It looks like Prison Break is moving on without one of its breakout stars.
In a lengthy note posted to Instagram, actor Wentworth Miller announced that he’s no longer involved with the US drama, and won’t appear in a sixth season if it materialises.
“I just don’t want to play straight characters,” wrote Wentworth, who came out as gay in 2013. “Their stories have been told (and told).”
The 48-year-old went on to apologise for disappointing his fans, but true to form, offered some cheeky closure.
“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,” he quipped.
Prison Break follows Lincoln “Linc” Burrows (played by Dominic Purcell), who is sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. His only hope is his brother Michael (Miller), who hatches a plan to get himself sent to the same prison in order to break both of them out, from the inside.
The series debuted in 2005 to favourable reviews and ran for four seasons. A feature-length TV film, Prison Break: The Final Break, concluded the series’ original run in 2009.
It was revived for a nine-episode fifth season in 2017.
Since then, the show’s cast and creative team have appeared to be at odds over whether a sixth season of Prison Break will get produced.
“There’s no plan right now to revive Prison Break or any of the other franchises,” Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said last year, according to multiple outlets.
“But when the creators come with a story that they think is the right time to tell, we are so ready to listen because those are some franchises of which I’m so proud and feel so fortunate that they’re in our stable.”
In September, Purcell hinted on social media that a sixth season would in fact happen, but that the filming process could be in flux because of Covid-19.
Both he and co-star Sarah Wayne Callies expressed their support on Instagram for Wentworth Miller’s decision. In a separate post, Sarah said the show’s cast represented “a queer-friendly space”.
In the three years since his most recent Prison Break stint, Miller has kept busy with a variety of TV projects, including Legends Of Tomorrow and Madam Secretary. He’s also become an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and mental health initiatives.
He previously hinted at his post-Prison Break artistic mission in a 2017 interview with HuffPost.
“Obviously I’m in favor of queer characters on-screen. As many as possible,” he said at the time. “But it needs to be done right. Respectfully.”