Stranger than fiction: Wentworth Miller’s real-life “Human Stain” experience
by guest contributor Christopher Chambers, originally published at Nat Turner’s Revenge
Prison Break
He had an intense personal connection to this light-skinned black character, played as a 70 year old by Anthony Hopkins (the cast included Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise). Not only did Miller possess a similar racial background, but he also caused a controversial incident during his time at Princeton, when he was mistakenly believed to have written a derogatory remark about African-Americans, similar to the situation with his character in the movie. The movie is set in 1997 (around Clinton-Lewinsky affair and the pinnacle of the “politically correct-sexual politics” milieu). In the film Prof. Coleman Silk, lecturing on The Iliad, remarks about two students who have habitually skipped his 9a.m. Lit class: “Are they real, or are they spooks?” The two students, it turns out, are black. Silk had been passing for white since he was a teenager in the 1940s, following the death of his father, a Pullman porter. Student groups and a petty department head demand Silk’s head. (FYI, the love scenes between Kidman and Hopkins are a little weird, so say the least. Nicole looked good post Tom).
In 1994, Wentworth Miller drew a cartoon for the Prince featuring Cornel West, who was then a Princeton professor but had announced his hiring-away by Harvard (and of course he comes back with Kwame Appiah in tow thanks to then Crimson President/Dickhead-in-charge Larry Summers). The cartoon depicted “Muffy,” a prep-school-bred white Harvard student, imagining her first class with West, who is saying, “Today’s lecture is entitled, Rhythm–Why None of You Have It, and How You Can Get It.” It also described West as “newly purchased,” which is an innocent and oft-used academic term akin to free agency in sports. Of course, “newly purchased” was taken as a reference to slavery. Wenty, you should have known better…
Within days the Prince had run angry letters signed by dozens of students and faculty members, including Toni Morrison, who, according to the New York Times, sent a note directly to Miller’s room in Mathey College! Adding kerosene to the flame was the age itself: in ‘94 the right wing of the GOP had been swept into power under Newt Gingrich’s banner. Couple that with the ascendency of the Harold Shapiro regime at Princeton; opinions may differ, but many folks think Shapiro didn’t have the insight, sensivity or empathy for, well, anyone. Too bad you can’t clone Robert Goheen, the best President Princeton ever had (including that scholarly cracker from Staunton Virginia…) Back to the story. Things got so out of hand in this supreme example of life presaging art and art responding with irony ten years later, that a campuswide symposium resulted. That’s usually the administrators’ weasel way out, rather than just telling folks to calm the fuck down and tolerate each other. Miller, who everyone assumed was white, became a campus pariah. Like the elder “Coleman Silk,” Miller declined to bring up his own African-American heritage as a defense.
Before he was cast for “Prison Break,” Miller got some notoriety for being cast as the voice of the HAL-3000-like fighter-bomber computer in Stealth
“To be perfectly clear, ‘passing’ is something that has never crossed my mind. Instead of stepping forward and explaining what I’d meant by the cartoon and positing my own racial background as evidence that I’d really meant no harm, I chose to remain silent. My attitude was, if they don’t get it, I don’t have to explain it, which was my way of saying that if they don’t get me, I don’t have to explain me. The people who knew me on campus and knew my background knew where I was coming from, but I think for most people I was just a name in the paper, and they probably assumed I was white.”
Nevetheless, after filming The Human Stain, Miller wrote a letter to Cornel West apologizing for the cartoon. Prof. West didn’t reply. Nevertheless, he attended the movie’s New York premiere, as he is a close friend of African American actress, author and performance artist Anna Deavere Smith, who was lauded by critics for her portrayal of Silk’s mother, a nurse. He apparently sought Miller out at the afterparty, gave him a bear hug, a kiss on the cheek and any number of permutations of a black-brother handshake.
Was this a sign of foregiveness?
