It's secret? A lovable family of thugs

Prison Break star Wentworth Miller says there was never any doubt that he'd find himself behind bars again.

"Well, I thought to myself, it's there in the title, so the chances are things will come full circle," laughed Miller, above left, who plays Michael Scofield.

But for the actor, there's a welcome twist when the series throws open the doors on its third season tonight.

"There is a reversal in that chain of events where you have Michael on the inside and Lincoln [Dominic Purcell, above right] now being the brother on the outside," said Miller over the phone from the show's set in Dallas.

Another difference is the actual prison itself. The Panama-located Sona prison makes Prison Break's old big house Fox River look like Camp Cupcake.

But it's this kind of dangerous and inhumane space that Miller says is a paramount piece in the storytelling puzzle.

"Part of Prison Break's winning formula is what happens if you stick a bunch of alpha dogs in a box and you shake it," says Miller. "And the tighter, more confined that box is, the better."

This box is confined and crowded as it also houses three of Michael's mortal enemies (Tea-bag, Mahone and Bellick), as well as a whole new crew of sociopathic villains and a mysterious man that the Company is very interested in.

"He can no longer rely on just his wits, just his cleverness, just his planning and preparation," said Miller about his character. "He has to be someone now who can think on his feet and defend himself and those he loves with his fists."

It's this development that Miller says makes Michael's personal journey even more intense.

"The question then becomes how can he remain a good person while letting these darker impulses play out," said Miller.

Going back behind bars is, of course, a good idea, as people who have never experienced prison life are generally very curious about what goes on behind those walls, but it's not enough to support a series.

"We also have an underlying current of very traditional, family-based themes that people can tap into beyond the gun fights, fist fights and car crashes," said Miller. "I've said before, Prison Break is a roller-coaster ride and can be enjoyed strictly on that level, but the fact the writers and the actors are working hard to craft within that believable, compelling, relatable characters, that's why you care when one of us drops dead on the show.

"If you didn't, then I think it would be, at the end of the day, probably just some entertaining spectacle that no one would talk about 10 years from now."

Source: www.canada.com