advertisements, TV advertisements, online advertisements were fully launched, and even radio advertisements were not left behind. Wentworth is once again in the spotlight, but this time he's the show's brightest star. Reporters rushed to interview him. Unlike when "The Human Stain" was released, reporters this time were more concerned about his private life, such as whether he was married or single. He said that he is currently single, "My criterion for finding a girlfriend is very simple, that is, having sound limbs. My ideal girlfriend is like this: 'She is also in the industry but is not an actor, so she understands the hardships of my fame, and is willing to go everywhere with me. He went to the studio and stopped me immediately when I overacted and gave me patient advice. '" The reporter also asked about his personality, and he replied: "A rather dull and boring person. I read a lot of books, and I eat in the subway. When I need to buy underwear, I go to GAP." When asked what he does in his spare time, he said that he never goes to bars and writes short stories in his spare time. Or a script, or going out to dinner with friends. A reporter asked him if he would act in comedy in the future. He said that he is not a humorous person. If others think that he is humorous, they must be wrong.

On August 29, 2005, the first two episodes of "Prison Break" were aired and received excellent ratings, the highest level of discipline on Fox TV since 1998. He finally got the breakthrough he had been dreaming of for a long time, as if he had finally escaped from a prison that hid talents in Hollywood, breathing fresh air and bathing in the brightest sunshine.

The most authentic Wentworth

He will pretend that he is a person who eats healthy food, but in fact he is a standard couch potato (a couch potato is a person in the West who loves to sit still) People who watch TV and eat snacks on the sofa.), he said about himself: "I am very vulgar and boring, not sexy at all. I don't like clubbing, and I can eat a whole bag of Extra Oreos in 20 minutes. Oh, of course we can't miss the milk." If his house catches fire, he will first save his handheld computer, some photo albums, and the clothes he is wearing. Usually whenever I see a lady with a lot of bags and a lot of clothes, I will never just walk away and go up to her and ask her if she needs help. He would perform nude if the plot required it, the lighting was good, and his grandmother agreed not to look.

Participating in "Prison Break" is his first TV series as a protagonist. He has been a guest actor in many TV series before. In "Prison Break", he also participated in the production of the stunt part and shot it himself. The scene where he cut off his own toe. When talking about cooperating with Mariah Carey on MTV, he said: "The wedding dress Mariah wore on MTV was the same wedding dress she wore when she got married in real life. You know? That wedding dress weighed at least 50 pounds. She expressed it to I ran over and hugged me, and a bodyguard who looked like a burly man stood beside me and warned me: 'Don't throw Mariah!'"

Talk about "Prison Break" At the time, he said: "Sometimes I would go to Starbucks between filming, wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts, with my entire tattooed arm exposed. As a result, people kept their distance from me when I was queuing. In fact, when I played this role, I I don’t do any fitness because I’m lazy. Another reason is that Michael is not a perfect superhero. Like Jackie Chan, Michael’s difference lies in his extraordinary wisdom. The two brothers finally succeeded in escaping from prison, and the second season will be the story of their escape.

Talking about the relationship between Michael and the doctor in the play, Wentworth said that there will be further sparks between the two, but at the same time there are many difficulties to overcome (first of all, Michael is a prisoner and plans to escape from prison, and Michael is still married). Wentworth also said that he will continue to have a bald head. One of the reasons is that it is easy to take care of. The other reason is that Dominic, who plays the brother in "Prison Break", also has a bald head. This makes the two of them look more like brothers, which is also one of the selling points of this TV series. one.

Talking about the attention he has received after becoming famous overnight, Went said he realizes that appearing on magazine covers, promotional events, etc. are all part of his job. But he felt there was a distance between himself and what people saw in magazines. Wentworth is not impressed by the way some magazine editors have manipulated his photos (removing moles on his face, changing the color of his eyes, etc.). As for his private life, he intends to maintain a degree of mystery. Wentworth believed that his job was to entertain the audience as best he could within an hour, and if the audience was entertained, his job was accomplished. As for private life (such as whether you have a girlfriend, etc.), it is none of other people's business.

※After the American TV series "Prison Break" was aired, Wentworth Miller, who played the male protagonist Michael Scofield, became a new generation idol that was popular all over the world. "I never thought someone could be so handsome in a prison uniform." ." This is the most common praise for him from fans. Domestic netizens even nickname him "Mi Shuai" and are very popular with him. What is even more unexpected is that Miller turned out to be a standard "literary young man" who graduated from Princeton University with a major in English literature

The biggest surprise in American dramas this year is definitely not Wentworth Miller. Before starring in "Prison Break", this top student who graduated from Princeton University could only play some minor roles, such as the young Anthony Hopkins in "The Human Stain" or Mariah Carey's music video. .

For Winter, it was a long, unhappy but precious time. The appearance of "Prison Break" changed his life from then on. The role of Michael was simply prepared for Winter. His silent face, forbearing eyes, and dizzying tattoos when he was shirtless made countless women and even men fall in love with him overnight, making him a The representative of the new generation of metrosextual urban handsome men

Miller is of eight national origins, his father is African-American and his mother is white. The 34-year-old graduated from Princeton University with a major in English language and literature. His parents are both graduates of Yale University. His mother is a teacher engaged in special education and his father is a lawyer.