When the TV show Prison Break was filming in North Texas for two seasons, I had the opportunity to meet and interview the show’s star, Wentworth Miller, on three occasions for TV Guide. And on each occasion, my gaydar went off. It could have been simply because he’s was a dreamy, personable, intense fellow, who talked in hushed tones and tended to lean in when he spoke to me. Partly it was that he was renting a condo in Uptown, just near the gayborhood. But I never personally saw Miller on the Strip, nor did he hit on me exactly. (By contrast, Rob Knepper, who played a scary bisexual prisoner on the same series, would leer at me suggestively in character, then smile devilishly. He was great fun.)
So when I read this morning that Miller had come out as gay to protest the treatment of gays in Russia, I can’t say it came as a shock. But it delighted me nonetheless.
Miller hasn’t been much in evidence in recent years as an actor, though he has a hand as a writer for the recent art-house film Stoker (it wasn’t very good, unfortunately). He’s just the latest person this month to come out for political reasons (as I blogged about earlier this week).
I’m happy for Miller. But I’m even happier my gaydar wasn’t off.
