The TV Chick

The second season premiere of White Collar ended with a big cliffhanger. Marsha Thomason, who plays Diana, has been upgraded to a series regular and all we know is that she has something to do with the music box. While Neal and Peter might be the main cast, Diana was one of my favorites last season and I’m so glad she is taking on a bigger role. I recently had the chance to visit the set of White Collar, where Marsha Thomason chatted about Diana (is she good or evil?), her own TV addiction (she’s a Gleek!) and the support she’s had from the gay community.

So season two episode one ended on an interesting note, can you give us some spoilers?
I don’t remember what happened at the end [laughs].  We’re shooting episode six now. they all merge into one.

You opened the safe...the Music Box.
Oh, right yeah, oh yeah.  So it’s, is Diana good or bad right?

Yeah.
Well I can’t say.

Well I’m curious to know, you know, you’re signed up for season two with a bigger role. And how has that been, taking on a bigger role from season one to season two?
Oh it’s been great.  I mean everybody’s so lovely here, and it’s such a great part, it’s a wonderful environment.  And, you know, it sounds so cheesy when we say that, because I’ve lied in the past when I’ve said that on shows [laughs].  But actually, in this instance, it’s really true, like everyone is so lovely and it’s such a pleasure to come here.  And it’s just, it’s been really great. I’m loving working in the city, you know, being here.  New York is such a big pie, it’s like a character of its own on the show and its been really great.

So how do you like being in New York compared to being back [home]?
Well, I live in LA, I’ve lived there for almost ten years, so I feel almost like an American now.  I know I don’t sound like one but it’s been great being here, it’s such a great city, it’s so vibrant, I’ve loved it, really loved it.  It’s always been a dream of mine to work in New York.

When you came in on season one did they tell you that it was possibly going to be a season two recurring role?  Or did they tell you we’ll see what happens?
Yeah it was kind up in the air, we didn’t really know what was going to happen with it, which is often the case in this business as you know.  So it’s great to be back for this second season [with the] boys.

And you play a really strong female character who’s gay, and do you think we might see your relationship in the future?
I think you might, yeah.

[laughter] Oh, she knowingly nods.
She knowingly raises a brow [laughs].

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USA Network has created many hit shows over the past couple of years. In fact, I’d say their lineup is one of the strongest on television (network or cable). They focus on shows with interesting premises, strong acting and good drama. Whatever they are doing, they are doing it right. Last year, White Collar premiered and I was instantly hooked. If you haven’t watched this show, the 2nd season premiere is tonight — what are you waiting for? The newest show to become a part of the USA Network family is Covert Affairs. I recently had the chance of visiting the set of the show and speaking with the lovely cast. I had an amazing time, but it was great because everyone was so excited about the show (including me!)

Piper Perabo plays Annie Walker, a new CIA agent who is brought into the line of duty to the Domestic Protection Division earlier than expected because of her language skills. She has an interesting past (one that is only touched upon in the premiere), a very caring sister (played by great Anne Dudek) and an ability to change her persona at the drop of a hat. Annie soon meets Auggie (played by the super talented Chris Gorham), a blind CIA agent/tech guru who takes her under his wing. A blind CIA agent is an interesting choice, but it is done in an extremely respectful way (Gorham even worked with the National Institute for the Blind) and there is no pity party going on here. He is Auggie — a charming womanizer who is a tech whiz — not blind Auggie. Their boss is Arthur Campbell (played by my favorite TV Dad Peter Gallagher), who is tough and has to deal with his equally tough CIA wife Joan (played by Keri Matchet). Let’s just say it’s not easy being in the same agency as your spouse, but it is encouraged by the CIA.

I thought the premiere was fun, action-packed and had the makings of a hit. Perabo is a great leading lady, and Gorham is a fantastic co-star. The pilot set up a lot of overarching themes and plots, and I can’t wait to see where they go. It also had Valerie Plame as a consultant and everything on the set looks very genuine. There aren’t garbage bags, there are burn bags for confidential documents. Little details like that, and the fact that the Executive Producer is Doug Liman (best known for his work on The Bourne Trilogy) makes this show feel very authentic. Granted, not everything you see on TV is going to be real, but the creative team clearly did their research and it shows.

I highly recommend Covert Affairs to anyone. It isn’t like any other spy show out there (although it’s being compared to Alias), and I predict it will have a ton of success. I certainly can’t wait to see what’s coming up next.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 10 pm to USA Network for the series premiere of Covert Affairs, which immediately follows the 2nd season premiere of White Collar.

