The Prison Break cast is full of great actors who brought the show’s complex antiheroes and despicable villains to life, and they all have impressive filmographies outside the series. Prison Break revolves around the bond between two brothers and their plot to break out of jail. Along the way, they're helped out by the prison doctor, their childhood friend and lawyer, and a handful of fellow inmates who also want to break free. The producers of Prison Break found the perfect actor to play each part in the cast.
Traditionally, TV shows set up a main cast with several major characters that the audience can check in on every week. But Prison Break was far from a traditional TV show. Lincoln Burrows and his loyal brother Michael Scofield are the only characters who appear in every episode of Prison Break. Thanks to constant character deaths, the cast is always changing. Headlined by Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller, the Prison Break cast includes alums from The CW’s Arrowverse, AMC’s The Walking Dead universe, and the Fast & Furious franchise.
Dominic Purcell As Lincoln Burrows
Dominic Purcell leads the Prison Break cast as Lincoln Burrows, a high school drop-out who is wrongfully convicted of the murder of the U.S. vice president’s brother. Purcell is best known for his recurring superhero role as Mick Rory, a.k.a. Heat Wave, in The CW shows The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. He also played a different comic book role as Dracula in Blade: Trinity. Purcell starred as Lewis “Lew” Brookbank in the 2004 neo-noir crime thriller Three Way and played Jeremy Niles in the 2011 remake of the classic thriller Straw Dogs.
Wentworth Miller As Michael Scofield
Lincoln’s brother, Michael Scofield, is played by Wentworth Miller. Michael is a structural engineer who masterminded his brother’s escape plan. Miller was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his turn as Michael. He’s also known for playing Dr. Adam Lockwood in Underworld, Chris Redfield in Resident Evil: Afterlife, and Luke Seacord in The Loft. Miller reunited with Prison Break co-star Dominic Purcell to join the cast of The CW series The Flash and its spinoff Legends of Tomorrow, playing the role of Leonard Snart, also known as Captain Cold. He made his screenwriting debut with the 2013 psychological thriller Stoker.
Amaury Nolasco As Fernando Sucre
Amaury Nolasco appears in the Prison Break cast as Fernando Sucre, Michael’s friend and cellmate at Fox River State Penitentiary who wishes to reunite with his fiancée on the outside. Nolasco is also known for playing Orange Julius in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Detective Cosmo Santos in Street Kings, Jack Lupino in the film adaptation of the Max Payne video games, and ACWO Jorge “Fig” Figueroa in the first live-action Transformers movie. His other TV roles include Rodrigo Suarez in Telenovela and Lt. Det. Rafael Martinez in the revival of Rizzoli & Isles.
Robert Knepper As Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell
Theodore Bagwell, better known as “T-Bag,” a violent and duplicitous psychopath, is played by Robert Knepper. The actor has played other memorable TV roles like Angus McDonough in The CW series iZombie, Samuel Sullivan in the final season of NBC’s Heroes, and Rodney Mitchum in Showtime’s revival of Twin Peaks. His movie roles include Yuri Marklov in Hitman, Johnson in Transporter 3, General Harkness in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and Antonius in both of parts of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. He voiced Keith in Hoodwinked! and Kronos in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.
Sarah Wayne Callies As Sara Tancredi
Sarah Wayne Callies appears in the Prison Break cast as Sara Tancredi, the prison doctor at Fox River who aids Michael and Lincoln’s escape plan. Besides her role in Prison Break, Callies is best known for playing Lori Grimes in the first three seasons of the AMC zombie drama series The Walking Dead. She also played Anita Dyck in the Crave sitcom Letterkenny, Margaret Sanders in the CDC drama Unspeakable, Robin Perry in the NBC drama Council of Dads, and Birdie in the ABC drama The Company You Keep.
Marshall Allman As Lincoln "L.J." Burrows, Jr.
Lincoln’s teenage son, Lincoln Burrows Jr. – also known as “L.J.” – is played by Marshall Allman. L.J. is deeply impacted by his dad’s prison sentence and has to go into hiding when people who want Lincoln dead come after him. Allman is best known for playing teenage shapeshifter Tommy Mickens in the HBO horror drama series True Blood. He also played Milo Khoury in the Channel 4 sci-fi series Humans, Julian Howe in the Psycho prequel series Bates Motel, and Kevin Kelly in the Bruce Willis action thriller Hostage.
