Busting out from VH1 fantasy land

His blue eyes stared at us from giant billboards this summer, and tonight, in the third episode of Fox’s early fall season hit “Prison Break,” he will peer at us from behind bars, looking so familiar, so soon.

Wait, this isn’t how we know Wentworth Miller; he’s the guy from the Mariah Carey video, the one who steals her from Eric Roberts in the middle of their wedding.

Now, he’s holding up a bank in order to get sentenced to the same prison where his brother, played by Dominic Purcell, sits on death row, having been convicted of killing the brother of the vice president of the United States. He’s got big plans to break his older sibling out of the slammer and only 30 days to do it. Already, he’s angered the prison mob boss, witnessed the murders of other inmates, made a doctor suspicious and lost a toe -- maybe two -- to a bully.

It’s quite a contrast for Miller, who says his mother is having trouble watching her son in constant jeopardy, even if it’s make-believe. But the viewers seem to like his enigmatic portrayal of Michael Scofield .

“Prison Break” premiered impressively with 10.5 million viewers on Aug. 29, and held on to 8.5 million viewers for its second episode on Labor Day. Fox launched the drama several weeks before the official start of the fall season to get a jump on the network’s baseball playoff and World Series coverage. The strategy apparently is paying off, even at a time when many Americans are watching news coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“I have to say, for my own part, that [the premiere] was a bittersweet experience because, of course, I was very excited to get this show on the air and see what the reaction would be, but at the same time I couldn’t help but think about those poor folks down South and the terrible time they were going through,” Miller said by phone last week. “We debuted on Monday, and it was Tuesday that the levees broke. It was a reality check. Yes, we care about the numbers and how the show is doing, but in the context of people losing their homes and their lives, it really doesn’t seem like a very big issue.”

Miller, 33, got his break on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” appeared on “Popular” and starred in the miniseries “Dinotopia.” On the big screen, he won acclaim for his portrayal of the younger version of Anthony Hopkins’ character in “The Human Stain,” although the film failed and the part “didn’t make me a name.” Afterward, he took some time off to reevaluate his life and career.

“What happened is that I had to stop caring about the ‘noes,’ because I was hearing a lot of them, and once I stopped caring, I started hearing a few yeses,” he said. “Once I started auditioning for me basically and doing it for the sake of my enjoyment, for the sake of the love of acting, more doors began to open.”

Most recently, he appeared on the last two episodes of “Joan of Arcadia,” playing a devil-like character. Miller also appears in the pilot episode of CBS’ “Ghost Whisperer” on Sept. 23, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Why, then, does everyone seem to remember him mostly from the Mariah Carey video?

“I wish I had an answer for you,” he said. “That’s the fantasy, that anyone is going to leave Eric Roberts at the altar for me. But I’m willing to play along.”

Purcell, who most recently guest-starred on Fox’s “North Shore,” for several weeks -- and really wants to forget it -- says he can relate to the attention Miller gets for his portrayal of Carey’s lovesick suitor.

“I did [‘North Shore’], and so now I’m remembered for it, and it’s clearly frightening,” Purcell said. “Believe me, we both rip into each other about our little foray into cheese land. It’s one of the classic stories. You have to pay the rent, and you’re not exactly proud of it, but you do it. He did such an incredible job on ‘The Human Stain,’ and all we know Wentworth from is getting up close and personal with Mariah Carey.”

But that, “Prison Break” executive producer Dawn Parouse predicts, is about to change.

“Some people come into the room and you just feel the difference,” Parouse said. “I found him incredibly compelling, mysterious and sexy at the same time. Some people can play mysterious, but some people just are. Wentworth is that guy.”

For now, Miller is just glad his friends, who were “sick of seeing my face” on VH1, have a new place on the dial to find him.

“What I’m getting as far as feedback is that people are intrigued, that they do find the character compelling and mysterious, more because of what he doesn’t say,” he noted. “I think as his relationships deepen with the various people that he encounters inside the prison, as he becomes more and more aware that things aren’t necessarily going to go as smoothly as planned, as the situation becomes more dangerous and stressful, you’ll start to see more and more of the individual he left behind.”