And check out some pictures from the set of Covert Affairs:

White Collar is back with an amazing 2nd season premiere tonight. The series stars Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey and Tim DeKay as Peter Burke (a ex-con artist and FBI agent respectively). Burke is the only to ever successfully catch Caffrey, and they form an unprecedented partnership. Slowly but surely they become friends who trust each other, even with Neal’s shady past. The season two premiere brings a whole new mystery to the table, a new regular cast member (former recurring star Marsha Thomason) and lots of Matt Bomer. I recently had the chance to visit the set of White Collar, where Matt Bomer chatted with us about the Neal/Peter dynamic, shooting in New York, and his newfound role as a sex symbol.

So, Hilarie [Burton, guest starring on the episode we saw taping] just told us that you were one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Now, there’s no way I can live up to that. But I paid her actually, before I came in here, so I guess I’ll have to cough it up now. That’s very sweet of her, and I think she’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World herself.

We had to start out believing that Neal really loved Kate and this whole thing. But as the time went on, and now with her dead, it turns into more of like, is she a symbol, is she a mystery? Because it seems a little bit more of an obsession that a love now?
Well, what I always loved about the character is that his romantic life is where he got sloppy. It’s sort of his tragic flaw, Achilles heel. So, I truly believe, I do think Neal is a little bit obsessive-compulsive in a lot of ways. I think that’s one of the benefits and probably drawbacks of being as intelligent as he is. I think he probably over thinks a lot of things. But yeah, she was definitely an obsession, but I think in his heart he truly believed that she was the one for him. And whether it’s rational or not at a certain point, is sort of irrelevant for him. So, yeah, I think in his heart and his mind it’s love.

And we talked about this with Peter, but one of the overarching themes of last season and this coming season seems to be one of trust.
Yeah.

Neal told Peter that he didn’t want to run anymore. In your mind, do you think if he would have stayed with Peter? Do you think that that trust relationship is going to continue to develop?
Well, it’s always been my hope for the character that he’d never just jump over to the other side of the moral spectrum. I hope he always stays in the gray area and loves it and enjoys it and he’s always testing his boundaries with Peter. But yeah, trust is really one of, if not the central theme of the show. It plays into every scene in all of the different characters, and when I’m approaching the work, whether it is with Kate, you know, at a certain point it’s like how much could I trust her last year? My trust for her came into question. My trust for Peter came into question. My trust for Mozzie came into question. So, it’s something that sort of shows its face a lot on the show in all the different relationships, and I hope it continues to be a central theme. Even with the introduction of Hilary’s character, immediately we have trust issues. So, I love it. It’s fun to play because there’s a surreptitious quality to it that as an actor is fun to play. You’ve got things to hide, and things are never—it’s like a good poker game. It’s never, you can’t ever take it at face value. There are always things going on underneath, and as an actor that’s really fun to play.

You play such a brilliant criminal mind, do you ever when you’re in a bank or something, does Neal kind of pop out and you know, I could take this place?
Well, you know, one of the real bonuses we have this season is that I now have an advisor, a con artist who advises me on set on a lot of things. So, I am getting a little bit more confident with my pick-pocketing skills, and I can actually pick a lock now. So, watch out. But as far as breaking into a bank, I’m not going to try to go there, because the main difference between me and Neal Caffrey is my ass will get caught.

Does any part of you wish that you were a smidgen less attractive?
You all need to come in here and see me before I go through hair and makeup, and then we can revisit this conversation. I don’t, to be honest with you, I mean, that’s sort of an impossible question to answer. That’s [I’m an] asshole on either front or completely fake. I don’t think about it. I mean, I think as human beings we have a tendency to see some of our drawbacks more than we see our benefits. So, I don’t ever, I’ve never really thought of myself as anything special in that regard. So, thank you for that question. It’s brightening my day a little bit, but I don’t really know how to answer it.

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White Collar returns with a bang tomorrow night on USA Network. It quickly became one of my favorite dramas last season with its quick wit, interesting cases and um, have you seen Matt Bomer?! One of the lucky ones who gets to work very closely along side Bomer is the extremely talented (and lovely) Tim DeKay. He plays Peter Burke, the only FBI Agent who was ever successful in catching former con-artist Neal Caffrey (Bomer). While Peter is sort of the yin to Neal’s yang, he clearly enjoys his new found parternship, trust and friendship they have formed. Combine all this with drama and mystery, and it keeps me tuning in and on the edge of my seat week after week. I recently had the chance to visit the set of White Collar, where we toured the FBI and the homes of all of the characters. Tim DeKay chatted with us about Peter’s relationship with Neal, the gorgeous locations they have filmed at around New York City and what he hopes is coming up for his character. 

