When Dr. Sara Tancredi lost her head—literally—on “;Prison Break”; last season, it looked like the end of the road for the character on the Fox drama. Punahou graduate Sarah Wayne Callies, the actress who plays Tancredi, agreed that the gesture carried a certain finality.

But the producers didn't anticipate the fan rebellion that followed. Letters flowed into the studio and online communities blossomed, prompting contract renegotiations.

“;At the time that was all happening, I was pretty absorbed in being a mom,”; says Callies, whose daughter Keala was born in July 2007. “;But there's no doubt,”; she admitted via phone from Los Angeles, “;without the reaction from fans, I don't think there's any way they would have brought me back.”;

They did more than resurrect her from the dead. After explaining in a surprisingly logical fashion that the head viewers glimpsed in a box was not Tancredi at all and that her faux execution was one more layer in the intricate plot, Callies' relatively minor role grew into a complex, constantly evolving part that gives the actress serious screen time and intensifies her frustrated love relationship with Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller).

When Callies auditioned for the show, Tancredi's was the smallest role in the pilot, limited to a few scenes per episode and likely to make an exit after the first season. “;But I loved Sara,”; Callies said. “;I liked what she was hiding, and she seemed complicated to me.”;

Furthermore, fans latched onto the tension between Tancredi and Scofield. “;Now she's a fully fledged member of the ensemble with all kinds of incredible things to do, and a story line that's really exciting for me to pursue.”;

The daughter of University of Hawaii English professor Valerie Wayne and UH law professor David Callies, Sarah Wayne Callies grew up in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School in 1995.

She graduated from Dartmouth College with a major in drama and a minor in women's studies. After completing a senior fellowship in indigenous theology, Callies pursued her master's in fine arts at the rigorous National Theatre Conservatory in Denver.

After guest-starring roles on “;Tarzan,”; “;Queens Supreme”; and “;Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,”; as well as turns in a couple of feature films like “;Celestine Prophesy,”; Callies received the script for “;Prison Break.”;

For a while, she said, “;I really looked down my nose at television. A lot of theater performers look at television like it's second-class acting—or third or fourth. It took me a long time to get to the place where I think the medium is less important than the story you're telling.”;

As she makes peace with her accomplishments in a different arena, and she hopes one day to return to the theater, she reminds herself of her primary goal when entering this volatile career: “;Just to wake up and say, 'I'm an actor' was all I wanted. And it's still one of the greatest blessings in my life.”;