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"What I’ve done is a lot of action-adventure, and that’s come with a diverse fanbase. Within that is a homophobic subgroup and their shit’s been washing up on my shore," the actor wrote.
Former Prison Break star Wentworth Miller went on Instagram to explain more about his decision to leave the lead role on the hit show to focus on playing gay roles. Miller had initially announced he was leaving the show in his role as Michael Scofield, a couple weeks ago in another Instagram post.
In this new post, Miller first addressed Prison Break fans who suggested he stay on the show and his character get together with the character T-Bag. On the series, T-Bag is an Aryan Nation member and pedophile who preys on other inmates for sex.
"Is it possible, to some folks, T-Bag = 'gay' rep on PB? Maybe the ONLY rep on TV in their part of the world?" Miller wrote.
"Forget the homophobes + zealots (bec f**k them)," he continued, "for the queer kids, the queer adults who will never come out bec coming out = death in their part of the world... is T-bag the best they can expect?"
He even made a preemptive clap back against people who would dismiss this, saying it's "only" a TV show. "Hollywood is never not sending messages. IMO," he wrote. "Even when we don't think what we're watching has A Message, messages are being sent. About gender, sex, race, dating, power, politics... a lot of folks in Hollywood don't want to accept this. How fast - how far - their stories fly."
Miller recalled a time when a producer on another show excused lack of quality by comparing the show to fast food, saying people don't expect any better. Miller wants us to expect what we deserve.
"I don't mind a little fast food in my diet," he said. "It's an issue if my diet is exclusively fast food. It's an issue if a large percentage of your audience only consumes fast food shows."
He had brought up this point before, addressing how fans of shows like Prison Break have a large population of viewers who only do watch this kind of programming.
"I haven't spent my career on Pose and Looking," he wrote referencing shows that were about queer and trans characters, many times played by queer and trans actors. "Didn't work out that way. What I've done is a lot of action-adventure, and that's come with a diverse fanbase. Within that is a homophobic subgroup and their shit's been washing up on my shore. They dig 'Michael' but have a problem with me. It's got that 'love the sinner, hate the sin' energy. They'd prefer I keep quiet, dial it down. Don't remind them." But he's not being quiet.
"My gayness was largely erased (by me, for starters) in the first decade of my career," he closed out, "it is my want, now, to center it in a way that cannot be missed by myself or anyone else."
This is a courageous move by Miller. He's not just putting out a statement, he's stepping down from a lead role on a show. We need more men in Hollywood like him.
RELATED: Wentworth Miller Quits Prison Break:' No More Straight Roles
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
