Prison Break Star Shuts Down Fat-Shamers

'Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist': Wentworth Miller on his depression
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 29, 2016 10:07 AM CDT
Updated Mar 29, 2016 10:54 AM CDT
Prison Break Star Shuts Down Fat-Shamers
The meme that started the conversation.   (Facebook)

As Michael Scofield on the hit show Prison Break, Wentworth Miller not only received critical acclaim, he also cut a notably buff, tatted figure. But after the show ended in 2009, Miller disappeared, and a meme this week brought out why. Viral-photo-sharer The Lad Bible posted a pic of a trimmer Miller next to a photo of a heavier Miller in 2010, captioned: "When you break out of prison and find out about McDonald's monopoly…," Us Weekly reports. Miller caught wind of the "joke" and soon filled in the backstory. In a moving Facebook post, he notes that at the time the 2010 photo was taken, he had been flying under the radar because he was "suicidal" and suffering from deep depression, an issue that's affected him since childhood and that he's since discussed openly.

"But at the time I suffered in silence," he writes. "Ashamed and in pain, I considered myself damaged goods. And the voices in my head urged me down the path to self-destruction." He adds he's glad that picture survived, however. "I am reminded of my struggle," he writes. "My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons. … Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist." He ends by encouraging others who are struggling to reach out for help, as well as noting that "the meaning I assign to this/my image is Strength. Healing. Forgiveness. Of myself and others." Meanwhile, a Lad Bible Facebook post Tuesday apologized to Miller, saying "we've got this very, very wrong" and adding "mental health is no joke or laughing matter." "Causing distress and upset to innocent or vulnerable people is simply not acceptable," the mea culpa reads. (Miller came out in 2013.)

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