Prison Break became a smash hit when it started in 2005. Fans kept coming back for the excitement and tension, as Michael Scofield executed his complex plan to break his brother out of prison.
While Michael painstakingly worked out his own plans, the show also offered up a compelling cast of characters that fans rooted for, sometimes against their better judgement.
The series had a spark that kept the story going long after the inmates made it outside the prison walls. Prison Break proved to be so magnetic that the network returned to it almost a decade later with a fifth season and has now announced an upcoming sixth season.
However, the behind-the-scenes work of turning Michael’s intricate plans into reality and creating exciting new conflict was not always an easy task. Prison Break had trouble even getting off the ground, almost killed in its idea stage. The show also drew on real-life dark pasts to bring the story to life.
Throughout the series, the producers had multiple woes over the cast, starting before production and continuing years later to affect the upcoming season. Filming was often difficult, resulting in uncomfortable work and on-set injuries. Even though the show was beloved by fans, it also could not avoid its share of controversy.
Here are the 15 Behind The Scenes Secrets You Didn’t Know About Prison Break.
Part 1
15. FOX WAS SUED BY TWO BROTHERS CLAIMING THE SHOW USED THEIR LIFE STORY
Prison Break was radically different from most shows at the time of its premiere, but it was built on similar stories throughout film and television history, such as The Great Escape and The Fugitive. The creative twist was the story of two brothers within a classic escape plot. That brotherhood twist got Fox slapped with a lawsuit in 2006 by two brothers claiming they had used their life story. In 1964, Donald Hughes broke his brother Robert out of a juvenile detention center. At the age of 16, Robert Hughes was wrongfully accused of a crime and sentenced to five years of incarceration. His older brother planned his successful escape, and the two lived as fugitives for four years, but were eventually exonerated. The brother claimed that they had sent a manuscript about their ordeal to Fox, but the network rejected it.
14. ROBERT KNEPPER WAS ACCUSED OF ASSAULT
In the wake of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, accusations of assault and misconduct involving many other men poured forward. In November 2017, a costume designer accused Robert Knepper of assaulting her on a movie set.
Four more women later came forward accusing him of assault.
Knepper denied all of the allegations, claiming that he had been falsely accused.
At the time, Knepper was starring on iZombie, produced by Warner Bros. TV. After his first accusation, Warner Bros. launched an investigation. The investigation found no wrongdoing on the set of iZombie, and Warner Bros. decided he would remain on the show.
However, all five allegations of misconduct took place before he joined his current show. Given the state of Knepper’s assault accusations, it’s unlikely that T-Bag will be appearing in any future seasons of Prison Break.
13. TWEENER WAS KILLED OFF SHORTLY BEFORE THE ACTOR WAS SENT TO JAIL
Personal problems have ended roles for actors and actresses on many occasions, but this was narrowly avoided in the case of Lane Garrison, who played David “Tweener” Apolskis.
Tweener was killed off Prison Break in a dramatic turn in the second season. His character’s unfortunate death happened not long before Garrison found himself in real-life legal troubles.
In 2007, Garrison pled guilty of ending someone’s life with his car after he was involved in a fatal car accident. Police reported that Garrison was driving with his blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit at the time of the crash, which killed a 17-year-old passenger in the car with him.
He was sentenced to 40 months in jail, four years of parole, and $300,000 in restitution payment. He has continued his acting career since his release in 2009.
12. THE SHOW WAS BANNED IN SOME PRISONS
It’s clear that Michael Scofield has yet to meet a prison that he couldn’t escape from in the last five seasons. Thus far, he has escaped from or allowed someone else to escape from four different prisons.
When Prison Break aired, some prison officials were worried that Michael’s talent for engineering elaborate escape plans would be too educational and inspirational.
The show was banned from thirteen prisons in the United States, ensuring that the prison population did not get any ideas from the schemes that Michael executed throughout the series.
Prison officials were apparently worried about having the inmates thinking too much on the idea of prison breaks. However, many prisons still allowed inmates to watch the show, presumably less worried about an over-the-top prison break plan threatening their real-life security.
11. WENTWORTH MILLER AND DOMINIC PURCELL WERE CAST AT THE LAST MINUTE
When producers finally got Prison Break green-lit, they ran into a huge casting problem. Despite many auditions, they could not find the right people for the lead roles.
Series creator Paul Scheuring stated, “We went through some harrowing weeks seeing just about every 25 to 35 actor in LA for the Scofield part. There is a mysterious element about Michael and all these guys would come in playing mysterious, but it was so cheesy and false.
” He continued, “It was one week ’til production and Wentworth walked in and he was Scofield times ten.”
Even though Wentworth Miller was cast at the last minute, Dominic Purcell was the last actor to be cast, only three days before the start of production because Scheuring did not originally think Purcell was right for the part. The production crew was shocked at how well the casting worked out that late in the game.
10. STACY KEACH USED HIS OWN TIME IN PRISON AS AN INSPIRATION FOR WARDEN POPE
Stacy Keach played Warden Pope of Fox River, who served as something of a kindred spirit for Michael. Pope was portrayed as a surprisingly genuine character, perhaps because he was based on a real person in Keach’s life.
Keach used his own time in prison to get into his part on Prison Break, basing his portrayal of Pope on the warden of the prison where he was incarcerated.
In 1984, Stacy Keach spent time in prison after he was arrested for possession of cocaine and taking cocaine into Britain at Heathrow Airport in London. He pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to serve nine months in Reading Prison.
His prison sentence was big news at the time, as he was starring in a show in Britain that had to cut its season short. Fortunately, Keach was able to leverage that experience to influence his character on Prison Break.
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