[edit] Early life
Miller was born in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England. His father is of African-American, Jamaican, English, German Jewish, and Cherokee [1] descent, and his mother is of Russian, French, Dutch, Syrian, and Lebanese descent.[2] He was born in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England where his father, a Rhodes Scholar, was studying.[3]

Miller's family moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was one. In an interview, Miller said: "My father is black and my mother is white. Therefore, I could answer to either which kind of makes me a racial Lone Ranger, at times, caught between two communities."[4]

Miller's first three years of high school were spent at Midwood High School in Brooklyn. He then transferred to Quaker Valley Senior High School near Pittsburgh, where he graduated in 1990. In 1995, he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English. During his time at Princeton, he traveled the world performing with the school's famed a capella group, The Princeton Tigertones. Subsequently, he headed to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. He ended up spending years doing behind-the-scenes work to support himself before devoting himself seriously to auditioning for acting roles.


[edit] Career
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 Anthony Hopkins' character.

Miller further increased his profile in 2005 by obtaining the starring role as Michael Scofield in Fox Network's television drama, Prison Break. His performance in the show earned him a 2005 Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series.[5]

Also in 2005, Miller made appearances in the music videos of Mariah Carey's "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together". Both music videos were directed by Brett Ratner, who directed the series pilot of Prison Break. According to Brett Ratner on the DVD audio commentary for the "Pilot" episode of Prison Break, Wentworth Miller auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent when the Superman Returns project was still under Ratner's directorial control.


[edit] Personal life
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Miller as "Coleman Silk" in The Human Stain. © Miramax Films 2003In 2003, Miller was cast as 'Coleman Silk' in The Human Stain. It was revealed that he had an intense personal connection to this mixed-race character. Not only did Miller possess a similar racial background, but he also caused a controversial incident during his time at Princeton for making an apparently derogatory (though misconstrued) remark about African-Americans, much like the character in the movie.

In 1994, while he was a junior at Princeton, Miller published a cartoon in The Daily Princetonian featuring Cornel West teaching an introduction to an African-American Studies course called Rhythm – Why None of You Have It, and How You Can Get It. The cartoon referred to West, who was the Professor of African-American Studies at Princeton University before being hired away by Harvard University, as "newly-purchased", an innocent academic term for newly hired that was taken as a reference to slavery.

The New York Times later published the story about novelist Toni Morrison writing an angry letter to Miller. Despite his multiracial background, Miller was considered a campus racist. Like 'Coleman Silk', Miller declined to explain the reasons behind his action.

After filming The Human Stain, Miller wrote a letter to West apologizing for the cartoon, but received no replies. However, West was present at the premiere of the movie. Incidentally, West is a friend of actress Anna Deavere Smith, who played Coleman Silk's mother in the film. He unexpectedly gave Miller a bear hug (implying to some observers that West had decided to forgive, if not forget, what had happened).[6]

Spoilers end here.
In October, 2006, Wentworth Miller was interviewed by a German journalist, and said that his surname (Miller) happens to be "Müller" in German, which probably came from his German Jewish grandfather.[citation needed]


[edit] Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
Television
2005-present Prison Break Michael Scofield TV series
2005 Ghost Whisperer Sgt. Paul Adams Season 1, episode 1 - "Pilot"

2005 Joan of Arcadia Ryan Hunter Season 2, episode 21 - "Common Thread"
Season 2, episode 22 - "Something Wicked This Way Comes"

2002 Dinotopia David Scott TV miniseries
2000 ER Mike Palmieri Season 7, episode 1 - "Homecoming"

2000 Time of Your Life Nelson Season 1, Episode 6 - "The Time the Truth Was Told"
Season 1, Episode 11 - "The Time They Got E-Rotic"

2000 Popular Adam Rothchild Ryan Season 1, episode 16 - "All About Adam"
Season 1, episode 18 - "Ch-Ch-Changes"

1998 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Gage Petronzi Season 2, episode 20 - "Go Fish"

Film
2005 Stealth voice of EDI
2005 The Confession Prisoner Short film
2003 Underworld Dr. Adam Lockwood
2003 The Human Stain Young Coleman Silk
2001 Room 302 Server #1 Short film
2000 Romeo and Juliet Paris


[edit] References
^ Wentworth Miller on being a racial spy.
^ The Race Card. The New Yorker (November 3, 2003). Retrieved on January 26, 2006.
^ Wentworth Miller - tvguide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved on July 23, 2006.
^ An Interview with Wentworth Miller Entertainment Insiders (30 October 2003). Retrieved on 30 August 2006.
^ 2006 Golden Globe Nominations & Winners. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved on January 26, 2006.
^ Wentworth Miller's biography. Yahoo!. Retrieved on January 31, 2006.