‘Prison Break’ Season 5 Star Sarah Wayne Callies Reveals Why She Won’t Worry About Michael-Sara Shippers

“Prison Break” ended after four seasons in 2009, but it will return Tuesday for a 9-episode fifth season. Fans are hoping the Fox drama corrects some of the things that Season 4 failed to deliver, possibly including a happy ending for Michael and Sara. Actress Sarah Wayne Callies, however, can’t worry too much about what the shippers (people who support a particular relationship) want.

Callies talked to International Business Times about her return as Sara in the “Prison Break” revival. After Michael (Wentworth Miller) seemingly died in Season 4, Sara raised their son on her own and remarried a man named Jacob (Mark Feuerstein). Will there be backlash to this new relationship? Callies said she doesn’t think about fan reactions to her romantic storyline.

“Worrying about what fans will do is an exercise in vanity and pandering,” Callies told IBTimes. “When [showrunner] Paul Scheuring brought his pitch to me, it seemed interesting, it seemed authentic, it seemed like a challenge, and therefore, it seemed worth doing. The fans, I imagine, are thinking the same thing Sara was thinking which is, ‘Well, he’s dead.’ From there, I can’t control their thinking nor is it my place to.”

When “Prison Break: Resurrection” kicks off, Sara will be approached by Michael’s brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), who suddenly believes his sibling is alive. Sara, however, won’t be easily convinced. “I think she’s worried that this will send [Lincoln] down a rabbit hole he can’t get out of because it’s so clearly impossible for it to be true,” Callies explained. “And I think part of that is because if it were true, Michael would be raising his son. Michael Scofield is not a deadbeat dad. Therefore, he must be as dead as we all believe him to be.”

It’s safe to say that Michael’s death and their son changed Sara. The character viewers meet in the new “Prison Break” episodes will be different from the Sara they last saw in 2009.

“Her identity as a widow and a mom I think is probably as central to who she is as anything else,” Callies revealed. “I think she fought very hard for a coherent peaceful life for her son. She’s done a brilliant job of that, and things are okay — probably for the first time in years. Things are okay with her, and okay is all she’s aiming for. She’s not looking to be happy, but she is looking to have some stability, something grounded. And then, of course, because it’s ‘Prison Break,’ it all goes to hell.”

Michael’s return from the dead is one massive twist, and it’s probably not the only jaw dropping moment in “Prison Break” Season 5. Callies wasn’t allowed to spoilers about her favorite episode of the season, but she hinted that episode 7 was a big one for her character. “[Episode] 7 takes an enormous journey and I think it’s one that, for Sara specifically, really a lot happens for her,” the “Colony” star said before apologizing for not being able to give more detail.

READ: 10 things to know about the “Prison Break” revival

“Let me put it this way also: I got to work with actors on some really fantastic scenes,” she added. “There was just some really great work going on that the other actors were doing and it was just a joy to be a part of that.”

The Dartmouth alum also noted that she was happy to return to the series after so long, especially since Season 4 ended without Scheuring. Not only was she excited to play Sara again, but Season 5 brings the creator back to tell his version of the final season. While a successful revival could lead to a second season, Callies told IBTimes that “Prison Break” Season 5 was pitched to her as a one-time deal.

“This was conceived up as a standalone, 9-episode — to quote Paul Scheuring — ‘drop the mic and walk away,’” she said. “Partly because I think we were all kind of heartbroken at the way the series ended. Paul wasn’t a part of that ending. So this was a redux that he felt needed to happen and had real merit to it.”

“Prison Break” Season 5 premieres Tuesday, April 4 at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox.