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Wentworth Miller is multiracial, being of African American, Jamaican,
English, and German Jewish descent on his father's side, and of Russian, French,
Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese descent on his mother's. He was born in Chipping
Norton, Oxfordshire, England where his father, a Rhodes Scholar, was studying,
but he was raised in Brooklyn and attended Midwood High School.
Wentworth Miller graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English,
and traveled the world performing with the school's famed a capella group, The
Princeton Tigertones. Subsequently, Miller headed to Los Angeles to pursue an
acting career. Miller ended up spending years doing behind-the-scenes work to
support himself before devoting himself seriously to auditioning for roles.
After being cast as a younger version of Anthony Hopkins in “The Human Stain” —
Miller had an intense personal connection to the mixed-race character — not only
did he possess the same racial make-up, he ran into trouble for making
derogatory, though misconstrued, remarks about African-Americans, much like the
character in the movie. While a junior at Princeton, he published a cartoon in
the Daily Princeton Ian featuring Cornel West, then professor of
African-American studies who was hired away by Harvard, as teaching white
students a class called ‘Rhythm – Why None of You Have It, and How You Can Get
It.” The cartoon also referred to West as “newly-purchased,” an innocent
academic term for newly hired that was taken as a reference to slavery. The New
York Times ran a story, novelist Toni Morrison wrote an angry letter and Miller
— despite his racial background—was considered a campus racist. And like Coleman
Silk, Miller refrained from revealing his true nature.
After filming the movie, Wentworth Miller wrote a letter to West apologizing for
the cartoon, but it went unanswered. West was, however, a friend of actress Anna
Deveare Smith, who played Silk’s mother, and showed up at the premiere. He
unexpectedly gave Miller a bear hug and all was well.
Miller's first starring role was as the sensitive and introverted David in ABC's
mini-series Dinotopia. After appearing in a few minor television roles, Miller
moved on to co-star in the film The Human Stain (2003), playing the younger
version of an African American character who decides to pass for white played by
Anthony Hopkins.
Wentworth Miller further increased his profile in 2005 when he starred in singer
Mariah Carey's music videos, "It's Like
That" and "We Belong Together." He currently has a main role as Michael Scofield
in the successful Fox Network television drama Prison Break, for which he
received a 2005 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series. He
is currently single, devoting his time and energy to his leading role in Prison
Break.
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