Years ago she became famous by dancing with Al Pacino, now she’s burning up the TV screen in USA’s hit spy series Burn Notice. I met her last month during a visit to the hot, Miami Set. Earlier we ran interviews with several folks from the show and with it quickly coming to a close it’s time to run the rest of these great interviews. Gabrielle was a lot of fun and she had this dog that was big as horse and just as cute. Participating in this roundtable was IGN, Fanbolt.com, Confessions of a tvwhore.com, and the TVAddict.com.

Do you enjoy working in Miami?

I actually love it. I would much rather be too hot than too cold. I’m perfectly happy melting all day long. Jeffrey has to wear full on suits and ties, poor thing, and Bruce too. Although he gets to wear Hawaiian shirts a lot too. He’s Mr. Tommy Bahama.

How do you handle doing the martial arts and hand to hand combat that Fiona does?

Smoke and mirrors. Jeffrey’s actually incredibly advanced in martial arts. He’s like triple billion black belt or whatever, he’s pretty high up there. Although I don’t know who actually judges that stuff. But I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s basically just choreography. I did dance, so that comes in handy. But as far as hitting the right artery or chopping the right part of the body, I have no idea what I’m doing.  

Do you know any martial arts?

No, I don’t.

You look like you do?

Well, thank you, but I can tell. When I’m working and I’m looking at the dailies, I go, ‘Oh, God, I hope they cut around that one.’

You work with guns on the show a lot…

Yes, I’ve actually been fortunate enough to go out to this huge warehouse full of props out in Los Angeles. It’s very exciting. Next time I go I’m going to take a shopping cart and fill it with all the fun stuff. There’s a shooting room there. It’s literally a metal storage room with thousands of bullet holes in the wall. So I went in there and shot just about every weapon that is used from the second World War on. Because I’m a bit of a lightweight, I got blown back more than a few times by automatic shotguns and machine guns. It’s very empowering experience to be wielding a weapon and I am by nature very much a pacifist. So if I can get turned on by it, I’m a little terrified what really happens in the military.

What did they tell you about Fiona’s back story – is she a terrorist?

I was pretty much told nothing. But I have a very rampant and vivid imagination, so you can imagine what I came up with. I think that her intentions are all in the right place. Those organizations are almost always formed with the best of attentions and then they often go awry. Think of Scientology. Not that I’m comparing terrorism to Scientology. I think Fiona is a seeker of justice, but she seeks it in perverse and extremist ways, which I find rather refreshing.

Does she have a background in special ops like Michael?

Either that or she’s bloody intelligent. I think she’s had some serious training to keep up with Michael. Yes, I think she’s been around the block a few times.

How does knowing or not knowing her background affect your performance?

I don’t know. I certainly have never been one of those actors who researches everything from my character’s astrological sign or whether I was raised by one parent or two. I have three kids and I just don’t have time for it. I have to put my priorities somewhere. Perhaps if I didn’t have three kids, I’d be an impressive actress.

Are you hoping they might show some of Fiona’s life in flashbacks? Or Michael and Fiona, there have been little comments about their history…

I don’t think much of flashbacks. I always get terribly confused with flashbacks. I like when there’s a card that says, ‘This is what happened once upon a time.’ I get really confused so if there was a flashback in an episode, it wouldn’t take much to confuse me.

Has Fiona encountered the new character being played by Tricia Helfer yet?

I have not, but I have plenty of ideas of how I would react. I did meet her briefly. She seems quite lovely actually, which sucks because I really wanted to hate her. Oh well.

At the end of last season, Michael took off leaving Fiona behind. What can you tell us about her reaction this season to what he did assuming he does come back?

Yeah, he does come back. I think Fiona is a little peeved that he made the choice to take off. Being a woman and having some sincere feelings for him, she wishes the choice he made would have included her, but it didn’t. So I think she’s dealing with a little anger for wont of a better word. There are not many other emotions that she deals with. Yes, I think she’s a little pissed. I know she’s a little pissed because we already shot it.

Did you choose to do this series because you wanted to spend more time with your family?

No, not at all. It’s kind of the contrary because I haven’t really seen much of them since they’re finishing up school. They’ll be here for the summer. No, my choice was purely because I thought the material was worthy of taking me away from my children, who have a life of their own now. It was time for me to get back on track with me as a woman, not just a mom, or a wife or a…

You didn’t care that it was TV?

No. This is such a cliché and I can’t believe it’s coming out of my mouth, but there are so few great women’s roles, so I could care what genre it is. If it’s brilliantly written, I’m in if they’ll have me. I’m really enjoying myself on many levels, particularly professionally which is such a coup for me.

Talk about the time you’ve had when Fiona’s worked with Sam at the end of last season while Michael was going off doing his thing.

It is an obscene amount of fun. I mean, it’s illegal the amount of fun we have. He is just such a fabulous man and an incredibly fun actor to be around. There’s no tension, there’s no ego, so it opens the creative channels like nothing else. It’s impossible to keep up with him.

Any pranks among the cast?

I think that only happens on the “Ocean’s 11” set. The Clooney factor. There’s a lot of good humor. It’s a really fantastic crew. Everybody’s really, really good at what they do. It’s a lot of fun.

Do you stay close the script or is their adlibbing?

Bruce is the king of the adlib. He has adlib diarrhea. I think because it’s television and there are so many cooks in the kitchen, that they’re pretty gung ho about sticking to what’s on the page. I honestly don’t blame them. There are so many writers involved and it has to pass through so many channels to be approved. As an actor, I don’t know if I’m qualified to improve upon their words. Improvisation is something I have had a hard time viewing.

How much of the stunts do you do?