Your banter with Neal is awesome.  How did you guys establish that relationship in the first place?

I don’t know we just, it goes back to—I feel like some of you have heard this already.  It goes back to when he had been already cast in the role.  And then I, there was a chemistry read it was called, where, and I think there were, you know, they’d seen a lot of people.  And then I was shooting New Adventures of Old Christine at the time.  And they called me in to do a chemistry read with him, and I saw quite a few other people there that were very recognizable, and it concerned me. But I went in and we just started reading and there was an immediate trust between the two of us, that it would be—I liken this to sports.  In that, if he has the ball he throws it to me, I have the ball I throw it back.  And the best time is when the ball is between us and neither one of us really have it so it’s going back and forth like that.

How much of that is improv or is scripted?

I couldn’t give you a percentage, but I’ll attempt it, maybe 80 percent is scripted.  Most of the improv you’ll see is at the end of a scene.  Where the writer has written an ending to it, the scene closes and then he and I will kind of riff after that and they’ll keep it rolling, keep the cameras rolling until ad nauseum.

When did you think that the relationship between Neal and Peter changed between the convict and the person who caught him, to an actual friendship?

For me, it was when he was, it was an episode called Vital Signs.  And there was a time where, in order to get Neal out of that clinic—he was drugged at the time—in order to get him out, Peter had to one, go in there and get him and there was a moment where Peter had to make the decision to steal the surveillance tapes from that clinic.  And that was a moment where Peter, you could say, crossed the line and did something illegally, and it was simply for him, it was for Neal and no other reason other that.

And I think, you know, you talked about it a little bit but trust has been sort of an overarching theme through season one.  And it seems like it’s going to continue through season two, so how does that continue to play out as the season continues?

It’s great because you have, you saw the first episode so I guess we can talk about that. Jeff has set up this great duality, where I’m looking into something concerning the accident, Neal is looking into something concerning the accident, and neither one of us can tell each other what we’re doing.  And yet we’re closer because of what we said to each other prior to the accident.  So, it’s similar to other relationships that we have, that the closer you get in some ways, because you get closer if you don’t disclose something in that close relationship, then the trust lessens in a way, and it becomes compartmentalized.  I still think all that’s great, but I think perhaps the greater value of Neal and Peter is just the two of them—bickering is not quite the right word.  But, I don’t know what they do, when they’re in a stakeout.  I think that’s what’s, I enjoy that the most.

All the mystery surrounding the accident, is that something that’s going to play all season long or for a chunk of the season?

For parts of the season, in and out.  It won’t take, it won’t drive the season certainly, but it will, yeah, it will be part of the season.  Because again he’s, Jeff set up this thing where—now I can’t trust you with that.  Before it was I can’t trust because I know you want to get to Kate.  Now I can’t quite trust you because I know you’re going to dig into who had the plane blow up.

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Summer is finally upon us! (Well not quite technically, but almost). There is always a big lull in TV over the summer, but there are definitely more exciting shows this summer. There are also some new ones I am looking forward to. Here’s my summer show list, in no particular order. Feel free to chime in!

Pretty Little Liars:  This show premiered last week on ABC Family and has it’s second episode tonight. The show centers around four girls — Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily — whose best friend went missing. The show is based on a Young Adult book series of the same name, which I loved. Secrets abound in Rosewood, PA and I can’t wait to see what comes next. It airs every Tuesday night at 8 pm.

True Blood: The third season premiere kicked off on Sunday with a killer (no pun intended) episode. I am so excited this show is back and can’t wait to see more Eric, Sookie, Jessica, Pam and werewolves! Alan Ball has created one of the best vampire shows out there (based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris) and I look forward to being transported into Bon Temps week after week. True Blood airs Sunday nights at 9 pm on HBO.

Secret Life of the American Teenager: This show returned last week on ABC Family, and while the storylines have gone a bit off the handle (Adrian getting pregnant with Ben’s baby…seriously?) the show is still very entertaining week after week. It airs every Monday night at 8 pm.

