The Flash: Prison Break's Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell on Reuniting as Captain Cold and Heat Wave
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01...ll-on-reuniting-as-captain-cold-and-heat-wave
Wentworth Miller made his debut a couple of months ago on The Flash as Captain Cold and when he returns in Tuesday’s new episode he’ll have a notable ally – DC Comics villain Heat Wave, played by Dominic Purcell.
Yes, Miller and his former Prison Break costar – the man who played his brother for four years – are reuniting on The Flash, as the two now both have recurring roles on the series.
I sat down with Miller and Purcell to discuss their big TV reunion, getting to play the bad guys this time and more.
IGN: I was on the set of the next episode, and it was exciting watching you guys in full costume, playing out this big fight scene in the streets with Grant [Gustin], dressed as The Flash. Whether you knew the source material or not going in, is there just that fun little kid thing – like, “This is such a crazy part of our job”?
Purcell: Absolutely. As I said before, I’ve had the most fun with this character and a lot of characters I’ve done. It brings you back as a child, playing Cowboys and Indians. It just allows freedom for me and fun.
Miller: It brings me back about five years to when I was playing Michael Scofield in Prison Break and that experience was playing a good guy for four years and it was my job to stand there and spout exposition while the bad guys tore up the scenery and did cartwheels all around us. So to kind of taste what that’s like and enjoy a bit of that material. It’s been really satisfying.
Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold and Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave in The Flash.
IGN: Wentworth, you were talking about how you were cast first and you knew there was this other character coming and suggested Dominic. Obviously you knew you worked well together...
Miller: I didn’t even think about my own level of comfort as an actor. I just heard the character described; edgy, unpredictable, force of nature. Is there an actor you can think of that would be right for this part? That was the question that Geoff Johns asked me and I immediately said “Dominic Purcell.” I was 90% serious, 10% joking because I didn’t really think they could make that happen. Lo and behold, here we are.
Purcell: Add I thank Wentworth for that because, again, for me, I’m humbled to be a part of a successful show and I’m fortunate to be playing an iconic character like Heat Wave. It’s very exciting for me.
IGN: Can you talk about what the dynamic is between your characters? Are they pretty much on the same wavelength or are there some disagreements?
Miller: It’s hot and cold. We’re meant to be polar opposites in every respect. I’m cold, calculating, everything is thought out. He’s impulsive. I think he’s going to go left, he goes right. It’s a nice balance and there’s always tension that we get to play and enjoy playing.
IGN: Is there even a question of who’s calling the shots?
Miller: I am, technically. Technically Cold is calling the shots, begrudgingly.
Purcell: We’ll have to explore that as we go down the line.
IGN: Wentworth, we talked on set about how when we met him, he was a guy who was very sure of himself and kind of felt like there were no big threats left. So he saw The Flash as an exciting challenge. Now that he’s faced him once and seen what he’s made of, how does he approach the rematch?
Miller: I think he knows that The Flash is not going to go down so easily. It’s about finding his weak spots. Where is The Flash vulnerable? I think Snart understands that Flash has a heart. He cares about people, he’s in the business of saving people. That’s something that Snart can exploit, but I think Snart is also aware that this is a man in the mask. He’s got identity issues, things he’s keeping quiet, and in this way he is also perhaps vulnerable to Snart.
Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave in The Flash.
IGN: And what does Heat Wave make of him? He hasn’t encountered The Flash before so what is his first take on this guy in the red costume?
Purcell: He’s very impressed. Just the fact that there’s this dude who moves a million miles an hour… And he wants to take him down as well, because there’s an agenda behind our motivations to take down The Flash which hasn’t been really articulated at present.
IGN: As fun as it is to watch on screen and at times on set, there is also the technical aspect while you’re making something like this. Are there times where it’s like, “This will look really cool, I think,” but you have to put yourself in the hands of the special effects people?