I do a fair bit because it’s very hard to find stuntwoman who looks like a pre-pubescent child, so there a bit of problem finding matches for me. I actually do like to do it. I like to get in my body. Sometimes I get so caught up in my head with my American accent. You know, did I say that with my British accent or is that actor looking at me thinking my American accent sucks? To get out of that continual mental banter and do stunts is fun and hopefully I don’t break a leg.

Do you need to do an American accent for Fiona?

I was quite happy to go in to this with an Irish dialect because it was a little easier to get my mind around that then playing an American on a show indefinitely. It’s much more work for me, particularly because the audience is American. Part of my problem is that I grew up in a household where my mother corrected every other word I say because she was an English teacher. I’m so aware of every word coming out of my mouth because of my mother. She appears in my mind from somewhere telling me that I’m doing it all wrong. So now I’m changing the way I’m speaking. I find it very distracting in a scene to be thinking of how I sound rather than how I am just being. It’s tricky. Now my mother says I sound like an American.

Did you want to do an accent?

When I read it and she was Irish, I was thrilled. I had just spent the summer in Dublin shooting a film.

Do you look at the script and get excited about what Fiona is going to be that week?

That’s my favorite part. It makes me feel like I’m Jennifer Garner sans Ben Affleck. I love it. I have a great job as it is, but I get to mix it up a little bit. Matt Nix, the genius creator of the show, is so open to my crazy ideas. Instead of doing American club girl, I said can we do Kate Moss.

Do the directors micromanage or do they let you interpret the role as you wish?

I think that Matt has created such a great combo of genres in this show that we have a little bit of artistic license because it doesn’t take itself too seriously which allows for me to play a Kate Moss club girl for instance. They’re all pretty lenient about where we want to take it. We can pull it back if it gets too silly. That’s when the director approaches and says quietly, ‘Let’s do it again.’

How many directors?

Last season we had a different director for every episode. I love television, but that was a little bit confusing for me. I guess the theory is that it keeps it fresh and they can also determine which of those directors really has a unique vision for the show. We’ve had two directors this season so far who have done piggy-back shows, and now we’re back to Ron Hardy who did one episode last year. And I guess there’ll be some directors who are not invited back.

Is there anything you’ve gotten to be this season?

Kate Moss. I can’t remember. I have an odd way of deleting what I’ve just done. I keep deleting my previous files in my mind.

Do you have a favorite storyline?

This last episode, when I read it, I said this is my favorite. It involves these tattooed Russian types which I find rather appealing. It’s that gun-wielding characteristic I possess. I can’t remember any more – how lame is that? But it was really cool.

What’s been the most difficult thing you’ve done?

To be truthful, the American accent really throws me for a loop. It really does. It’s odd because any other accent I feel fine… Here’s the thing, I used to have a dialect coach on the set and she had the most extraordinary ear. We would have this shorthand between us and she would go slightly to the left with her hand which meant I had to roll my hard ‘r’ harder. There was a sense of relief in not having to really focus on it and have it monopolize my concentration. And not having that luxury for back on I get a little bit more anxious and a little bit more anal about it. There’s nothing worse than a Brit doing a bad U.S. dialect. And vice versa.

Have you ever suggested to Matt that she get a bump on the head and now she’s British?

Believe me, I have tried every trick in the book. One of the reasons I want to do Kate Moss is to get my British cockney in there.

You’re a pacifist but you like to play a character with guns?

I’m a mass of contradictions and a hypocrite at the same time. What a mess!

What reaction do you get from fans of the show? How is Fiona accepted?

Most of the male reaction is pretty obvious. Men are so predictable are they not? And what would we do without them. It’s another dichotomy like my totality. It’s either that she’s such a slutty piece of crap, which is what most of the blogs that my daughter reads and she calls me crying, ‘Your leathery skin…’ which is kind of horrific. There are other women who approach me are like, ‘Yes! You kick ass!’ It’s really been eye-opening to understand how many angry women there are out there who would love to shoot their husband’s in the head with a sawed off shotgun.

Have you worked with Sharon Gless?

Yes, we had a really fabulous scene where we’re both talking about Michael and she reflects on her relationship with him, and we really get to see the similarity between Madeline and Fiona mostly through Michael’s eyes. She’s wonderful. What a wonderful woman! What a strong, extraordinary life she has had. Yeah, I really admire her.

Would you enjoy it if it turned out that Fiona was in on whoever burned Michael?

Of course. But that would be when I get the boot and be unemployed.

Would it be fun if you or one of the other characters took over the narration for an episode?

That would be interesting. I love narration, particularly on a TV show where there is so little time to tell a story unless you turn it into caricature of the characters. There’s really not enough time to really indulge everybody’s little idiosyncrasies. With narration, you can really get through a lot than you normally be allowed without it. Because you can explain so much with a few lines. When it comes to the technical stuff, it’s fantastic. I don’t know if I can pronounce all the words in the narration. I’m glad that Jeffrey is in charge of that.

Do you think Fiona is like a Bond girl – like Pussy Galore?

Yes, there’s a little Pussy in Fiona. It’s interesting because the toughness in women has always been so unattractive, but I guess it works in some women. I think there’s incredible strength in every woman if you can maintain your femininity and still indulge that power.

Burn Notice’s first season concluded with former spy Michael Weston trapped inside the cargo trailer of an eighteen wheeler. When season two begins tomorrow [Thursday, USA, 10/9C], the little exercise in claustrophobia results in Weston [Jeffrey Donovan] being given an assignment – over the phone – by the mysterious Carla [Tricia Helfer] before the trailer is opened onto a scene of carnage. Spies. Whatcha gonna do?

Breaking and Entering, the second season premiere, deals with stealing information from a civilian military [mercenary] company. If it’s not done by a certain time, it will result in the death of the wife and child of the man who set up the firm’s security. The carnage that greets Michael when he clambers out of the trailer is what remains of the computer expert, Richie’s effort to flee. Plus, there’s always Michael’s manipulative mom [Sharon Gless], fellow ex-spy and buddy, Jack [Bruce Campbell] and ex-girlfriend/former IRA demolitions expert, Fiona [Gabrielle Anwar] to help and/or hinder. Topping that, Carla is one of the people who had Michael burned in the first place!