Burn Notice had its 4th season premiere a couple weeks ago and it was pretty great. The lighthearted spy show is focusing this season on helping a spy that Michael accidentally burned. Color me intrigued! It airs on Thursday nights on the USA Network.

White Collar: My favorite boys of the summer are back! White Collar returns on July 13th and the premiere is fantastic. There’s mystery, humor and of course as Hilarie Burton describes him “one of the 7 wonders of the world,” Matt Bomer.

Make It Or Break It: A television show about gymnastics is like my dream come true. The girls of The Rock return to TV on June 28th on ABC Family at 10 pm. When we last left our favorite elite gymnasts, Payson finally got the courage to get back on the bars and there was a lot of relationships budding or coming to a close. I can’t wait to see more!

The Closer: Brenda Lee Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) and her priority homicide team will be back soon. The Closer returns July 12th at 9 pm to TNT and I’m sure hilarity will ensue. Well that and um, lots of crazy deaths and cases to solve.

The Gates: Let it be known that I love vampires. If there is a show involving vampires, I will at the very least give it a chance. The Gates is about a gated community where there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. It’s quite dark, with vampires and werewolves, but I enjoyed it. I don’t know if it would succeed as a fall show but I’ll give it a few more episodes before I decide if I am hooked. The Gates premieres on June 20th on ABC at 10 pm.

Rizzoli & Isles: A new offering from TNT, Rizzoli & Isles stars Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander as a Boston detective and medical examiner respectively. From what I’ve seen of the previews, it looks like a show that I will enjoy. I like that there are two strong female leads and I think it will be a great summer show paired with The Closer. It premieres July 12th at 10 pm.

Covert Affairs: A brand new spy dramedy from USA Network is premiering on July 13th paired with White Collar. It stars Piper Perabo, Christopher Gorham and Peter Gallagher as members of the CIA. I have seen the premiere and it is really original and had me on the edge of my seat. Perabo makes a great leading lady and I can’t wait to see more.

Losing It With Jillian: Since The Biggest Loser can’t be on all year, Losing It With Jillian (which premiered a couple weeks ago) gives me my Jillian Michaels fix. She moves in with a family for a week to get them back on track with their weight and health. Unlike The Biggest Loser, there are no immunity challenges or game play…which I like a lot. But there’s still Jillian and her screaming, motivating, inspirational ways. Losing It airs Tuesday nights at 8 pm on NBC.

What are you watching? What are you looking forward to?

In addition to speaking with the entire cast of White Collar at the Character Approved reception, I also had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with creator Jeff Eastin. The big season finale of White Collar is tonight, and there is going to be a huge cliffhanger. Eastin talks about the writers room, Matt Bomer’s star power, White Collar drinking games and a possible White Collar/Burn Notice crossover. (I had asked this question of Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar in a previous conference call).

I just wondered if you could maybe talk a little bit about planning for that, what you might do different, and are we going to get a major cliffhanger leading into that?
Yes. We have a pretty major cliffhanger coming up here in two weeks. And what we’ve done in season two is really—we’re right into it now. The writers’ group has been going about two weeks now and most of that time; we’ve been just working on the mythology moving forward into season two. What I did, really, was looked and say what we thought we really did right in season one and just try to duplicate that. Luckily, I was sort of surprised, but most new shows, there’s usually a few shows you’re sort of not happy with and I’ve got to say, I mean, just amazing case, amazing crew. We had some really good directors this year and we got really lucky. I mean, I can’t really think of any show in season one that I wasn’t happy with. I mean, I’ve got my favorites.  But even the ones that are my least favorite, I still think came out pretty good.  So I’m pretty happy about that.  I mean, we have been dealing pretty specifically with Tiffani’s pregnancy.  That’s something we’re really trying to deal with in season two. We’ve decided not to bring it up on the show.  So working around that has been a real challenge and very interesting, but kind of fun to find out technologically what you can do in terms of green screen and things like that to be able to work around that.  So those are the challenges we’ve got going into season two. But for the most part, the way I’m looking at the show right now is it ain’t broke and we’re not going to try to change anything majorly in season two in terms of dynamic. For me, the show is really about Peter and Neal and that’s where the focus is going to stay, supported by Elizabeth and Mozzie, and that’s really where we want to keep it going into season two.

