White Collar Premiere Week continues as USA’s brand new series premieres this Friday at 10/9c! Everyday this week, I will present interviews with the cast and crew of White Collar, and today’s interview is with Actor, Willie Garson.

First Impressions on Playing the Character:
I was really drawn to kind of an under-the-radar kind of guy rather than an out-there kind of guy. And it also gives a lot of opportunities to play with, you know, me pretending to be other people and working scams behind the scenes rather than in front of the scenes. So that’s pretty cool. And I just thought—I’m also a big fan of all those shows that I grew up on, and this is—it’s Huggy Bear, it’s Angel from Rockford Files. It’s that subversive guy in the background, the brains behind the brain. And that’s very—that was interesting to me.

On the Dynamic Between the Cast:
The dynamic’s really good. I’ve known Tiffani for a long time, and I’ve known Tim for a long time. I’ve never acted with Tiffani. And that’s going to be weird if that ever happens. I don’t know how those two characters are going to come together. But now we’re doing scenes where I am with Peter. Tim was on a show—the show I had before Sex was called—a very long-lived Fox show called Ask Harriet. And Tim guested, so I’ve known him for a long time. And Matt, I had never met before.

We were all brought in together to do something good. So that bonded us more than anything right away. USA’s a very exciting place, and people are watching, and that’s a really exciting energy to be around. You can read the paper every day about the death of television, the death of network television. And the broadcast networks, they backed themselves into a corner, and USA was like, “We’re going to make a brand, and we’re going to make a good brand. What about that?” You know.

USA, they’re really careful. They’re really smart. For lack of a better word, they’re not screwing around. It’s like, “This is our brand.” And it’s not just like, “Oh, this works.” And so that’s an exciting energy to be around. I love these guys.

On Possibly Co-writing an Episode:
I don’t know. It’s so hard. I see what they go through. It’s so hard. Actors, I find that actors are good dialogue editors. But to come up with a blank piece of paper? If you told me the line, I could tell you the next line, but I could never come up with that first line in a scene, ever. I just don’t know.

I think down the road, second, third season, I’d love to try to direct an episode. I think I’m almost ready for that. And literally is after 30 years. I’m almost to the point where I think I could maybe direct an episode. Maybe. But it’s not—the writing, God bless them. God bless writers.

And I’ve been really blessed from Milch and Michael Patrick King and now Jeff. I just—I’ve gotten to work—David Kelley. I’ve gotten to work with really good writers. Thank god.

What, aside from the style in clothes, do you feel like you brought to the role from your own personality?
Well, I definitely have a wry, not-trusting view of the world and of, you know, corporate America and governmental agencies. So I have that in me, so this is right into a lot of things I believe in. Also, I’m from New Jersey. I come from working people. And I was really taken by, this is such a good show for this time, as we’ve certainly seen a lot of really hard-working people lose their livelihood, and we all are interested in who are these people who are finding out ways to steal money and stuff without going out and working for a living? You know, I’m fascinated by people who will just come up with more and more ways to screw people out of money, instead of just getting a job.

And I like that this show takes a viewpoint that’s like, “well, you can try, but there are people out there with their eyes on you to make sure that you do the right thing.” So that’s a real underlying thing of the show. We have a scene in an upcoming episode where we get drunk and we’re talking about, “Why do you do this,” Peter says,” Is it because of all this stuff?” And I’m like, “It has nothing to do with the stuff. It’s so we feel alive.”

Are you going to be lurking in shadows for the rest of the season, or are you going to be out and about, interacting with everyone?
I will be lurking. Well, you know, it’s funny. We know as much as you know as the scripts come in, but I am more out in the field, so to speak. But, you know, there’s a lot of question of how much is the FBI aware of me. So it’s coming that eventually Peter’s going to have to eventually know who I am, and then can we use him, and what’s the legality of–how much can the FBI actually use me to do anything.

How was it as an actor to delve into a role like this, especially now that you’ve been in such a recognizable role? Does it change your process at all to make sure that there is no “Stanford” in this character?
Well, it’s interesting. I truly do try to make everything exactly different. As different as possible. I went straight from Stanford, I went straight back to David Milch to play a nerdy, Jewish lawyer, you know, badly dressed, living in San Diego. I mean, it couldn’t have been more opposite. And then this—there’s an issue with me on the street back in New York but everyone is totally different. They’re all always different.

A big question that always comes up is always, “Dude, are you careful about typecasting,” or whatever. But typecasting for actors is kind of like what you do to yourself. I mean, I can tell you, my desk for many years had, every flamboyant, high-fashion character on the planet was sitting on my desk, and I could have made a fortune. But what’s the point?

It’s kind of why I like to make TV. I’m one of the few actors who enjoys doing TV more than I like making movies. I like that it’s a new script every week. I like that it’s totally different. And for as long as that goes, great.

Sex and the City was much longer than any of us thought that it was going to be. I mean, it’s unbelievable. I mean, we shot a scene yesterday with all of us in it and at the end of the scene, everyone’s like, “So, should someone make a speech that this is the last time we’re all together, again?” I mean, it just seems so weird to us. We shot that pilot in 1997. I actually had some hair. That’s how long ago it was.

So I would love to sit here with the new—there’s so many scams and so many places to shoot and so many weird, different rules that can be broken that we can sit here easily for seven years. I don’t have a problem with that. But when we get into the 15th season, I’ll be ready for a new show.

How much latitude have you had with ad-libs and things like that for your character?
That’s a sticky question. I’m very good at it. I do talk a lot with Jeff. Also, if things happen, especially when you’re shooting on the street in New York, Mozzie will comment or move to it. And that’s the same thing as when you walk in to do a scene and you start rehearsing it. If it’s just—I’m not going to fit a square peg into a round hole. I’m going to make it work. So I do ad lib, and they’re pretty good about if it works for the scene.

Listen, I’ve worked with crazy actors who have ad libbed for the sake of ad libbing. You know, where you say, “What time are we going to the bank,” and the guy ad libbing turns and says, “I like roast beef.” It’s like, really? Does that really do anything to propel the scene at all? So I choose my battles, and my battles are usually—they’re chosen for a reason.

Do you seek out parts that film in New York?
No, no, no. It just happens. I mean, NYPD doesn’t shoot in New York, but people thought it did. I don’t know. I guess I feel that I am like a—I’m a safe, user-friendly New Yorker. I’m not threatening or intimidating, but I seem like I could from here. And I am from here, so that helps I guess a little bit. Maybe it’s my horror at living in Los Angeles that comes across in meetings.

Tune into White Collar, premiering Friday, October 23 on USA Network.