The follow-up ep, Turn and Burn, finds Michael helping a young woman with a stalker problem – by the number two man of the local drug kingpin! Even worse, he gets manipulated into attending a “counselling session” with his mom. [Oh, the humanity!] And these are just the side gigs! His assignment from Carla is to get a computer key card copied – and that requires a special kind of expert…

Burn Notice was probably the best series of last summer, in terms of pure entertainment value. It certainly filled the requirements of the USA “characters wanted” brand – though Michael is the most normal of the characters [it’s his mom and Jack who are the real characters!]. If anything, it seems that the series has gotten smarter, funnier and maybe even a bit edgier this season.

The first two scripts are killer and the ensemble certainly makes the most of that. Each ep is paced just quickly enough to maintain interest without trying to do too much too quickly [a real potential problem here]. Donovan has really done a nice job of keeping the balance between nice and twisted in Michael’s character. He gives the show its calm center in the eye of the hurricane that is his mom, Jack, and Fiona [though Fiona seems to have calmed down a bit from last season – let’s see how long that lasts]. Tricia Helfer nicely underplays Carla’s menace, thereby seeming even more dangerous, and she definitely adds a bit of spice to Michael’s life – which makes it even harder for Michael to find out who she really is – and who she works for.

If you liked Burn Notice last season, you’re going to love it this year.

Final Grade: A

Hey Everyone, we’ve been all over Burn Notice the last couple of weeks so naturally we have to give away some swag. So check out this awesome swag bag. Stair at it, caress it, love it. It can be yours.  USA NETWORK’s hit series BURN NOTICE returns Thursday, July 10th at 10pm/9c. Why was Michael Westen burned? And what’s he gonna do about it? The answers every Burn Notice fan wants begin to take shape with the Season Two premiere. The new season also welcomes Battlestar Galatica’s Tricia Helfer as well as existing cast  Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless. Join other fans on the official Facebook Fan Page or visit the official site at burnnotice.usanetwork.com. It’s hypnotizing isn’t it. We only have one of these to give away and I want it to go to a Burn Notice fan, so just post something about the season premiere or the next episode. This contest will run until Tuesday the 22nd. On that day send an email with your full name, address and user id. This swag bag will include  - Burn Notice Season 1 DVD, Burn Notice Book, Branded Towel, Branded T-Shirt and a Branded Frisbee. I said a Frisbee! What are you waiting for start posting.

Today I participated in a call with Battlestar Galactica’s iconic Six (Tricia Helfer) to talk about her role in the July 10 premiere of USA’s new hit show Burn Notice. Of course Galactica came up as well and we got some great tidbits from her. The transcript from the call will be coming later this week. To wet your appetite. Here are some little tidbits.

• Tricia will be in 7 Episodes of Burn Notice playing a mysterious spy. She’ll be in the first two episodes of the season, the season finale and a couple in 2009.
• Her character is the public face of the organization that burned Michael.
• She really liked the being on the set and said it was a real welcoming environment.
• She talks a bit about the difference between Vancouver and Miami, Fl. Said she had to get use to it being sunny in Fla.
• She has a list of DVD Sets that she wants to watch since she doesn’t watch much television. She likes quirky shows like Madmen and Weeds. Is currently watching Dexter, 24, and Arrested Development.
• When asked if she uses the word Frak in her every day life she no. Primarily because her character on Galactica rarely says it. But Frak has become part of other cast and crew’s vocabulary.
• She didn’t have to audition for the Burn Notice part. Matt called her up and said he had a part for her.
• She’s shooting a pilot for a new Fox Television show called Inseparable. She’s playing a Psychologist to the lead. It’s about a cop who was shot and paralyzed. He develops a split personality one that’s crippled and the other one who isn’t. She’s not in the Pilot episode that much because they are establishing the main character.
• She was great to talk to, wasn’t at all squeamish about talking about BSG and what her post BSG life will be like.
• She will be at Comic-Con as part of a Cylon/Human couple. Doesn’t know if the Burn Notice folks will be doing anything.
• She hasn’t been following the looming strike.

EM Interview Highlights

By Michelle Alexandria
Originally Posted 7.2.2008

So here’s the thing, a few weeks ago USA Network contacted me out of the blue and said hey, would you like to come down to Miami for a little Junket for Burn Notice. I was like hells yeah - even though I had no idea what Burn Notice was. But I’m always up for a free trip. Then after a few round of emails, I asked are they paying for it. Nope, had to pay for it out of my own pocket. But I was still going to go. After boning up a bit on the show (as much as I could - considering all the power outages in the last two weeks), I got even more excited. The show is just a really cool, fun riff on the "spy" genre. We had such a good time during the day and I got so much material that we’re launching a Burn Notice page later this week. And it’s been ages since there was a show set in Miami (that I watched.) So during the press day, we interviewed 10 different people and it was in the air. Jeffrey’s presence was felt throughout the day, he is the star of the show and everything is on his shoulders. The cast and crew spoke glowingly of him and when you meet him in person you can understand why. He’s drool worthy, funny, charming, and amazingly down to earth. Oh yeah, he even has a great dog.

Jeffrey Donovan: Alright, all of you should not be drinking any soda. No soda. No soda.

Panel: [laughs] Uh oh!

JD: How’s it going? Have you had a good day today, so far? You got to interview everybody exciting so far…

Panel: We’ve been waiting for you!

JD: It’s all downhill from me. All downhill.

Panel: Sharon Gless talked you up a lot.

JD: Oh, my mama. My mama. [laughter] Isn’t she amazing?

Panel: She said nothing but lovely things about you.

