Prison Break Buff

Robert Knepper Interview

by Nikki on June 25th, 2007

The West Australian recenty interviewed Robert Knepper as the Season Finale of Prison Break Season 2 is set to air. Here’s what he had to say about his character and the show:

“There’s that old saying, you can never have a good show without a good villain, but I always say it’s just down to good old-fashioned storytelling,” Knepper says at the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

“You can’t have a good hero unless every step of the way somebody’s in his way and especially for the first season T-Bag was always in Michael’s way.”

Knepper is about to shoot the third series and says his snarling, lip-licking rapist and murderer is about to become even meaner, given his disappointment at being unable to have the family he so desired. At one point Knepper thought T-Bag’s tears may have engendered audience sympathy, but then he killed his psychiatrist.

“I call the writers and asked, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ They said, ‘You thought you saw Teddy being a madman before, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet’.”

It now seems likely that in season three the former inmates may hook up in a prison far bleaker than Fox River, for a story of pure survival. But nobody really knows, says the actor, who has signed up for seven seasons but who could also be killed off at any time.

“The writers have their jobs cut out for them to make third season interesting,” he says.

Today the affable, talkative, decidedly handsome Knepper hardly resembles his television character. In fact, in his early years he had been a minor member of the Brat Pack of Hollywood good-lookers and worked on late 80s movies such as Wild Thing, Made in Heaven, D.O.A. and Young Guns II.

“People want to typecast you right away. Initially when I went to Hollywood I got to play the pretty boy when I wanted to play the hero, the smart guy. Then people said I reminded them of Jimmy Woods and I thought ‘err, ugly pockmarked face and all this stuff’ but they were talking about his acting. I didn’t want to play that edgy guy. So for years I would turn down a lot of parts.”

Just before Prison Break came along Knepper was considering becoming a park ranger, to support his wife and young son.

“I was doing these great projects like Carnivale on HBO and (George) Clooney’s film Good Night, and Good Luck, but they weren’t paying a lot of money and I was broke. For the first time in 25 years I thought I might have to get another job.”

Understandably, he was keen to be cast in Prison Break. Knepper was able to bring years of acting experience to T-Bag, who initially was conceived as big and monstrous, rather than the small and snarling killer Knepper has created. The licking of his lips has become his signature.

“When I first read the script, I thought that they’re never going to cast me because I don’t have tattoos and I was afraid I didn’t look tough enough. So I grew a goatee and I kept playing with it because I’m not gay, and I was trying to find ways to play him (T-Bag had his way with pretty young men in the prison). So I would look at them like a piece of steak and that would make my mouth water and that’s when my tongue started twirling over the lip. So now they write ‘T-Bag does that thing with his tongue’ — it’s official.”

Read More at The West Australian

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