‘Prison Break’ 2017 Preview: Cast Discusses Season 5 Premiere, After Screening

After a seven year break, Prison Break will return for a limited revival next month. It would be fair to say that there’s a good deal of excitement around the show’s fifth season, which will see the return of brothers Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) and Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), the latter who was presumed to be dead, is set to premiere on April 4.

Ahead of the new season’s premiere next month, several of the show’s key cast members attended a private screening in Austin, Texas, where SXSW is currently taking place. The screening was followed by a short Q&A session with the cast.

Here’s what we learned about Prison Break: Resurrection.

According to Variety, the idea of reviving Prison Break first came on the set of The Flash, which stars both Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell.

“It was fate. We started talking about old times and there was something there. Once we decided to move forward we went to Fox and as soon as we got to Paul that was it, it was a go,” Purcell said.

Ultimately, the decision over whether or not to go ahead with a revival fell on creator Paul Scheuring. According to Purcell, as soon as Scheuring gave the go ahead for Prison Break Season 5, things started moving very quickly.

How #PrisonBreak star Dominic Purcell's big neck saved his life and other takeaways from the premiere in Austin https://t.co/8iqq6yST4n pic.twitter.com/iNMVJ8BNFq

— Variety (@Variety) March 13, 2017

With the show’s creator and lead stars onboard, the show’s other stars were undeniably keen to rejoin their castmates. Robert Knepper, who played T-Bag in the original series, became emotional when discussing being reunited with the rest of the Prison Break cast.

“I’m going to try and not cry here, but I didn’t know how together we were until we just saw that,” Knepper said. “It was my first time seeing it. It is so powerful to be in the midst of this company and such a feeling of pride.”

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During the Q&A session, the cast also revealed that they expect the overall quality of Prison Break Season 5 to be a drastic improvement over previous seasons, largely thanks to development in their own acting ability.

“When we did this show years ago, we were constantly trying to prove to ourselves that we could do a good job,” Knepper said. “This time we weren’t trying to prove anything, we just were. And what was great about getting out of our own way this time was that I was really aware of you all cheering. And you gotta remember that it all looks like we did it, but we didn’t. We just took the words that Paul Scheuring gave us.”

Back together at last! The #PrisonBreak cast and crew took to Austin for a panel discussion and exclusive screening. pic.twitter.com/efDO2BNw5O

— Prison Break (@PrisonBreak) March 14, 2017

Meanwhile, creator Paul Scheuring was also keen to stress that Prison Break Season 5 will reflect how television has changed since it was last on air, seven years ago. Scheuring said the new TV landscape allowed them to lower their episode count from 22 to nine, largely thanks to the popularity of shorter limited run series, like those produced by streaming provider Netflix.

Prison Break: Resurrection is set to premiere on April 4 on Fox. According to Digital Spy, it was recently confirmed that the nine-part series will air on Monday, April 10, in the United Kingdom, just six days after its U.S. premiere. The limited reboot will pick up after Michael’s apparent death when it quickly becomes clear that Michael could still be alive. However, this time it will be Sara (Sarah Wayne-Callies), Lincoln, and the rest of the original Prison Break gang breaking Michael out of prison.

[Featured Image by Fox]