JD: She’s been like a mother to me down here. She is so great. Her and her husband, Barney – you know famous producer – they’re just so great. I wish they were my parents.

Panel: She seemed like she’s pretty much adopted you.

JD: Yeah, she has, she has. I’m filing papers next week.

Panel: Everyone said you don’t sweat, what’s the secret to that?

JD: [laughs] Who’s everyone?

Panel: Everyone. [laughter from all]

JD: Well, it’s like the yogurt, it’s like a running gag now. It’s not that I don’t sweat, I don’t look like I sweat. I can’t do this job without thirteen to fourteen hours of energy per day, you know? So, what I did… I got in pretty good shape last year but I got in better shape this year. And I don’t mean just working, I really looked at my diet and how athletes train to peak during a game? Well, they’re looking at a sustainable energy of three hours, let’s say, well mine is thirteen hours. So I started talking to a nutritionist about that and learned a lot about diet, learned a lot about your body as an eco-system and a furnace at the same time and how all the organisms live with the food and burns, blah, blah, which will never get printed… But, anyway, your body is an engine and I just want it to run as efficiently as possible so that I can have sustainable energy in the dip because, if I’m in every scene and I give my all to a scene with Gabrielle, I don’t want to walk in and short change Bruce or Sharon. So, I try to parcel out my energy throughout the day and I realized everything has to do with diet and that’s my fuel. So, long answer is that my diet allows me to burn energy the most efficient way throughout the day so I never get hot.

Panel: Did you have to radically change your diet to do this?

JD: Uh, no. My diet was like 80% there then I met with a nutritionist and talked it out and showed him what my day was like and he said, “You’re doing pretty good, just I would eat more of this in the morning and this is what you should have throughout the day and blah, blah, blah…”

Panel: The stunt coordinator said you’re naturally good at the stunts and the props guy said you’re naturally good with the guns so… were you in fact a spy at one time?

JD: I owe them so much money! [lots of laughter] Man! Uh, no, I’m like a jack of all trades but I’m not great at any one thing. I mean, at any thing, I’m just good at a lot of things. And because it’s a TV show and you have a true— I mean, Charlie Props is a MacGyver, I mean that guy’s really MacGyver. He’s unbelievable. So he’ll do it and I just have a particular ability to watch something done once and I’m able to repeat it [snaps] right away. Like lines, I never know my lines before I walk into a scene and I’ll have the script and I’ll rehearse with you and I’ll know that I sit a certain line and I kinda of move over here [gestures] on a certain line. And then I’ll memorize it physically from that and as soon as we shoot, fifteen minutes later, I’ll know three pages of dialog. I don’t know why but, then, I don’t know – we just shot – I don’t know one line now. It’s all gone. It’s like a toilet, it just flushes away.

Panel: How did you get this role?

JD: [knowing look] Everyone’s been asking that, right?

Panel: [laughs] No, but I’m wondering… [more laughter]

JD: That’s great. There’s a lot of confidence now…

Panel: No, I’m serious, how did it come…

JD: I met with Matt Nix. The script was sent to me from USA, they wanted to work with me again. Bonnie Hammer and Jeff Wachtel, they had done Touching Evil with me. So I went and met with Matt and did a couple of scenes for him. He basically said, “You’re my guy.” And that was it. It wasn’t that I was that great, it was my take on the material. I didn’t know all my lines, I didn’t have everything right. He just saw my angle on it and my angle was: Bring levity to a serious situation and be real serious about something that’s real casual.

So, saying hi to Mom was like, [lowers voice, straightens face, real serious] “Mom.” And that was an intense moment. [laughter] And when I’d walk into a knife fight, I think in the second episode, he comes out with a knife and I stop him and he comes out with a second knife and I’m like [surprised look of delight], “Wow, he’s really good.” [laughter] So that kind of levity I brought and I ad-libbed a little bit and he knew I wasn’t do it to be funny, I was doing it to kind of sell this character to him, saying, ‘This is my angle on it.’ And he bought it and USA was already on board so it was kind of an easy fit. And we were really lucky to strike gold on our first season with ratings and reviews. Hopefully we can repeat that this year.

Panel: Sharon said you went to her for advice. What kind of advice did she give you?

JD: Well, she’s been around the world in so many different roles and so many different series but mostly it was about Cagney & Lacey. How do you do this role, any role – a specific role like hers or mine, for such a long time and not burn out? And she kept on talking about how it was always everyone else. It’s always about, “Well, I don’t want to let anyone else down.” So she was really great, kind of sage advice about knowing that you’re part of a team and just keep thinking that, that five guys go out there and play in the NBA finals – and the Lakers got spanked, Go Celts! – but you’re part of a team. It’s funny, I don’t know if you read the New York Times today, the sports section is about Doc Rivers coaching style is all about selling ‘team’ to superstars. And you’ve got Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, and Sharon Gless and then a little guy named Jeff Donovan. So I’m like, “Oh, what the hell am I doing…” They all think it’s my show, they keep telling me that, but I said, “No, it’s our show.” Because I can’t play Michael the way I’m playing him, without how great their energy is towards me, making me who I’m supposed to be.

Panel: How do you keep your head on straight knowing that so much is riding on you— it’s a team but…

JD: Wow, you guys are just killing me here. [laughter] No one had said that yet… [laughs] Umm, it’s almost a joke on this set. I drive my bicycle – I have a bicycle because it’s just easier to get back and forth from set – and a grip will yell out, “Don’t fall.” A teamster will walk by and go, “You’re messing with my children’s education.” I mean, and it’s a joke, but they’re serious! To know that 300 people are employed every year, not because of me, but because of the show is a great responsibility to know, don’t let anybody down. That’s why I worked out so much on the off-season. I got healthier. Because if I do a sick day then the show shuts down and loses $125,000 a day. I had a film in Cannes and I wanted to go. They told me it would cost them $250,000 because they had to pay everybody while I was away and there was no scene they could shoot without me.