One of the things that I think was probably the most amazing things I’ve read was how when you’re coming up with this concept, you’d never been to New York and you did your research, I guess, with Google Streets.  I was kind of wondering how in hindsight did that work out, and is New York, I guess, different than you thought it would be?
That is true. Yes, I had not been to New York.  New York was a very obvious choice if you’re going to do a world of white collar crime.  And Manhattan, you really can’t beat it.  I mean, it’s the perfect city for the show.  And the one problem that I had was that I had not been there. So I’m a computer geek anyway, and I think Google Streetview when it had first came out, I thought it was pretty amazing, and once I started poking around on it, in Manhattan, it was really nice. I mean, you could stroll down the street. I could plan out Neal and Peter’s movements and actually walk through them. That was really helpful just in terms of sort of orienting myself geographically. What really shocked me about New York, I have to say, are the people. I mean, I sort of—being from Colorado originally and then from L.A., there was sort of a perception that people from New York can be very cold and sort of distant.  I was really surprised that that was the exact opposite of what I found.  I found that people there were incredibly nice, incredibly warm. I have to say that I was sort of—Central Park was probably the biggest surprise I had.  I spent some of the most peaceful moments in my life I’ve spent just sort of strolling through Central Park.  And that’s from a guy who grew up in a very small town in Colorado.  So that was probably the biggest shock is that there were these places of solitude in New York that you could find.  It wasn’t the big hustle bustle capital that I was expecting. It does have those elements, but there are also these wonderfully tranquil moments that really surprised me.

You’ve often said in interviews that Neal and Peter are the smartest guys in the room. And over the course of the season, we’ve seen them go up against some pretty clever criminals, but really the only one who kind of seems like a match for them has been Keller, which makes me wonder since Fowler is somehow connected to the whole case scenario. Clearly, he’s not the guy pulling the strings. So when are we going to learn more about the mastermind behind that and how is that going to play into future episodes?
Yes. The, as we call him, the big bad, as we call him, who ultimately will be the guy that Fowler reports to. We’ll learn a lot more about him in season two. Our season two, and knock wood, our season three mythology really deals with that and really we spend some time exploring Fowler’s back story, which is actually kind of interesting stuff.  Glad to hear.  I’m don’t know if that was you saying you like Keller, but that he was formidable, which I was very happy to hear. We liked Keller quite a bit, and actually the bad guy, Wilkes, who’s coming up in next week’s episode of “Front Man,” is pretty formidable also. Just as a side note, people have asked in “Free Fall,” which is our finale where Neal had bailed out of a judge’s chambers and ended up in the front page of the newspaper, whether there were going to be ramifications. And yes, Keller is one of those ramifications. Wilkes, also, is somebody from Neal’s past, which is that sort of by exposing himself, Neal sort of comes out of the shadows slightly, and that’s attracted some of the people from his own life. So two of the bad guys, Fowler will return and we’ll find out a little bit more about who’s pulling his strings and why, which I think is actually a pretty interesting story.

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A couple of weeks ago, I attended USA Network’s 2nd Annual Character Approved Awards reception, where they honored innovators in various different fields of work. To learn more about the nominees (which include Green Day and Katherine Bigelow), you can visit the Character Approved website. Many of the stars of the USA Network shows attended the reception, and I was able to talk with the cast of one of my new favorite shows, White Collar. I had interviewed Tim DeKay (Peter Burke) over the phone in the past, and he was so wonderful to meet in person, and just incredibly nice and forthcoming. So forthcoming in fact, that he ALMOST revealed a huge location that would have given away a major plot point from the season finale. We talked about Peter and Neal’s relationship, the success of White Collar, and of course, what it’s like working with Matt Bomer.

What’s coming on the big season finale of White Collar?
You know, what, you’re a great interviewer, and I know you’re going to ask me all types of questions to get to the same answer. All I’m going to say is everybody’s involved. Certainly Neal and Peter, Mozzie, Elizabeth, Fowler, Kate, and even countries other than the United States.

Interesting! When you signed on, did you know White Collar was going to be so successful?
No. You never know. This was my 11th pilot, so I’m 3 for 11 with pilots. The others were all sort of…No I didn’t know! But because you have this guarded optimism as an actor because you think “Oh, I love this project, I love working with Matt, I love these characters,” don’t get too excited because you’re going to get the call and say It’s great, but it didn’t test well, or whatever. You know, there are so many people that make these decisions, to say “Yeah, let’s go with it.” But sometimes when you do these things, you feel all these, and you think all of these thoughts about the series or about the show, and then it’s confirmed by other people. You think, “Oh, I was right. It’s exactly what I thought people would think it was.” That’s a wonderful feeling.