Purcell: Yeah, there’s a tendency to feel frightened by what you’re doing because as you’re doing it. You kind of feel goofy when you’re holding a plastic gun and it’s supposed to be a flame and you’re doing this [waves arms around, as though pointing gun] and you’re making audible sounds like, “Vroomm vroom vroom!”, and you’ve got to stop yourself from doing that. But again, when you look at the production values in The Flash, you know you’re in safe hands so you know it’s going to look authentic and brilliant.
Miller: It calls for a level of trust ,and having seen the pilot [when I joined the show], that’s all I really needed to see. That level of care and attention being paid to both the visual effects and the character stuff was top notch.
IGN: Having had this great history working together, was it very easy to click back in once you were on set together?
Purcell: Simple. Absolutely simple. I’ve said it in the past, Wentworth and I, apart from everything else, are great friends. So just working together is just simple, easy.
Miller: It was like riding a bike. Although, the first time I called him by a different [character] name was a little strange - something other than "Lincoln." [Laughs] But we quickly adapted.
IGN: What’s it like seeing Grant going through what you did a few years ago, as far as the sudden attention that being on a hit TV show brings?
Purcell: I look at him and I empathize. Because with great success comes great responsibility and great invasion. He’s having to deal with that and he’s also still very young. When you get to a point where I’m at in my career, where I’m a grizzled veteran, you have the ability to look after yourself a bit more. When you’re that young, it’s easy to take advantage in a way but he’s learning. The great thing about Grant is he’s a wonderful human being, very modest, very talented and he realizes he’s in a fortunate position which makes being around him a pleasure.
IGN: How much will we be seeing you guys, moving forward?
Miller: I think the idea is to have us in a handful of episodes this season and maybe the season finale. The future is up in the air.
IGN: You were saying there’s an agenda we’ve yet to learn about these two. Have they given you some idea of what’s ahead and what’s driving them?
Miller: Not what the larger plan is, but I have been told that there is a larger plan. At the moment I’m focusing on the personal relationship, like what Snart sees in the Flash; how he’s challenged by the Flash. I think he’s even obsessed with The Flash to a certain degree, and figuring out what the Flash’s weak spots are and exploiting them, taking him down as quickly as possible, becomes agenda number one, in service of whatever that larger plan might be.
IGN: Obviously you’re going to have a lot of stuff with Grant, but are there other actors on the show you’re getting to interact with and get to see what your characters make of each other?
Miller: They just cast Peyton List as my sister [Lisa Snart / Golden Glider], so the Rogues are now three, I guess, and that’s made for some interesting complications.
Purcell: Heat Wave has a thing for Peyton’s character. She’s a beautiful woman and at this point, she tends to calm him down, I think. I know Cold’s not happy about this developing and I’m sure the writers are going to play with that are going to use that up and there’s going to be conflict with him. So I think there’s a lot of room for that.
IGN: The Flash has managed to hit this great sweet spot as far as tone is concerned. It could go too goofy, but it doesn’t. When you’re on set is that something it feels that everyone’s figured out - like, here’s how we play this that’s real and also having fun with it, but not going cartoonish?
Purcell: I think you can give credit to the actors. If an actor makes a choice that’s not working, then it becomes goofy. As actors, we’re able to know the nuance and we’re sensitive to that. But it’s also in the writing as well. The writing is terrific. I think a combination of all those stops it from being goofy.
IGN: When you did your first episode, did you quickly think, “Yeah, this is the way to play this?
Miller: It was challenging, because the character’s not in every episode so I’m not there day in and day out with the luxury of exploring the character at my own pace and in my own time. I show up every six episodes and I do my thing and then I go. What’s clear to me is that tone is so critical on a show like this and we do have the freedom and permission to be operatic, to really go for it. But it becomes even more critical that you ground that in something that feels real, some sort of real emotional base that supports those choices. And I think that’s what fans are tuning in to see. Characters that are out there and extreme but are still relatable to a certain degree.