Panel: What’s your take on Michael? Is he truly stuck in Miami? Is he starting to adapt to it, how do you see it?

JD: He is stuck in Miami for a couple of reasons. Not just because of the burn notice but I think he’s stuck in his life. He’s been running away from who he is for so long and his family and now he’s been thrust back into his family because of his work. His work allowed him to get away from his family and his work is forcing him to now be with his family and that’s a real interesting dilemma. Miami is Michael’s Gilligan’s Island and, if he ever gets off that island, then the show’s over. So there is a type of conceit that you have to just go with that he’s stuck in Miami but, for a viewer, like “Don’t ever leave Miami” but, for Michael, “I got to get the hell out of Miami.” So that kind of conflict I think is perfect for the show and I don’t think it’ll ever leave.

Panel: Season two, though, it seems like it’ll be a different dynamic. Now that he’s sort of taking orders as far as Tricia Helfer’s character is concerned. How does season two find him? What is the new dynamic?

JD: I guess you’ll have to watch. [laughter] Ummm, did you talk to Matt Nix? What’d he say?

Panel: He said, “Jeff’ll tell you anything you want to know!” [laughter off Jeff’s look in response]

JD: No, he didn’t.

Panel: He said to ask about your shortened version of Law & Order… So we want to hear that before you go.

JD: [laughs] Great.

There always has to be the bad guy that is against Michael. It can be Tricia. It was Phillip Cowan in the first season. It’s Carla this year. I don’t know who it’ll be next year or if there will be or if it’s always Carla. I don’t actually know but there’s always going to be a kind of manipulative secret force that is forcing Michael to do things he doesn’t want to do. But the great thing about Matt and all the writers and what they do is that Michael accepts the job under those conditions but somehow manipulates it to his own benefit. It’s easy to write a show where, and I actually like this show, Prison Break. Two guys, they’re in prison, they have to break out. Well they did [laughs], remember? Now what do they do?

What Matt is going to try to do, and I think it’s great, is that there’s always going to be some force that keeps him in that little aquarium and all these different fish keep going in, some of them predator and some of them prey. It’s his way of just keep surviving, just keep swimming, don’t ever stop, you know? I don’t know if that answers it but it’s the best I can do.

Panel: How is it working with Tricia? I know you’ve only done couple a days together…

JD: I’ve only done a couple of days. She’s great. I really haven’t gotten to know her that well. Her dynamic is unique in the sense that I’m now face to face with a force that’s keeping me down and I have to just keep getting information from her whether she knows she’s giving it to me or not and that’s going to be the fun spy stuff.

Panel: Did you do a lot of research to prepare for this?

JD: I read a lot. I’m more of a reader actor than a seer actor. I think I went and saw three movies in the last six months. I’m not a big TV and movie guy. Matt and all the writers have seen everything and they’ll say, “Hey, you remember on…” I watched stuff as a kid but, when I research a role, I just kind of read. I read about spies, I read biographies, autobiographies, fictional stuff. Anything that just showed me the world that these people had to live in. I’m less concerned with a person but more of the environment they have to survive in. I extrapolate from that how I would do it, what are the circumstances that are similar with Michael and I go from there.

Panel: Because it seems like everyone we spoke with today – I was trying to find the one method actor – and it seems like everyone is kind of laid-back and just kind of takes it as it comes. Does that make for a better working environment? That you’re not dealing with people who are really intense?

JD: I think the demands of a TV show, especially this one, wouldn’t allow a type of – in the worst sense – method actor. Because we’d constantly be waiting for them to shift their method to the scene but these are pros, everyone on the crew as well, and you’re just dealing with everyone really good at their game. So just play your game, expect that everyone else is going to catch the ball that you throw to them and, uh, occasionally someone just goes above the rims and dunks… on the Lakers’ ass! [laughter] And then everyone’s really happy.

Panel: I can’t tell, are you a Celtics fan?

JD: [laughs]

Panel: Sharon said that at first it kind of freaked her out a little when you just wanted to go without rehearsal but now she’s really getting into it and that it’s fun for her to go at a faster pace.

JD: Well, Sharon… we rehearse, don’t get me wrong, we do a rehearsal. What she means is we won’t rehearse, rehearse, rehearse then decide ‘oh, there it all is, now let’s shoot what we know it is.’ I’m more of a believer in rehearse so that we are all on the same page but we haven’t decided what we’re actually going to do in the scene. So that when we actually go through it, it’s actually being created right in front of the camera and that’s what you capture. Then you cut it together and find out what you have, rather than deciding beforehand, planning it all out, shooting something that has now become stale and now you have to artificially bump it up in post and edit and blah, blah, blah.

Sharon is so much better than she thinks she is. So she wants to feel secure before she acts because she wants to please – because all actors want to please – but she’s so much better than she knows she is that her rehearsal is ten times better than most people’s prepared. So what I do is I encouraged her and I asked Matt, “Let’s just do it and see what happens.” It’s a riskier way of working but I think the gains are greater.

Panel: How does that compare to your working with Bruce?

JD: Umm, similar. Bruce likes to rehearse to know where everything can be just the same as Sharon. I’m just less concerned with it being right. [laughs] I don’t know why, I’m just less concerned and they haven’t fired me yet so I must be doing something right. I’m just less concerned…

Panel: When you ad-lib on the show, do you allow to improvise and ad-lib or is more like the writers’ are like, “Stick to the script.”?