Are we going to see more of Peter being watched by Fowler?
Yeah, the last episode, [he] becomes very stealth, I’ll use that word. The stakes are high, very high.

I know last time we spoke, you talked about shooting all over New York City. Do you have another location that you’ve filmed at recently that was one of your favorites?
We shot at — Oh no, I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you. I was just going to tell you and then you were going to say — Ohhh! You don’t even know when you’re asking good questions! You don’t even know!

(laughs) I didn’t mean it that way! Do you have a location that won’t give away anything?
They’re all good locations. I can’t talk to you. I was about to tell you a location that would have given a huge part of the story away!

I wasn’t trying to get you to spoil it, I swear! (laughs)
Bad, bad!

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A couple of weeks ago, I attended USA Network’s 2nd Annual Character Approved Awards reception, where they honored innovators in various different fields of work. To learn more about the nominees (which include Green Day and Katherine Bigelow), you can visit the Character Approved website. Many of the stars of the USA Network shows attended the reception, and I was able to talk with the cast of one of my new favorite shows, White Collar. Willie Garson, who we all know and love as Stanford Blatch from Sex and The City, spoke about who he bases Mozzie on, the fashion on White Collar and even a little bit about the upcoming Sex and the City movie.

How do you like playing Moz on White Collar? I love the character.
Oh it’s really great. They write it to me, they came to me with it, they write exactly in my wheel house. I get to play around with it a lot, just the fun of being able to play different characters depending on the scam and it’s great fun.

Have you done any research into what exactly your character does?
Oh God no. Yes, of course. You know, I start — because I’m kind of a gigi actor, I start with how things look. And I looked at those guys in Tompkins Square Park who play chess all day. And I figured, they must make a living, they must do something for a living — so that’s what I base Mozzie on mostly and then scams. Whatever scam we’re doing on that episode, we find out all about that as we go along.

The fashion is amazing on the show. Have you been enjoying working with the costume designers?
Stephanie’s great. We have a very specific look for Mozzie. It took actually a few episodes to find it, so we won’t be having the Scooby Doo neckerchief anymore, but again, it’s those guys in the park playing chess. They’re clean, they live somewhere, they’re just wearing kind of unique pieces. They’re one of a kind, and Mozzie’s one of a kind. And we knew, USA knew, by bringing me, I have, I’m a little fashion iconic, so they knew they had to kind of build to that. I couldn’t be wearing like an airline jump suit, people are expecting me to be dressed. So that’s why Mozzie has to be kind of dressed, because I’m playing him.

Right. And do you have a favorite moment from filming the show so far?
A favorite moment in the show…we have great moments. I love being out on the street in New York. And we have a lot of fun and especially because it’s me on the street– there’s always an adventure when we’re shooting out on the street. People are interrupting takes, screaming Stanford in the middle of it — so New York’s always a blast. It’s hilarious.

And can you tell us anything about the new movie coming out? [Sex And The City 2]
I can tell you that it IS coming out.

Any chance there will be a Sex and the City 3?
I have no idea. I hope so! I would like some vacation probably.

What it was it like working on the sequel?
Great. It’s just a gift from the fans that we’re [going to be] doing this. I mean, we joke about it. We’re like what are we Bonanza? We started talking about the pilot in 1996. This is crazy that we get to still do this. And it’s because the fans are letting us. So, God bless ‘em you know!

Did you have any idea it was going to be such a big phenomenon?
Oh God no. God no. That’s at the beginning at the show, and certainly when we released the first movie–we would never be so bold as to think that we’d end up with whatever, 500 million dollars worldwide. It’s like what? We just were making it for our fans. We didn’t realize how many of them there are. So, we love them. We love them, love them, love them.

Who did you hang out with on the Sex and the City set?
Sarah Jessica and I are pretty close, for almost 25 years now. She’s my best friend, so if I didn’t say her, I’d be lying.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow night to USA Network at 10 pm for the season finale of White Collar.

I am so excited that White Collar is returning tonight. It has become a fast new favorite of mine. The show centers around FBI Agent Peter Burke who hires former con-man Neal Caffrey to be his new partner. It is a unique show that is shot beautifully around New York City and it is very different from procedural dramas out there. I recently had the chance to participate in a Q&A with Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay (Neal and Peter respectively), about what’s coming up this season, their character development and even the fashion of the show. And be sure to tune in tonight at 10 pm on USA Network for the mid-season premiere.

