Prison Break

Wade Williams has done it all: theater, film and television.  Now with his role as Captain Bellick on Fox's hit show Prison Break, Wade has solidified his presence in the industry.  Wade was kind enough to talk to BuddyTV about playing a "bad guy," studying up to be a guard, and working with a predominantly male cast.


Your background is in musical theater, do you prefer TV or Broadway?
 
TV and Broadway are two different animals…Theater and film.  In the theater you get time to rehearse…weeks and  weeks of it sometimes.  In TV you are lucky to get to run a scene twice before you shoot it.  In TV everyone needs to create quickly and as an actor you have to be “on” when the camera rolls. In the theater you have time to prepare and a set schedule that you can build your performance around.  Also, in the theater you tell the whole story in one performance. In film and TV a story is told many times out of sequence and over a period of days weeks or even months sometimes. Then there's always the thrill of an audience!


You have made many appearances on big TV shows, how different is it being a regular?
 
 Being a regular on a show is nice because I get a steady paycheck! It’s also great to be able to develop a character and relationships to other characters over a period of time
 

You've appeared on a number of FOX shows prior to Prison Break...did that relationship play a part in you getting on the show?
 
I have no idea? In my experience I have had to work very hard for any opportunity I have gotten.  I also had the Gods on my side for Prison Break.  One would hope that the work I had done before might have been in my favor, but I honestly don’t know.
 

When you first heard about the premise of Prison Break, what were your thoughts?
 
I was reluctant to play such a bad guy.  I was gonna turn down the audition because I didn’t want my daughter to see me playing such a horrid character.  But my manager at the time said,”If you don’t go in on this I’ll kill you,” the rest is history.
 

What type of research (books, case studies etc.) did you do to prepare for your role as a prison guard?
 
I spoke with Prison Guards at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Illinois and in particular with Chuck Gobble a Major at Stateville.  He told me stories, answered questions gave me a tour of Stateville, the maximum security state penitentiary in Illinois.