JD: It depends. If it’s a story point, I won’t ad-lib. I am story first, character second. In my thinking. You’ll never hear me say, “Oh I think it’d be kind of cool if Michael…” That’s thinking my character is more important than the story. My whole agenda, every time I walk on set, is what is the event in the scene that is utterly crucial the audience get? As long as we know we hit that, everything else can be played with. So, if I walk in, and the scene is something like I sit down and I need to get information from you and that big information is ‘it was a red car,’ now we know, right? We’re all on agreement? Yep, the red car was the thing. So now when I come in I can play around with how I come in, what’s my attitude towards you, I can ad-lib a little bit at the beginning, maybe at the tail, maybe there’s a funnier button to it. Do you know what I mean? So it’s not like, “Oh, I’ll ad-lib every scene.” It’s what can withstand improvisation but never at the expense of the story.

Panel: Well in the case, then, say when you’re sitting with Bruce and – I know you both can probably like improvise and banter back and forth – do they let a lot of that slide and go into the show?

JD: We banter, it’s funny, you’re very smart. Bruce and I can banter ‘til the cows come home. It’s an easy thing for us—and he listens, he’s a really good actor—I’ll say something, he’ll respond to it and the scene is over and he’ll continue and we’re just, “Blah, blah, blah.” What the writers and producers have learned is let us do that. That doesn’t mean they’re going to shoot it, doesn’t mean that they’re going to use it, but it’s informing, not only us, but it’s informing everybody of where is the limit of the scene. We’ll all hear it, we’ll all, “It’s spilled over, we can’t go that far.” But the only way you’ll know it is if you jump. That’s what I’m saying, it’s risky. Just jump into it. I mean, I’ve fallen on my face so many times and things are funny and people are like, “Well, why’d you do that?” I’m like, “I don’t know.” But then the next time I won’t do that but because of that choice it will inform an actual line and that line pops for some reason.

Panel: At what point do you do narration, do you have the narration in mind when you walk into a scene and you know this is your voiceover stuff? Have you already done the voiceover stuff and know it?

JD: I usually do the voiceover stuff at the end of the episode, of the shooting. Last year was brutal, last year they put the narration anywhere I had a break and I never had a break. So they found that when I would finish one scene and they literally had to move from my loft to here, I would have five minutes before rehearsal because it took that much time. And right behind that ‘Food & Drink’ sign is an ADR sound room and I would run in there, put on the headphones, do two pages of voiceover, and then run back. And it became so much that I actually very sick. I got tonsillitis and a huge bronchial infection. I was out in the middle of a scene, I couldn’t talk anymore. It was about halfway through the season. And I was talking like this [imitates talking with no voice] and I was trying to act, like that. And they said, “Well, we should probably send you to the doctor but, uh, we’re trying to get this shot.” [laughter] And, literally, going, “We could always just dub it later.” [more laughter] And I was like, “I gotta…”

So I went to the doctor and he’s like, “You have tonsillitis, you’re almost getting bronchitis, I’m checking for pneumonia…” So I go home. They sent me alone – you know with a driver – I went back to my apartment and I laid down and I assumed everyone knew but they’re calling going, “Are you coming back?” [still imitating having no voice] “I’m not coming back.” “You sound really sick.” “Because I am!” [laughter] “Alright, take tomorrow off.” “Thanks! Wait a minute, tomorrow’s July 4^th, everybody has that off.” They gave me July 4^th off and I had to come back July 5^th and I showed up on set, I gargled with salt all morning to get it clear, and then they shot me with B12. And I just…

Panel: So you did the whole show on steroids.

JD: [chuckles] Yeah, basically.

Panel: What would you say is the most dangerous or most challenging stunt that you’ve performed?

JD: What’s interesting is that it’s not what you think. I was going to say that in the pilot I rode a motorcycle in the first scene and it was a dirt bike, which are big knobby tires which only grip in the dirt not on flat surfaces but it was cobblestone. So, I told them I rode, which I do, I was spinning it around doing all these fun things. Then one time the director, in the middle of the shot, went, “No, go that way.” [motions the other way] And I tried to turn and I laid it down and I tore my ankle open. And I was like, “Oh yeah…” And everyone’s scared and, you know, “Hundreds of thousands of dollars…” And, you know, they wrapped me up and said, “Get back in there.” [everyone laughs and says it with him] So that would seem like that was the one but it wasn’t. It was the second to last season finale episode where I meet Phillip Cowan on the roof and he’s shot? Well, he was right in front of me and he had an exploding pack which is, 9 times out of 10, is very inert and it doesn’t really do anything. It just usually explodes and then the blood comes out.

Well, for some reason, it exploded and there was a coagulated piece of blood and paper that was about the texture of Play-Doh that came out of the explosion at about 300 feet per second and went right into my mouth and blew my mouth open and it was just all inflamed. It was like a golf ball, if you put a golf ball in your lip that’s the size. And, if it had gone two inches above, I would have lost my right eye, without question. If you go back to that episode, after that scene is a phone conversation where I’m telling Nate to come get me. Well, I have it right here [holds an invisible phone over the upper-right side of his mouth] because I’m covering a huge blood clot that had collected right underneath my nose and they were icing it in between scenes because I had to shoot the rest of the day. So that was the most dangerous thing…

Panel: Does that make you leery of doing other stunts?

JD: Not other stunts because I don’t mind laying a motorcycle down, I don’t mind twisting my ankle doing a run because I’ve done all these things. I’ve had glass shatter and cut me all up my arm. I don’t mind that stuff. That kind of stuff, I just should not have been in that position that should have been a stunt man. I want to do all my own stunts and now I can’t do any of them because of that. Because something like that – everyone was surprised – but, of course, who expects something to go wrong. Everyone’s thinking, “Well we’ve done all the precautions…” That was the most dangerous thing that happened last year.

Panel: You have some great action hero moments in this show. They just showed us the scene from the first episode of season two where you’re trying to break into a place and, when it goes wrong, you pull this giant Terminator-sized gun out of the bag.

JD: [laughs] A grenade launcher!

