Prison Break

With Mike’s love Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) missing and the rest of the still breathing Fox River State Penitentiary alumni scattered in various precarious situations, critics and audiences were left scratching their heads wondering, “What the hell is going on with this show?� There’s a lot of explaining to do. Comcast.net went straight to the source, talking with actor Dominic Purcell about his thoughts on Prison Break’s sophomore season (available now on DVD) and getting him to spill some hints about season three:

Dominic, they had you working a whole lot more during season two of Prison Break, so what were some of the highlights for you?

Dominic Purcell: I think the major highlight was the fact that I was out! I wasn’t filming inside a cell. The first season, all my stuff was either behind the cage or within a prison cell, and it got stifling for me as an actor. In season two, I was out and about and running around interacting, so season two was refreshing for me.

Season two also allowed more exploration of the relationship between Michael and Lincoln. How did that help develop your character more?

DP: It was interesting because obviously the interaction and dynamics between Michael and Linc were suppressed in season one. In season two, we had to find a different dynamic. We had to imagine and touch back into our histories as a family. We tried to bring in elements of that but unfortunately the show, certainly last year, was all about being on the run. It didn’t leave much time for the brothers. I think that’s something myself and Wentworth feel very strongly about, is that we really want to see more personal stuff between the brothers. In season three, we will get to see a lot more of that.

Last year, there wasn’t much “break� in Prison Break, as the show was reinvented as more of a “fugitives on the run� concept. Was that hard for you to get used to?

DP: Yes. I think the biggest challenge for us as actors on the show is to find justification, for instance, in Linc not killing T-Bag. It’s like. “What’s the point? Why am I even talking to this guy?� T-Bag is one of the favorite characters on the show and he’s highly watchable and I get it. But in a real situation, Lincoln would have broken his neck long ago, so that’s the biggest challenge for me and all of us.

Were there any storylines you loved and any that you were happy to see go away?

DP: Absolutely! I thought there was some powerful stuff. When Veronica was murdered, I thought that was a powerful moment. We started the first season off on a bang. Season we started really good and I thought we dropped the ball towards the end. I was very vocal about it with the writers, but again, we were in the situation where Michael and Lincoln have to service the plot. It became difficult because we watched the other actors getting all the fun, gravy stuff. Wentworth and I were left going, “Where to?� We talked to the writers and they were very aware of it too. And I think season three is going to be amazing because it’s really quite special. You were quite cheeky with your commentary on the season one DVD, so did you add more colorful commentaries to the second season DVD?

DP: Unfortunately, I didn’t comment on this one because I was away on business. I enjoyed the first one and I wish I had the opportunity for the second one too.

The second season ended with the brothers in Panama, which is the last place audiences expected the finale to end. Where are Mike and Linc at the beginning of season three?

DP: Yeah, we saw Linc looking for Sarah. We cut to season three with Linc in the American Consulate trying to find Sarah and to get Michael out of this Panamanian jail. The interesting thing is that I think in season one the star of the show was the prison. For season three, it’s the same deal, but this prison makes Joliet look a 5-star resort! In South America, the jails are not like United States jail. It’s basically a fortress and the inmates are let in there and basically told, “Do what you want – just don’t break out.� It’s a free society within prison walls, so the dynamics this year are very gritty and dark, but also highly entertaining. You have Scofield losing his stuff; Mahone is slowly losing his mind because he doesn’t have any pills; Bellick is wearing a diaper; T-Bag is stooping as low as he can to survive. It’s going to be a fascinating, interesting season.

Where do you want to see the brothers eventually end up?

DP: I just want to see the day where Michael and Linc can just chill out, have a beer and talk normally. I think that’s the next big challenge. Can we make a show about family without all the 24-isms?

How did you spend your summer vacation away from Prison Break?

DP: I did a movie with Joel Schumacher on my hiatus. The working title is Town Creek and it’s basically about a Nazis cult experiment gone wrong. I play an ex-soldier who is tortured by this family with ties to Nasiz occult. It’s a revenge movie – very dark. But with someone like Joel Schumacher directing it’s going to be a great movie.