Perhaps not. In September, 2006, at the first big conclave of black Princeton alumni, Cornel West mused to a group of us on the woeful state and quality of African American representation and portrayals and of minorities in general on network TV (including insipid, pandering gameshows and “reality” TV and The Flavor of Love). He bemoaned “Prison Break” as typical Hollywood–creating a supermax prison where almost none of the inmates are black or Latino and where all of the major characters are white…and of course the only men with the brains to plan an escape are white. (emphasis added). Now, the right wing interpretation of this would be: “Aha! West is full of crap because wouldn’t he moan louder if the prison scenes have nothing but spooks n spics? Hollywood Jew liberals wouldn’t want to offend the blacks!” Actually, entertainment & arts is one of the few areas where the usual labels don’t apply and the racism gets truly arcane. No, the “Hollywood way” is exclude people of color so folks in Peoria will watch, unless you want to titillate with stereotypes or other least common denominator demographic pandering. Or you pigeonhole content to the “black” channels, stations, etc. Just don’t say “nigger.” That gets you ostracized until the smoke clears.
I really don’t know what Cornel’s comment means–is he still miffed, and is being snide by calling Miller white? Then again, Cornel is so damn flighty…who knows? Either way Wenty Miller’s getting the last laugh. He’s representing we Tigers very well in Hollywood. Despite the fact you were a Tigertone and thus likely on the DL, I salute you. 
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Kaywil wrote:
It is very hard for me to read how race in interpreted in America. This guy has more white in him than anything else, but because of the one-drop rule, he’s black. It’s sad. Very sad. Can it please be explained to me how someone can ‘pass for white’? If you look like it and are treated like it and receive all of the privileges of it, then are you not white? I’m just surprised at how many people directly and indirectly support the notion that the ‘white’ race is a pure race – any impurities should be quickly identified and removed. Sad. Very sad.
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 10:30 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Kaywil: not true. In interviews, Miller has considered himself multiracial (he’s more than white/black, and he’s got multiple ethnicities within each “race” group). I don’t know HOW one would partition his ethnicities to make him “more white.” His phenotype at first glance appears European-with-other-things. That doesn’t mean he’s “more” anything – there are no white, black, etc. genes.
As for the show he’s on, I challenge any up-and-coming-but-not-household-name actor to turn down a meaty role like that – Miller didn’t cast the show, he’s not the producer, and it’s not his baby.
The whole Princeton comic kind of bugs me, in that it’s not clear if he explained the reference (”purchased” meaning “new to academia” not “slavery”) publicly or not. Whatever one’s heritage, isn’t it easy enough to say, “Woah, that’s not what I meant, sorry!” Being “X-Y-Z” shouldn’t be an apology or an excuse. To do so reminds me of the much maligned phrase, “I can’t be racist, my wife/best friend/uncle is X-Y-Z.”
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 10:46 am ¶
TLS wrote:
Quote
Before he was cast for “Prison Break,” Miller got some notoriety for being cast as the voice of the HAL-3000-like fighter-bomber computer in Stealth (he also was seen canoodling with co-star hottie Jessica Biel; other co-star Jamie Foxx stated “I knew this boy was a redbone [light skinned or mulatto] the second he started drinking Cutty at the wrap party…)
End of quote
Where did you hear this rumour?
Never come across it myself. Do you have a link or some kind of source for this?
Thanks
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 2:30 pm ¶
ChrisChambers wrote:
The Jessica Biel comment was a reference to E! program in 2005 and I will hunt down a cite or quote. As for the Jamie Fox comment, this was from an InStyle A&E reporter who is a friend of mine, covering the wrap party in LA and interviewing the stars, including Josh Lucas and director Rob Cohen (original fast & Furious). I believe the comment arose because Cohen directed Vin Diesel previous and Vin was pretty much silent about his racial background, and Fox was talking to Cohen at the time the comment was made. I do not know if Miller was at the party. I’m going from hearsay here, so I leave it to you to measure the comment
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 2:47 pm ¶
Miquel F wrote:
He seems to be a guy with a level head and he’s a good actor. I like “Prison Break,” but I would like to see him in more movies. The last I checked he had just some small roles.
