PASADENA, Calif. — "Prison Break" could, perhaps, get John Billingsley back, but the show doesn't need him anymore. On the other hand, the producers of the Fox serial thriller would dearly love to have Patricia Wettig back, but they can't get her.
Well, not much of her.
The convoluted plot of "Prison Break" revolves around how Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) was wrongly convicted of killing Terrence Steadman, the brother of Vice President Caroline Reynolds (Wettig). Lincoln couldn't have killed Steadman because Steadman wasn't dead. Billingsley — largely hidden in shadows — played him in three episodes last season.
This season, Wettig (whose character had the president assassinated and moved into the Oval Office) got a role on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters." And Billingsley got a role on ABC's "The Nine." So "Prison Break" wrote around Reynolds and recast Jeff Perry as Steadman.
"The Nine" is out of production, so Billingsley isn't busy. But there's no role to return to — Steadman shot himself to death in an episode that aired in January.
As a matter of fact, it was yours truly who informed Billingsley about the demise of the character he played during the first season of "Prison Break" — oh-so-subtly telling him that his fictional alter-ego was about to blow his brains out in an episode that aired just after our conversation.
"He did? No!" he said, adding with a smile, "Did they keep my brain in some sort of a bottle?"
Well, no, Steadman's brain was splattered all over.
I, of course, felt terrible for breaking the news so bluntly.
"It's quite all right," said Billingsley, an unfailingly nice man. "I didn't die — the other guy died!"
As for Wettig, she'll be back on "Prison Break," if ever-so briefly. We'll hear her more than see here — she's done voice-overs for several episodes. And she'll appear as President Reynolds in one episode.
"I'm going to do one. I told them I would do one all along," Wettig said. "I can't tell you what I do, but I know what I do."
She couldn't give away much, but she did give away something. Apparently, escaped prisoner Michael Scofield is going to be face-to-face with the commander in chief.
"I think it's the first scene I ever do with Wentworth, let's put it that way," Wettig said. "That's what I hear."
Wettig certainly has no regrets about turning down an offer for a regular role on "Prison Break" in favor of "Brothers & Sisters." The latter show is a hit; her husband (Ken Olin) is one of the executive producers; her daughter, Roxanne, has a recurring role on the show; and her son, Cliff, is on the show's writing staff.
"The thing that's so odd is it's so totally normal," Wettig said. "I've been around family and friends in so many professional things."
She admits she hasn't entirely kept up with "Prison Break" but said it wasn't easy to walk away. If only because of — believe it or not — family pressure.
"My son's a big fan," Wettig said. "Even though he's now writing for our show, at the time I made the decision he said, 'Are you nuts? You can't leave "Prison Break"!"'
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com