mmorawski
21.11.06, 13:48
Sarah Wayne Callies: Prison Break's Sara Is in Deep Water
by Matt Webb Mitovich
When last we tuned in to Fox's Prison Break (Mondays at 8 pm/ET), Sara
Tancredi was bobbing for apples — minus the apples and any sense of autumnal
festivity. More accurately, I suppose, she was being water-tortured by the
evil Agent Kellerman. (That decision to run out on Michael is looking pretty
bad now, eh?) TVGuide.com spoke with the good doctor's portrayer, Sarah Wayne
Callies, about her latest pickle, Sara's undeniable love for Michael and what
Season 3 (yes, I said 3) might hold.
TVGuide.com: So, how long can you hold your breath? I'm worried about you
there.
Sarah Wayne Callies: [Laughs] Much longer than I had thought originally.
TVGuide.com: I always imagine that it must be harrowing shooting a scene like
that, even though it's "pretend."
Callies: It was nerve-racking, particularly when they rehearsed the scene
with my stunt double, and during it she split her head open about two or
three inches, blood gushing. That wasn't the most relaxing thing to see right
before I did it!
TVGuide.com: Sounds like a scene I just saw in the horror film Turistas. I
always seem to catch you at these bad times. When we spoke in May, Sara was
all strung out....
Callies: That's right! It's not been an easy few weeks for her.
TVGuide.com: Did I hear correctly, that Prison Break isn't taking its planned
hiatus? That they're running straight through, with no break?
Callies: I have heard rumors in both directions; I have no confirmation. They
may have to start filming [the episodes] live, then! [Laughs] Because we're
pretty close to the wire. [TVGuide.com has since reported that after the Nov.
27 "fall finale," Prison Break could return as soon as late January, as
opposed to March.]
TVGuide.com: There's an idea, a live Prison Break. I mean, you guys are all
pros....
Callies: I don't know how well that would work. It might be less exciting
than you think. Remember when they did that live ER years ago? It was one of
my least favorite episodes.
TVGuide.com: I feel bad for you, that you might have been "lonely" this
season on the set. It was just you and Agent Kellerman for a stretch there.
Callies: Well, Paul Adelstein is just an extraordinary professional, and I've
had a great time working with him. But I miss Went! I do, I do. We had a lot
of fun last season, and it was a joy to have Episode 10 together.
TVGuide.com: When you and Wentworth Miller finally filmed Episode 10, that
wasn't literally the first you had seen of him all season, was it?
Callies: We're pretty good friends, so we see each other socially and stuff.
My life is not Wentworth-free, it's Michael-free. How is that?
TVGuide.com: Since the Michael-Sara reunion was so anticipated, how much
thought did you give to it? How far ahead did you start thinking about the
beats you would want to hit?
Callies: Well, I put a lot of thought into it, but only so much of that
thinking is relevant once you read the words that they've given you to say.
Ultimately, it's maybe a reunion that happens in "pieces." The first time
these two encounter one another...
TVGuide.com: She needed to be practical.
Callies: I don't know about practical, but I don't know that there's any
emotion she was going to feel besides the negative ones, which she hadn't
really had an opportunity to express. She's been in coping mode for quite a
while. When you've been doing your best to hold it all together, and you
encounter someone who's even marginally safe, there's that initial unloading.
I certainly had a lot of respect for the decision that she made....
TVGuide.com: Were you satisfied with the way the writers played it — that
they didn't kowtow to fans and have the two of you run into each other's arms?
Callies: The decision Sara made was choosing her sobriety over Michael. She
made it clear to him that a life on the run was going to really jeopardize
her health, not in a trivial sense, but... the next time she has an overdose,
it will probably kill her.
TVGuide.com: You had that great line, "So, Michael... this is your plan?"
Callies: I loved that! [Laughs] "To run to Panama, with the two most wanted
men in America?" Of all the great plans Michael Scofield has come up with,
that was not his finest hour. But then again, there's the question of what
would have happened if Kellerman hadn't intervened....
TVGuide.com: What was Sara on her way to say? "Let's get in a quickie, before
I storm off all righteously"?
Callies: [Chuckles] There's that saying, "I'd rather be miserable with you
than miserable without you." The irony of it is that in the process of
Kellerman torturing her, as all of the external things in her life are
stripped away and as things come into very clear focus, it's the first and
only time she's ever really allowed herself to acknowledge, "There's nothing
I can do about the fact that I'm in love with this man." And now, of course,
he's under the impression that I want nothing to do with him and has no idea
that I'm on the brink of death. It's the constant Michael-Sara ballet
of "ships passing in the night" — of him saying one thing and me hearing
another. They're broken people.
TVGuide.com: Did you get to see Michael's other little girlfriend, Nika,
pining to share something more with him?
Callies: I think if Dr. Sara had seen those scenes, she probably would have
felt much more secure — but, of course, she didn't have her TiVo set!
TVGuide.com: I have to wonder, and maybe you have, too, what the premise
would be for Season 3. In Season 1, they broke out, Season 2 is running for
the border....
Callies: Search me. I honestly wasn't sure the writers were going to be able
to come up with a credible Season 2, but they've done a really lovely job.
TVGuide.com: Maybe if the brothers do get captured and thrown back into the
pokey, it will be breakout time all over again.
Callies: Well, we were brainstorming one day, myself and Zack Estrin, one of
the writers.... It was really hot in Texas, and the heat had gotten to us,
and we thought, "Maybe Sara gets caught and thrown in jail. And then Michael
has to dress up as a woman to get thrown in jail, and it could be a Bosom
Buddies-meets-Oz kind of thing.
TVGuide.com: OK, it sounds like you were really dehydrated there.
Callies: Yeah! [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: The last time we spoke, you were planning to do without TV for a
few months. How did that work for you?
Callies: It panned out very well; it was very peaceful. Although I knew I'd
cave the second Rome comes back on!
TVGuide.com: Do you have any other favorite shows?
Callies: There was Da Ali G Show, back when we were blessed with [Sacha Baron
Cohen's] brilliance, but I imagine we'll now have to wait with bated breath
for his Bruno movie.