Panel: Yeah and you do this thing where you throw the propane tank and blow it up. When you’re filming that stuff, do you sometimes just go, “This is pretty bad ass…”?

JD: Yeah, yeah, that’s pretty cool. I like that stuff, I like that stuff a lot. But I like the propane tank better than the grenade launcher because anyone can carry a big gun. But to design that thing, to throw it, to know you have to hit it at a specific thing and rotation… that was pretty cool.

Panel: Do you show that stuff to your family and go, “Don’t piss me off!”

JD: [laughs]

Panel: Do you feel like MacGyver sometimes? Do you like the MacGyver aspect of the show?

JD: Yeah. Umm, I never feel like MacGyver because… I love MacGyver, I grew up on MacGyver. MacGyver did things that were, for the most part, implausible. That was kind of a fantasy show. I looked at MacGyver before I did this. I watched this and said, “How is this going to be different?” Everything we do on the show, you can actually do in real life, that’s what’s neat about it. And what I really like about it is that we try to take responsibility if we introduce anything to the audience that is dangerous, like an explosive device. That we always hold back a key ingredient that without that keeps it from working.

But everything we do— There’s an episode coming up actually, and I don’t think I’m revealing anything, but I make an x-ray machine in my trunk and you can actually do that. And that’s pretty cool. I mean, this is stuff that they work their butts off to research and you can do it. It may take a little longer than what we do it but what Matt’s saying is that, “Make sure on this show you can do everything, we just do it in a condensed time.” That’s what’s fun about it.

Panel: Do you think you’re going to be able to do this and keep it up at the same pace for the long run, for another 5 or 6 years?

JD: I was just asked that today in another interview. My honest answer is that I’ll do it as long as my body doesn’t give out. But that doesn’t mean I get old. [laughs] My body may give out after two, three seasons because it’s just so physically demanding. I’m trying to stay healthy. I’m always trying to stay a step ahead of this role. In my first season, I knew a hand full of dialects and accents. I have a black belt in karate and six/seven years of aikido. That was good for the first season but I wanted to get better. So, in the off season this year, I took ju jitsu for three and a half months. I studied ten other dialects that I’ve never really studied before. I hired a nutritionist. So, you know, I’m just trying to stay above it and as long as I do that I’ll probably have some longevity with this role.

Panel: Do you think people realize the physical nature? I mean, it’s one thing to say, “Oh, I’m an actor…” but do you think people know—

JD: No one has any idea how hard this job is and they don’t understand how dedicated I am, or any of these actors are, to this job. I just have to be – not more dedicated – I just have to have a dedication to a lot more facets and a lot more areas. The irony is… I make it look easy and it’s the hardest job I’ve ever done. [chuckles] So, I love that you guys – and I can tell that all of you actually like the show and are fans of it – but, in some ways, the people who like it doesn’t realize how hard it is to make it look this easy.

Panel: Well Fred Astaire and Charlie Chaplin said the same thing; they worked so hard to make it look so simple.

JD: So simple.

Panel: It’s just funny that it’s fun, escapist television but that much work goes into it.

JD: Yeah and our goal in this show, at least Matt and I’s, is how do we take something that everyone has seen for years, standard spy thriller/action/comedy show, and bring levity to it. That’s, I think, difficult without making it campy. MacGyver was, in some ways, campy. The A-Team was an action comedy, campy. You never believed it, did you? You never believed The A-Team actually was real.

Panel: Only when I was eight.

JD: Well, yeah, eight. You wanted to be "B.A." Baracus, with the chains. [makes a gesture toward his neck where the chains would hang if he had him as laughter sounds] But I think, 9 times out of 10, you ask any Burn Notice fan, “Do you think it’s real?” It is, meaning that the world Michael Westen lives in and is doing things in, is real, he’s actually doing… I don’t think people are deluded but I think that people will buy it. That is so hard, so hard to do, and that’s what we try to do. Not every episode, every day. Every day we walk into a scene going, “Would this fly? Would this really go down?” And, then on top of that, “How do we make the audience smile?” That’s basically our mantra.

Panel: So everyone says this is a really fun set, can you give us some examples? And I still want to hear your Law & Order thing.

JD: I wish I had anecdotes, I don’t have any. I mean, “The other day, Bruce…” I don’t have any. I don’t. It’s just, everyone’s really good at their job and with that confidence of allowing people to do their job you get a comfortability. People make jokes, people laugh, people will be sarcastic, just like any work environment. Everyone feels like we can joke around and we’ll still get our jobs done.

Panel: Does having such a small cast foster that sense of community?

JD: Well, what’s interesting is that I hardly see Bruce, Sharon, and Gabrielle. And Bruce hardly ever sees Sharon, Gabrielle, and me. We do have scenes but a lot of it is the A-story which is all going off with where the espionage is and what’s behind the burn notice. And then the B-story is all the guest stars and how do we help them out. It’s really a rotating family, it’s never feeling like we’re all just there— it’s not Seinfeld where we’re there every week like it’s just the four of us.

[Editor’s Note – You really have to see Donovan do this, it’s funny as hell.]

Alright and I’ll leave on the Law & Order thing. So, umm – and it’ll ruin it for you for the rest of your life – so typical premise is that they find the guy (law) and they arrest him and the order is the judging, right? So they, “Where were you the other night?” “Oh, I was with family…” “Uh, well, we’ll see if you like the family at Rikers because you’re going away.” [Jeffrey does the entire Prosecutor bit with the yelling and slamming his fist on the table..] So they get him up on the witness stand and say, “You killed that young girl.” “No, I never killed that girl.” “We have photographs of you actually being with that girl at the mall one hour prior.” [lawyer getting angrier but accused still cool] “I was shopping, I may have been next to her but I never ever touched that girl.” “We actually have an eyewitness [raising voice and banging table to make point] that saw you raping that girl!” [accused breaks down] “I didn’t mean to hurt her! I just was – I loved her!”

