William Fichtner – Prison Break and The Amateurs

William Fichtner chatted with Star-Telegram about Prison Break and his new film, The Amateurs.

William Fichtner believes that he is one of the many actors who are remembered more for their faces than their names, and surprisingly, he doesn’t mind.

“That’s a good place to be,” Fichtner told Star-Telegram. “Somebody asked me [this morning], ‘When was your big break?’ I don’t think I ever had a big break. I don’t think that’s ever been my journey. I didn’t do my first film till I was 36 years old — not that I didn’t want to; nobody would hire me.”

Fortunately, being hired isn’t too much of a problem for Fichtner nowadays. He currently stars in FOX’s Prison Break, a gig that he landed last year.

“I said to my wife the other day that doing a series is a close to having a regular job [that I'll ever get],” William Fichtner, who plays the unstable and drug-addicted FBI Agent Alexander Mahone, said. “I like changing gears and doing different things, and that’s always been the most fun to me. It’s very different when you do a series. It’s a character that goes on and on.”

Fichtner wanted to work on Prison Break for only one season, but producers drew up some interesting developments for his character that convinced him to stay for another year.

Aside from the series, William Fichtner can also be seen in the new independent comedy film, The Amateurs. The movie, which Fichtner claims to be his favorite project ever, revolves around a group of friends who decide to make a porn film as part of their scheme to get rich quickly. The cast also includes Jeff Bridges, Joe Pantoliano and Ted Danson (Damages).

Before production began, Bridges had the cast and crew over at the family beach house, where they got the opportunity to establish some camaraderie.

“A lot of times when you start shooting a film, you have limited rehearsal and you show up for work, and you’re [playing people] who are supposed to have been friends forever,” Fichtner said. “[At the beach house], the guitars came out, and it was Kumbaya at 3 o’clock in the morning, and an awful lot of red wine. It was just great. And we rehearsed — out in front of the beach house, somebody took a sneaker and kind of drew the lines in for the set… It was invaluable to spend that sort of time together.”