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 2:52 pm ¶
CiCi wrote:
I can’t believe that after two million years of human evolution, this is what we arguing about…Race!!!
Why do we continue to focus on these petty differences?
I believe that Wentworth is an incredibly talented individual. I have been following his career since 1999. I can’t see anyone else doing a better job with prison break than him.. Do you?
This whole thing about “newly purchsed” comment and him being racist. Why do people have to be so narrow minded?, they did not even give him a chance to explain… he is mixed race… It just goes to show never judge a book by its cover. I read somewhere that he is of African, Jamaican, English, and German descent on his father’s side, and of Russian, French, Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese descent on his mother’s side … cool right? wouldn’t you want a ohso rich heritage…
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 3:22 pm ¶
jan eyre wrote:
Can you explain the comment about the tighertones and DL……I don’t get it??
Are you suggesting that Wenty is gay??
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 5:26 pm ¶
Meg wrote:
I have a vague memory that the human stain movie caused a controversy because anthony hopkins wasn’t a black actor and he shouldn’t have been cast in the role because he’s not convincing as an african american? Totally missing the point of the book (better than movie as always) and film imo.
Goes to show the mass confusion race is causing us all because Miller is good to go in the movie cos he is lightskinned, but he’s not allowed to claim his multiracial heritage, but he’s black cos of one drop rule, but he’s also white cos he’s not enough of something else………sheesh. The other blog has comments on this article and mentions Miller’s acting range is limited to various types of intense. Given the incessent sniping when his race is mentioned it’s no doubt he’d be intense.
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 6:24 pm ¶
Marsha wrote:
I’m a fan of both Wentworth Miller and Cornell West and had heard the story before. Could Miller have meant “newly purchased” to have a double meaning? I wouldn’t doubt it. I have not seen the cartoon (Does anyone actually have a copy of the infamous cartoon they can post on the Internet?) but it seems to me that Miller is poking fun at the whole appropriation of black culture by the white mainstream and that everything “other” is looked upon by whites as being “fascinating” or “foreign” or viewed with a certain exotic mystique. The cartoon reminds me of when you hear people saying that someone is/is not “acting black” as if “blackness” is a clearly defined thing that be turned off or on. I’ve heard that Miller identifies himself as multiracial but it seems like he probably gets treated a white most of the time since his skin is so light. But, Addicted to Race has always been about (and I agree with this) people being able to identify themselves the way they want and not how everyone else wants to define them. I think Chris brings up a good point, I mean, would West be happy if more of the characters on Prison Break were black? Would he be happier if sociopath/serial killer T-Bag were played by a black actor or if Abruzzi was a black mob king pin? “Prison Break” is clearly a glossy, big budget show and I don’t think it is trying to make any type of social statement.
I agree with West that African-Americans are represented poorly in the media but it seems weird that he singles out “Prison Break” while being at a Princeton function. Hmmm…
P.S.: There has been talk around Hollywood that Wentworth Miller is gay but he has never denied or confirmed it. It could be that he doesn’t even want to address it- sort of like when people were accusing Kevin Spacey of being gay. Plus, does it really matter?
Miller was a Tigertone, meaning he sang in the Princeton choir and toured the world performing. He’s mentioned that in interviews.
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 6:32 pm ¶
Marsha wrote:
Correction: the Tigertones are an a cappella group not choir! Oops!
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 6:37 pm ¶
LMK wrote:
Marsha, I think your assessment of the infamous cartoon is dead-on. From Miller’s sly usage of “Muffy” to the send-up of stereotypical black attributes (”rhythm–why none of you have it…), I’ve always thought Wentworth Miller was blisteringly acidic and tongue-in-cheek in his implications/undertone. Frankly, I’m amazed that he was so astute and incisive regarding matters of race at so young an age. How old was he at the time–20, 21?