And that’s it! That’s Law & Order.

Thank you for coming out here and taking the time out of your busy schedules. I really appreciate the support you give our show.

[Editor's Note]

There were 5 other folks who were part of these interviews - IGN, Fanbolt.com, TVSquad, theTVAddict.com, and ramblingsofatvwhore.com.

EM Interview
By Michelle Alexandria
Originally Posted 06.10.08

Considering it was a one day junket with a nice dinner, I learned a lot during my weekend visit to the Miami Set of USA Network’s hit new show - Burn Notice. This trip came out of my own pocket so don’t worry about me being bought off. Although I am for sale and still dreaming of my first paid studio trip. First and foremost interviewing 10 people in one day could have been a chore, but we made an agreement amongst ourselves that each one of us editors (A shout out goes to IGN, Ramblings of a TV Whore, The TV Addict, TV Squad, and Fan Bolt) would do one transcript each. So for a change, it won’t take a month for you all to get full QAs from everyone. Another thing is, we got so much information and we’re going to have so many photos, that I think we’ll be launching a brand new special section devoted to Burn Notice. It’s a great show that deserves some love. In the meantime here’s part one of things that I learned attending the Burn Notice Junket.

Sharon Gless Still got "It."

• Sharon Gless is a television legend and she doesn’t even know it. When I asked her "What’s it like to be a legend?" She blushed and doesn’t consider herself a trailblazer.
• She adores her co-star Jeffrey Donovan. When she talks about him, you can almost tell she would like to adopt him.
• The rumors that she and Tyne Daly don’t get along are false. Talks about Tyne with great reverence and love. They are actually flying to London together next week to do a talk show.
• There have been talks of a brand new Cagney and Lacey movie with them being somehow involved. Apparently there’s been a revival in it’s popularity overseas.
• She let slip a plot point about this season’s Burn Notice - Apparently Madeline and Michael are going to do some family counseling.

Matt Nix Funny as Hell

Burn Notice series creator Matt Nix was funny as hell and an all around great guy. He had us all in stitches with his tales.  Things we learned during dinner

• During one of the writers meetings they were trying to figure out how to write a scene where someone needs a reaction, one of the writers tipped over a lamp that scared everyone in the room.
• A lot of times when characters get written out of shows it has nothing to do with the story.
• The best way to kill off a character is to give them "Hollywood Aids," (my term) or liver cancer.
• People in Miami don’t slow down or stop when they see a big ass "mushroom" cloud.
• USA Network has been really easy to work with. The only thing that they asked was that the show be “serial but missable.”  So they try and keep the series mythology about Michael’s "burning" to minimal so that anyone can jump on the bandwagon at any point.
• Matt doesn’t believe in full commentary tracks. Ok, so that’s not quite right. He said he didn’t like it when he listens to commentaries where the people speaking really don’t have anything interesting to say. So for the upcoming Burn Notice S1 DVDs he said he doesn’t do a running commentary but picked various spots on different episodes. So I’m not sure if these will count as "full-length" commentary tracks.
• USA Networks increased the number of episodes for S2 of Burn Notice and wants a mid-season cliff hanger, but he wasn’t told exactly when the mid-season point would occur. He told a very funny story about his dilemma.

Burn Notice Executive Producer Jeff Freilich is a really cool guy!

• My asshatness took over when I ended up dominating this Q and A. Hey, I love talking to Producers and the behind the scenes people.
• My power went out last week due to a series of Tornados so I didn’t get a chance to do my research, but Jeff has done a hell of a lot!
• He’s been working on a book for the last 3 years that’s all about Producing.
• He gave many A-List stars their first start.
• Barbara Steisand is, "shocking," a micro manager.
• He describes producing as nothing more than hosting a cocktail party.
• They have a product placement deal with Cadillac and Saab.
• Getting an old fashion Dodge Charger that didn’t have tinted windows

Bruce Campbell Sweats

• A running joke and comment throughout the day was Jeffrey Donovan doesn’t sweat, but everyone else sweats like a pig.  Bruce was sweating during our interview.
• Because he lives close enough to the set where he rides his bike all the time.  He even has a little bell on it.
• Bruce loves his part because he doesn’t have the pressure of being a lead.
• He won’t do his famous back flip.
• Bruce loves Hawaiian shirts and wants to get a stack of them for free.
• The PR folks didn’t want us to ask about Evil Dead, but Bruce talked a lot about his experience working on Briscoe County. Which is why he likes not being the lead.
• He has no desire to write or direct a future episode of Burn Notice.

A Little Bit of Pussy in Gabrielle Anwar

• Gabrielle has a great, beautiful and incredibly sweet dog.
• She thinks there is a little bit of classic James Bond Vixen "Pussy Galore," in her character.
• She’s not a method actor, or one who feels the need to build an elaborate background in order to play a part.
• This season we’ll see more of her with Bruce and Madeline. This is to give Jeffrey a little break from being in every scene.
• We were asked not to ask her what it was like to dance with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.
• She’s incredibly thin, it’s hard to believe she has 3 kids.

 Jeffrey Donovan is handling the pressure well

• It’s pretty amazing, this entire show rests on Jeffrey’s shoulders and he somehow remains down to earth.
• If he gets sick or takes a day off, it’ll cost the production $300,000.
• He had a freak stunt accident where the roof of his mouth was burned and he still had to finished filming.
• He has a beautiful dog as well who gets along with Gabrielle’s dog, but he rarely brings him to the set.
• We were all eating lunch during our talk and I noticed he wasn’t eating any meat, so I’m assuming he’s a vegetarian.
• He’s perfectly proportioned. He’s not one of these actors who has a big head and small body.
• He likes to do as much of his own stunts as possible. But he also realizes that a lot of people are depending on him.