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 USA's
action drama Burn Notice follows ex covert
operations agent Michael Westen after he is axed from the
intelligence agency he once worked for. After receiving
his burn notice, Westen has to remain in his hometown of
Miami, Florida to avoid being hunted and taken into custody,
where he works as an unlicensed private investigator for
ordinary citizens while at the same time pursuing his own
investigation; trying to discover who is responsible for
his burning and why he was burned.
Throughout his investigations, Westen comes up against
criminals, mobsters, gangs, con artists, thieves, murderers,
kidnappers, and drug traffickers.
Gabrielle Anwar plays Fiona Glenanne, Michael Westen's
ex girlfriend, on the show. Fiona is a former IRA operative
who re-enters Westen's life after he is marooned in Miami
and becomes his firearms and explosives expert. Throughout
the show's six seasons, the sexual tension between Fiona
and Michael simmers below the surface, culminating in a
will-they-won't-they plot line. Season 5 ended with Fiona
being arrested by the FBI while Michael watched in vain.
The sixth season premiered this summer on June 14 and opened
after Fiona turned herself in on charges of terrorism to
save Michael from an extreme case of blackmail. With Fiona
in federal custody, Michael and his crew have to come together
to her from a lifetime in prison.
PCM had the chance to participate in a conference call
with Gabrielle Anwar where she talked about the sixth season
of "Burn Notice". Check out everything she had
to share!
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You play so many different personalities on the show
when you're undercover. Can you talk about that, and is
it more challenging?
"Actually, it has its moments of being challenging,
you know, particularly when there's different dialects involved,
but I am very grateful because after six years of playing
the same character, it really does breathe a breath of fresh
air into each episode when we get to do something that's
completely out of character. You know, Jeffrey Donovan,
who plays Michael, gets to do it much more frequently than
I, and I get a little bit sulky about that."
Have you had weapons training for the show? I mean,
because you're always shooting guns and blowing stuff up
and all the fun stuff.
"You know, I haven't had any formal training in much
of anything, actually. Now that I say that out loud - but
I did go shoot some pretty heavy machinery a few years back,
because not only are the weapons incredibly heavy, but you
know, they're very disconcerting to be holding something
that actually is a murder weapon, that is something that
is - unless used properly, you know, could bring down an
entire family, which kind of throws me for a loop.
"You know, I'm an ardent pacifist in reality, so I've
made it very clear to my children from the get-go that there
would be no guns in the house, and here's mummy going off
to work you know, doing that very thing for a living. So
I'm a bit of a bloody hypocrite now that I think of it."
Do you have a favorite episode or a scene for this season?
"You know, we did in fact just shoot - let me think,
what was this - episode 6.09 - I think it was 6.09, could
have been 6.08. They all kind of merge into one after six
years. I get to play a Boston mobster, so that was tremendous
fun for me. You know, me get to sort of mix it up a little
bit and incorporate different characters and accents and
costumes and hair and makeup. It's just fun. You know, it's
like dress-up as a kid."
And after six seasons, what has been your biggest challenge
on this show so far?
"The heels. Yes, my little toes are - they're done.
They're completely - they've left the building. They retired
I think season two."
We're seeing a lot more strong female roles on TV these
days, so how does it feel to continue to play such an awesome
female character like Fiona? I mean, she certainly does
her part at standing out when it comes to female roles.
"Yes, doesn't she? I'm very grateful that she was
even created. I think -I think there are more fabulous female
roles coming our way lately, particularly in television,
Homeland and The Good Wife. There's plenty of good women
being represented as we are, which is incredibly exciting
and refreshing, and let's hope that there's more to come.
I think we - we're well deserving."
Six years into this series, is there a piece of advice
that you would share with your character Fiona?
"Well, that's a very good question. I think I would
probably just tell her to relax. I think though having said
that I think that Fiona is sort of chilling just a tad over
the years. I think with the lowering of her skirt hemlines,
I think that her angst has been somewhat calmed, quelled.
Let's hope so."
How much of a challenge is it to keep a straight face
when you're working with Bruce Campbell and Jeffrey Donovan?
"It's a huge challenge, and one that I'm not particularly
good at, as the gag reels will attest to, particularly Bruce.
I mean, he just has such as phenomenal sense of humor. His
wit is unparalleled."
Yes, having seen his movies I agree.
"Yes, and even his tweets, I can't help but read his
tweets, and I'm around him all day long and I'm reading
his tweets on top of it."
This is kind of a fantasy question. If it was up to
Fiona, where would she and Michael be in ten years?
"Oh. Well, they would definitely be together. There
would be no CIA in sight, nor FBI, and they would be saving
the world one hand grenade at a time."
 How
much research went into the prison scene? Did you visit
any prisons, or did you do any research on it?
"No. Oh, God, what a dreadful actress I am! I did
not. I didn't, and I have no excuse. I figured that I would
just feel what was going on in the moment. I mean, the set
design and the over- props and all the extras and it - I
mean, it was pretty realistic, I have to say. I actually
had the most phenomenal shooting schedule while I was in
jail, because you know, they carried on shooting all the
other storylines, and so I would work maybe one day a week,
which is unusual on this show.
"So when it came time to be talking about Fiona's
release from jail, I was begging the writers to keep me
in so that I could spend more time with my children, so
I think I may be one of the few people on the planet who
was begging to stay incarcerated."
Who are some guest stars you haven't yet worked with
that you would like to work with?
"Oh, let's see. God, I don't know. You know, it's
funny because all the guest stars that we've had for the
last six seasons have been so good that I've never spent
an episode going God, I wish this was being played by you
know, Harrison Ford or whomever. I've been very impressed
with all of the actors that have contributed to our storylines.
It's been such a joy. When the guest actors come, it really
does infuse the cast and the crew to bring in some fresh
blood and something new to play with. You know, it's a wonderful
thing."
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