Former 'Prison Break' star Wentworth Miller reveals he has autism
"This isn't something I'd change," he wrote. "[It's] central to who I am."
Former "Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller took to Instagram to reveal he'd been diagnosed as autistic last year.
"Preceded by a self-diagnosis. Followed by a formal diagnosis," the 49-year-old actor said, calling it "a shock. But not a surprise."
Miller, however, said he has much to learn about the disorder. "There is a now-familiar cultural narrative...that goes, 'Public figure shares A, B and C publicly, dedicates platform to D, E and F,'" he wrote.
He continued, "[T]hat's not necessarily what's going to happen here....Right now my work looks like evolving my understanding. Re-examining 5 decades of lived experience thru a new lens. That will take time."
Fearing "the risk of suddenly being a loud, ill-informed voice in the room," Miller said, "the #autistic community (this I do know) has historically been talked over. Spoken for. I don't wish to do additional harm."
Miller said he wouldn't change his diagnosis, realizing "being autistic is central to who I am. To everything I've achieved/articulated."
"To the many (many) people who consciously or unconsciously gave me that extra bit of grace + space over the years, allowed me to move thru the world in a way that made sense to me whether or not it made sense to them... thank you," he said, adding, "And to those who made a different choice... well. People will reveal themselves."
Miller came out as gay in 2013 and later revealed he'd been suicidal as a teen. In 2019, he announced that he would not return to a "Prison Break" reboot and that he was "done" playing straight characters. This season, he reprised his role on "Law & Order: SVU" as Assistant District Attorney Isaiah Holmes, in an episode that revealed the character had been bullied because of his sexuality.