William Fichtner As Alexander Mahone
William Fichtner joined the Prison Break cast in season 2 with the role of FBI agent Alexander Mahone, who ultimately teams up with Michael when they're imprisoned at Sona together. Fichtner is recognizable as Roger Van Zant in Heat, Colonel Willie Sharp in Armageddon, SFC Jeff Sanderson in Black Hawk Down, and the gun-toting bank manager from the opening heist sequence of The Dark Knight. His other TV roles include Jameson Henthrop in Empire, Phil Yagoda in Entourage, and Adam Janikowski in Mom.
Prison Break Supporting Cast & Characters
Robin Tunney as Veronica Donovan - Michael and Lincoln’s childhood friend who becomes Lincoln’s lawyer after reviewing his case. Robin Tunney made her film debut with the role of Ella in Encino Man and went on to play Debra in Empire Records and Teresa Lisbon in the TV series The Mentalist.
Peter Stormare as John Abruzzi - The head of the Chicago mafia. Peter Stormare is best known for playing Gaear Grimsrud in the movie Fargo, Uli Kunkel in The Big Lebowski, Lev Andropov in Armageddon, Abram Tarasov in John Wick: Chapter 2, and the Ghost in 22 Jump Street.
Wade Williams as Brad Bellick - The captain of Fox River’s correctional officers. Outside the cast of Prison Break, Wade Williams is known for playing Father Cronin in The Bernie Mac Show and voicing Two-Face in the two-part direct-to-video animation Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
Paul Adelstein as Paul Kellerman - The Secret Service agent sent to supervise Lincoln’s execution. Paul Adelstein is best known for playing pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the ABC medical drama Private Practice. He also played David Sweetzer in the short-lived NBC sitcom I Feel Bad and created and starred as Shelley Cohen in the Bravo dark comedy series Imposters.
Rockmond Dunbar as Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin - Rockmond Dunbar plays Benjamin Miles “C-Note” Franklin, who blackmails Michael at Fox River. Dunbar also played Kenny Chadway in Showtime’s Soul Food, Sheriff Eli Roosevelt in FX’s Sons of Anarchy, and FBI Agent Abe Gaines in Hulu’s The Path.
Chris Vance as James Whistler - Chris Vance appears in the Prison Break cast as James Whistler, who is incarcerated at Sona for the murder of the mayor’s son. Vance starred as Frank Martin, the role originated by Jason Statham, in Transporter: The Series, and played Commander Harry Langford in Hawaii Five-0 and Dalton Walsh in Bosch season 5.
Robert Wisdom as Norman "Lechero" St. John - Panamanian drug kingpin Norman “Lechero” St. John, the prison ringleader at Sona, is played by Robert Wisdom. The actor is known for playing psychological warfare expert Jim Moss in HBO’s Barry and Harold Conway in the Hulu movie Vacation Friends.
Danay García as Sofía Lugo - Whistler’s girlfriend. Danay García is best known for playing Luciana Galvez in Fear the Walking Dead and Alma Diaz in the video game Mafia III.
Jodi Lyn O’Keefe as Gretchen Morgan - An operative for The Company introduced as “Susan B. Anthony.” Jodi Lyn O’Keefe first rose to prominence with the role of Cassidy Bridges in the police procedural Nash Bridges and went on to play Taylor Vaughan in She’s All That and Josette Laughlin in The Vampire Diaries.
Michael Rapaport as Donald Self - Introduced to the cast in Prison Break season 4, Homeland Security special agent Donald Self is played by Michael Rapaport. The actor is best known for his movie roles as Dick Ritchie in True Romance and Tom Scoggins in Deep Blue Sea. He also played the recurring roles of Phoebe’s boyfriend Gary in Friends and Frank Stump on My Name is Earl.
Mark Feuerstein as Jacob Anton Ness - The rogue CIA operative responsible for Michael’s disappearance. Mark Feuerstein is also known for his recurring TV roles as Joe DeStefano in Caroline in the City, Clifford Calley in The West Wing, and Dr. Hank Lawson in Royal Pains.
Inbar Lavi as Sheba - Introduced to the cast in Prison Break season 5 as a Yemen freedom fighter and Lincoln’s love interest, Inbar Lav also played Vee in the Fox series Gang Related, Maddie Jonson in the Bravo series Imposters, and Eve in the last three seasons of the Netflix series Lucifer.
Augustus Prew as David "Whip" Martin - T-Bag’s illegitimate son and Michael’s cellmate, introduced in season 5. Outside the cast of Prison Break, Augustus Prew is best known for playing Sean in The Morning Show and Médhor in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He also replaced Evan Peters as Todd Haynes in Kick-Ass 2.