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 7:04 pm ¶
kim wrote:
This is hilarious. l’m going to have to assume everyone on this blog is younger than me, and considerably so. Or just leading a completely different type of life.
I had no idea who Wentworth was, even with the image of the Prison Break show being posted. I assumed he was some minor character on the show, because…
No one mentioned his being the co-lead in Dinotopia, a television event my children absolutely loved! I fell in love with the young man myself, and wondered if I could have produced that child. Something about him spoke to my eyes, and I said so to my husband.
LMK wrote, “he was so astute and incisive regarding matters of race at so young an age.”
He was agile, yes. Yet Lyonside’s warning against the “I can’t be racist, my wife/best friend/uncle is X-Y-Z,” excuse is not to be dismissed.
I would have liked for the matter not to have been left to inference.
I’ll have to find the network that Prison Break is on.
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 7:52 pm ¶
Meg wrote:
Has anyone seen the cartoon? The description in the article is the same as other articles on this topic on the net and if the first person to write it got it wrong or omitted something and then all subsequent articles copied it we could all be going down the wrong path.
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 8:11 pm ¶
ChrisChambers wrote:
cut and paste this link:
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/11/10/arts/13734.shtml
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 8:57 pm ¶
JTOITY wrote:
There is a link to the cartoon below. It seems obviously satirical to me, but then I am looking at it with the benefit of being informed about the racial background of Wentworth Miller, his articulate intelligence and the presumed intention behind it.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r34/JTOITY/Wentworth/PrincetonCartoon.gif
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 9:19 pm ¶
CiCi wrote:
JTOITY , thank you for posting the link, i’ve been dying to see it
Posted 07 Dec 2006 at 10:05 pm ¶
caelus micanti wrote:
I´ve read somewhere that his father helped him with that cartoon. He said that he was glad to spend some quality time with his father when doing it, so that explains everything, I think.
Posted 08 Dec 2006 at 4:08 am ¶
JTOITY wrote:
caelus micanti – it wasn’t this cartoon his father helped him with (as far as he’s said anyway). The ones he worked on with his father (and with regard to which he was glad for the quality time) were the satirical ones they did together of life in Sewickley – “Sewickleyness”.
Posted 08 Dec 2006 at 6:01 am ¶
Meg wrote:
thanks for posting that link – i was really curious to see it.
Posted 08 Dec 2006 at 6:36 pm ¶
tonya wrote:
I believe race will always be an issue. Our societies will never be wholly advanced enough to overlook what is perceived to be an actual difference in human beings. The fact that Wentworth Miller is bi-racial is even discussed is testiment to that. In a perfect society this fact would be moot.
Posted 09 Dec 2006 at 12:29 pm ¶
A.D. Powell wrote:
Note that the allegedly “racist” communication is not judged on its merits, but on the ancestry of the author. No one questions the ridiculous premise that someone with “black blood” is genetically/culturally incapable of being “racist” (Does that include Latinos?), nor the equally racist premise that “blacks” (a term never defined) should be immune to criticism from nonblacks.
Posted 11 Dec 2006 at 12:39 am ¶
kim wrote:
A.D. Powell:
What were you not reading? Look at Lyonside’s post (#2).
Posted 11 Dec 2006 at 2:15 am ¶
Kaywil wrote:
Lyonside – in some countries, they call you by your name and/or your privilege (rich, midde, other) where as in the US, you must trace back every single mix you could possibly be (a step forward from the one-drop rule?). I am Jamaican – I never knew that was a race. Or ethnicity. A nationality or culture, maybe. My family is mixed as he is and growing up, I had to explain to everyone the same thing: x amount of European, x amount of African, x amount of Indian, x amount of Chinese. Just to do that math alone probably contributed to my mathematical abilities as a child (too much practice)! The thing about it is that he can call anything out of his hat. For the fact that he has to say “I know I don’t look completely white as to why you have your eyebrows raised so I’ll give you a lengthy explanation in order to quiet some of your whisperings” is disturbing. Let him just be cute! That’s it!