It seems that both Neal and Peter seem to toe the line between right and wrong on the show, especially after seeing the cliffhanger in your fall finale.  My question is what types of real life shenanigans have you gotten yourselves into that you can draw inspiration from?

M. Bomer: Tim, do you want to go?

T. DeKay: I know we only have a little under an hour so I won’t be able to go through all of my real-life shenanigans.  That’s a good question.

M. Bomer: I snuck my brother’s car out of the driveway in the middle of the night and was trying to run over trash cans with it.  I was 16 and I got a flat tire and literally tried to go to the gas station to put air back into it.  It was nothing but shredded rubber and the rim.  I came home and by the time I got home the rubber from the tire was literally slapping on the concrete so loud the entire neighborhood – my dad was waiting for me at the door and my license was revoked for quite some time.  I wouldn’t say that I have the same kind of criminal savvy that Neal does.

T. DeKay: Is that a shenanigan?

M. Bomer: If that’s not a shenanigan I don’t know what is.

T. DeKay: That’s an excellent shenanigan; I can’t top that one.

Tim, the show obviously took a large step, something that you don’t always see in a mid-season finale.  What did you like about that last scene and what can you tell us about the ramifications as we move into the second half of the first season here?

T. DeKay: Jeff Eastin approached me with that last scene a couple weeks before he was going to put it on the script.  I said, “You’re the writer; this sounds exciting, let’s go for it.”  I love the scene and I love the continuation of the scene as well.  I think it’s some great writing and some great storytelling and very exciting and it’s a perfect cliffhanger.  That’s all I’m going to say about it.

That last scene in the aired episode I don’t know if you can tell us this or not.  Was it a coincidence or was it just a red herring or is there a reason, if you can tell us, that the actress that plays Kate looks an awful lot like with Tiffani-Amber Thiessen?

T. DeKay: This is Tim.  I’ve been asked that and I never realized that they look alike.  Now that it was brought to my attention I do see the similarity, two beautiful women.  I think it was, I don’t know, maybe the writers have something up their sleeves that I don’t know.

As far as you know it’s coincidence?

T. DeKay: I believe so, yes.

The season finale had one hell of a twist that I really don’t think many people saw coming, if anyone saw it coming.  How has this suspicion between the two characters changed the series, as it’s been the first half of the season to the last half of the season?

M. Bomer: I think it actually comes to resolution pretty quickly.  It’s not something that is as dire as it might seem; it’s something that resolves itself relatively quickly in the second half of the season.  Ultimately it’s one of those things that ends up, I think, really bringing the two characters closer.

T. DeKay: I couldn’t have said that better myself; I concur.

Over the first half of the season, Neal seems to have been developing a kind of trust in Peter and Peter has become kind of protective of Neal.  With that last twist and having seen the second half premiere, it seems like, as you said, things do resolve.  Could you speak to the development of each character in regards to the growth of trust and that sense of protectiveness?

M. Bomer: In terms of trust I think that Peter is the first person in Neal’s life that he’s really been able to have that with, but I also think it’s an interesting dynamic that’s always kind of liquid between the two of them given their history and given the fact that Neal’s not really ready to jump over to the other side of the moral spectrum immediately.  It’s something that he’s struggling with and it’s kind of his journey on the second half of the first season to figure out if I’m going to buckle down and be with the FBI or am I going to do whatever I have to do, legal or not, to find Kate.  I think the trust thing is sort of everything in the relationship, but as opposed to normal relationships where it can be a little bit more black and white, in this particular relationship, it can be more liquid.  He has more trust for Peter than he’s ever had for anybody else.

T. DeKay: As far as the protection that Peter has for Neal, I like that observation a lot.  At first, Peter’s protection of Neal was a bit self-centered.  He’s protecting himself because he made that decision to take this guy out.  But as time has gone on he’s gotten to know Neal in a different way and is now protecting him because he sees a great potential in this guy.  He’s protecting him on more than just a professional level.

Matt, what’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned so far in the world of con men?

M. Bomer: I think the most interesting thing I’ve learned is how much of it is about just like a good actor does his research on a role and does all the homework he needs to do to know a character inside and out, the amount of work that goes into a skilled con artist’s game, the amount of research, the knowledge of the mark and the amount of confidence it takes to pull it off are all really fascinating to me.  The similarities to the craft of acting are actually fascinating as well.

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