Q & A: White Collar’s Willie Garson talks on-screen deaths and how he creates memorable characters

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:22 — 12.6MB)

Willie Garson is one of those actors who’s work elevates any show or film he’s in. He played Carrie Bradshaw’s best friend, Stanford, in the Sex and the City series, Meyer in the underrated John from Cincinnati and has a résumé of guest star roles as long as your arm.

For the past two season, he’s played Mozzie on USA’s White Collar. Mozzie is an expert in most everything. And if he’s not, you can bet he soon will be.

I talked to Willie in a conference call about his character, what its like being killed on-screen and how he creates his memorable characters.

White Collar airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on USA.

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download from iTunes.

What excites you about playing a character like Mozzie?

Willie Garson:  I said this before, and  it’s become more true, what’s great about me playing Mozzie, for me, is that it’s the closest to myself that I’ve ever played.  His world views and his wry sense of humor are very in tuned with my own.  So that’s been really just a treat to play.  And the collaborative effort of the show where they let us bring a lot of ourselves to our characters makes it really fun and very personal to us when we’re playing it.  So it has a little more depth for us when we’re playing it.  It’s not just this other guy.  It actually comes from inside our hearts and that’s what I’m finding is great to play Mozzie.

So you couldn’t reveal your characters  state during the hiatus.  Are you good at keeping secrets or was it really hard to never tell anybody what’s going on?

Willie Garson: Well this one was really hard.  Also, we got a little ridiculous because obviously they were thousands of pictures on the Internet of me shooting scenes after it had been shot.  So it got a little silly after a while.  Also, the reality is that there’s not many of us on the show so it probably was not going to happen that they were going to get rid of the character of Mozzie.

So, in general, when I’m shooting I’m kind of used to it from other jobs.  Obviously, Sex and The City had very strong gag orders as to what we could say and not say.  So I’m used to that.  You play a little kind of cheeky game with the audience about what they know.  It’s very hard now with the Internet.  I mean everyone knows everything all the time.  So it’s very hard to get away with.  So if people were really paying attention they would have known that obviously I survived.

Read more

True Blood’s Carrie Preston on Broadway, her career and how she got the role of “Arlene”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:52 — 13.8MB)

Even if you haven’t watched True Blood, you’ve seen Carrie Preston before.

Carrie has the remarkable ability to transform herself – her looks and mannerisms – in each role she does. She’s been in Duplicity and My Best Friends Wedding with Julia Roberts. Doubt, Vicky Christina Barcelona and even an episode of Sex and the City that I totally remem

ber her in. She even played Ben Linus’ (her husband, the great Michael Emerson) mother on an episode of Lost! I could go on but my fingers will get tired from all the typing.

She’s currently filming season 3 of True Blood and she took some time out to talk to me about Broadway, how she prepares for a role and yes, True Blood.

So, you’re from Georgia and you got started doing plays as a kid?
Yeah, I’m one of those, like I like to say I’m a “lifer.”  I’m in it for life.  My brothers also an actor, and we started doing plays in Macon, Georgia community theater when we were pretty young.  My brother, John, his name’s John Preston, he got the first play.  He’s older than me by two years, so I watched him, and I was like, “I want to do what John’s doing.”  And then before we knew it, we were completely ensconced in doing plays growing up.

And then I even started my own street theater company when I was in the 7^th grade with all the neighborhood kids, and I would charge 25 cents.  We would make up skits and sing songs and do it in the front yard.  I mean, that was pretty much… it was very clear that that was what I wanted to do with my life.  I just didn’t know that you could make a living at it.

Was there any one show or one specific moment that you were like, this is it?
I definitely got bitten by the bug, immediately, you know, when I was in the 4^th grade. Just doing the school, the community theater production of some play, it was called, The Lion Who Wouldn’t.  You know how they write those plays for kids and stuff?

The director who was running the community theater, he pulled my mom aside and he said, “Your child’s an actor”, and my mom said, “Oh thank you, she’s having a good time.”  And he said, “No, no, no, no. You’re not hearing me.  Your children are actors.  That’s what they are.”  So he encouraged us at a young age and sort of brought it up to my parents in a way that they had to kind of sit up and listen.  And thankfully my parents were very supportive and never tried to talk us into becoming accountants or anything like that.

Yeah, my mom said that to me more than once.  And I said, mom I can’t even count.
Exactly!  There’s no back up here.  This is it.  This is what we’re doing.

Read more

Evan Handler is not patient

You probably know Evan Handler as Harry Goldenblatt, Charlotte York’s husband on HBO’s “Sex and the City,” or as Charlie Runkle, the agent for David Duchovny’s character on “Californication.” What you probably don’t know is that he’s a passionate patient advocate.

"Chick flicks" face uphill battle in Hollywood

When “Sex and the City” debuted at No. 1 at box offices earlier this year, headlines trumpeted the unusual success of a film about women aimed at women, and industry watchers forecast more of the same ahead. But female writers, directors and producers say the blockbuster is an exception to the general Hollywood rule.