Posted 15 Dec 2006 at 11:24 am ¶
arouge wrote:
he is so damm fit i wish he was only mine. do u know how much girls have fits over him. wel am one of them. i only like wentworth miller even though i no that he dos’ent no i even exsist. am from uk
Posted 04 Jan 2007 at 3:34 pm ¶
mely wrote:
people,i can tell you just one thing.wentworth miller is the best!in croatia,he is real star
Posted 06 Jan 2007 at 3:46 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
I am Gia IM multiethnic i look more black than french and arab like Wentworth I dont see how he can be so offensive to other seeing that we myself and him share the blood of a lot of races I would think him being what he is would respect others such as I do I am very disappointed at this talented actor for his ungracious behaviour.
Posted 11 Jan 2007 at 12:42 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:
P.s From Gia
What Mix Is wentworth miller?
Posted 11 Jan 2007 at 12:45 pm ¶
Toni wrote:
It is interesting that he addressed his racial heritage only when he could benefit from it. Would his multi-racial idenitiy be as important if he had not taken the role in the Human Stain? I see it as brillent marketing of his racial identity for film and televsion roles. He can play a white guy in prison break, and a mixed guy of African decent in Mariah’s video and the Human Stain. I think multi-racial people see him as taking a stand and representing himself as a mixed race person but is it business or political? At the end of the day he might just be another actor looking for his gimick.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 1:47 am ¶
merq wrote:
I’m pretty wary of the “cashing in on mulitracial heritage” charge often leveled against multiracial (especially “part-black”) people.
I can’t vouch for The Human Stain, but I don’t remember him being explicitly (or even subtly) branded as “a mixed guy of African descent” in the Mariah video. Projecting our own meaning on the every move of mulitracial folk is something that happens far too often… just ask Mariah.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 3:23 am ¶
kim wrote:
Toni: Would his multi-racial idenitiy be as important if he had not taken the role in the Human Stain?
Kim: Important to whom?
Are you suggesting that taking the role opened his eyes to the nuanced aspects of denying, through non-committal acquiescence when others ‘read’ you as White, a POC background that might not have taken on significant meaning otherwise?
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 12:28 pm ¶
Toni wrote:
merq: Projecting our own meaning on the every move of mulitracial folk is something that happens far too often… just ask Mariah.
Toni: Do you think it is by accident that in the video Mariah leaves the older white male at the alter to join Wentworth Miller who is pictured in a black mask at a cotume party or there are more black and white people interacting together than is on any movie, TV show or other music video I have ever seen. The director was trying to tell a story about the song “We Belong Together” if he felt as through the race of the characters in the video were of no importance he would not have told a very good story. I think the love the characters in the video felt for each other and thier assumed race played a factor in the video. Additionally, Wentworth had just put out the movie the Human Stain. Do you think this was all by accident? He was not in any videos like that during his time on Dinotopia or Ghost Whisper. Why not? If the industry takes his race into account why would you think he would not take his race and the way people precieve him into account. An entertainers job is to sell themselves as well as thier craft. I think he is doing a great job of getting himself out there. Think of all the people that are talking about him. Publicity is publicity.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 8:38 pm ¶
kim wrote:
Toni:
Again, a question.
Why do you think the industry took his race into account during the filming, or auditioning, of Human Stain? Isn’t it implied in the first post (the one on which we are all commenting) that it was a little known/yet true to life parallel that was at work in his casting?
A video that makes use of destiny as owing to love and emotions has little to do with race, if you ask me, or racial pools and similarity therein. Aren’t videos all into the cosmetic and transcendental ‘ultimate’ love that has an inextricable pull on a person?
Are you interpreting the director’s intent with some background information that the rest of us are not privy to?
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 9:30 pm ¶
merq wrote:
Okay, so am I to understand that by your interpretation, the song really means “We Belong Together… Because We’re Biracial”?
I think you’re revealing more about yourself than Mr. Miller, Toni.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 9:33 pm ¶
Toni wrote:
merq wrote:
Okay, so am I to understand that by your interpretation, the song really means “We Belong Together… Because We’re Biracial”?
I think you’re revealing more about yourself than Mr. Miller, Toni.
Sure why not? I am saying the director put thought into who he cast for the role. Any good director would do that. How did you interpret the video? Cute girl, cute guy, nice song the end? Although, I really don’t know what the song is about. I do believe Wentworth Miller was cast because he fit the story the director was trying to tell. Besides the video was not about Wentworth Miller I was using it to illustrate the point that due to his white appearance and his multiracial heritage he has access to more roles. I don’t think he addressed his identity to the world to make a political statement, I think he did it as a business move. I don’t see him as a leader I see him as an actor that is trying to make it in film and television industry. End of story. So whatever racist cartoons he wrote or racist actions he may have taken are irrelevant except when he wants to claim his blackness for benefit. I just think ignoring the fact that he wrote a very public racist cartoon and did not even acknowledge that there might be something wrong with it until after he took a role in which he played a black character made me stop watching Prison Break. It is fine for someone not to choose an identity or for there identity to shift and changes overtime but it is not ok to benefit from one’s white appearance at the expense of a marginalized group and then all the sudden find your black identity for a role in a film. Then say opps I guess I messed up by writing a private letter to the person you publicly insulted.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 10:42 pm ¶
Toni wrote:
kim wrote:Why do you think the industry took his race into account during the filming, or auditioning, of Human Stain? Isn’t it implied in the first post (the one on which we are all commenting) that it was a little known/yet true to life parallel that was at work in his casting?
Toni:
Kim, Yes I read an article about 6 months ago that during his audition he had to prove he was black to the casting agents. Sorry it slipped my mind that no one else would have that context. According to the article Wentworth Miller told the story of the Princeton incident to the casting agent and it helped him get the role. I will look for the website I found the article from.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 10:51 pm ¶
kim wrote:
Ahhh, needed that. Alright, thanks.
Posted 26 Jan 2007 at 11:59 pm ¶
merq wrote:
“I don’t think he addressed his identity to the world to make a political statement, I think he did it as a business move… I just think ignoring the fact that he wrote a very public racist cartoon and did not even acknowledge that there might be something wrong with it until after he took a role in which he played a black character made me stop watching Prison Break.”
Gotcha, and totally agree. I maintain my objection to the “Mariah Video” argument, but the rest, to me, is on point.
Posted 27 Jan 2007 at 1:04 am ¶
allheavens wrote:
Toni wrote:
Do you think it is by accident that in the video Mariah leaves the older white male at the alter to join Wentworth Miller who is pictured in a black mask at a cotume party or there are more black and white people interacting together than is on any movie, TV show or other music video I have ever seen. The director was trying to tell a story about the song “We Belong Together” if he felt as through the race of the characters in the video were of no importance he would not have told a very good story. I think the love the characters in the video felt for each other and thier assumed race played a factor in the video.
Actually, Miller had already been cast as Michael Scofield the main character in Prison Break before the Mariah Carey videos were shot. Brett Ratner the director of those videos is also an Executive Producer of Prison Break and he also directed the pilot of the show. He wanted to give Miller exposure before the show aired and these videos were the vehicle he used to promote Mr. Miller. I really don’t think his casting in the videos or Prison Break had anything to do with his multi-racial background.
Posted 04 Feb 2007 at 4:40 pm ¶
anonymouse wrote:
Miller is gay too. When you put that into the mix, he’s all the more interesting.
Posted 24 Feb 2007 at 3:19 am ¶