I love this show, and these guys are great. I had fun
just listening to them chat. They are like two schoolboys. I didn't get
to ask a question until about a half hour through, but I was already
chuckling and enjoying the call. They clearly have a lot of fun at
their jobs. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
MEREDITH CORPORATION: White Collar–Tim DeKay and Matt
Bomer
January 6, 2011/2:00 p.m. EST
SPEAKERS
Laura Murphy – New Media Strategies
Tim DeKay – Peter Burke, White Collar
Matt Bomer – Neal Caffrey, White Collar
PRESENTATION
Moderator: Welcome to the White Collar Conference call with Tim DeKay and
Matt Bomer. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode.
Later we will conduct a question and answer session; instructions will
be given at that time. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.
I would now like to turn the conference over to our host, Miss Laura
Murphy.
L. Murphy: Hi, good afternoon everyone. Thank you for your patience. This
is Laura Murphy from New Media Strategies. I’d like to thank everyone
for joining us for today’s White Collar Q &A session. We’ll start things
off by thanking Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer for being with us today to
answer questions. As you know Tim stars as Peter Burke and Matt stars as
Neal Caffrey on the hit series White Collar, which is returning with new
episodes on Tuesday, January 18th at 10/9 Central.
In a moment, we’ll begin the Q&A session. I’d just like to remind all
participants you will receive a transcript of this session within the
next 24 to 48 hours. I’d also like to remind everyone to please limit
yourselves to one question and then reenter the question queue for any
additional questions. This will ensure we field as many questions as
possible within the allotted time.
I would now like to turn the call back over to our Moderator: to begin
the formal Q&A session.
Moderator: Our first question is from Jamie Steinberg with Starry
Constellation Magazine.
J. Steinberg: I was wondering if either of you could talk a little bit
about who we can see guest starring this season.
M. Bomer: We have Andrew McCarthy.
T. DeKay: Andrew McCarthy, of course, yes, and that’s been in TV Guide so
that’s—
M. Bomer: Who plays sort of Neal’s mentor from the past who taught him a
lot about both creating his persona and he taught him a lot of hard
lessons as well. I’ll leave it at that.
We have Paul Blackthorne. We have Billy Dee Williams who is in a really
fun episode with Diahann Carroll. He plays somebody from June’s past who
comes back and is sort of a glimpse into the world Neal would have if he
continued on a more crooked path. Ross McCall is back. Adam Goldberg is
in it.
T. DeKay: I was just going to say Adam. Yes, Adam plays a great role in
this as well.
M. Bomer: Gloria is back and we have Richard Shipp.
T. DeKay: Hilarie is back.
J. Steinberg: You guys have such great chemistry together on screen and
you seem to get along decently well off screen. How do you guys continue
to maintain that?
T. DeKay: We went to therapy once a week.
M. Bomer: Couples therapy.
T. DeKay: Yes. It really—
M. Bomer: It’s worth it.
T. DeKay: It is.
M. Bomer: We meet our deductible pretty quick and from there on out it’s
just a co-pay and it’s worth it.
T. DeKay: Because we’re both in the union so that helps.
M. Bomer: That helps. That’s good. I think Tim is inherently a generous
person and very generous of spirit and he brings a real sense of play to
the work. I try to do the same. I know he lifts me up on my off days
and—
T. DeKay: Oh, and you lift me up on my off days. No, listen, we have a
blast. We have fun together, but in the end, we respect each other.
M. Bomer: Yes.
T. DeKay: I mean as far as the work is concerned. It’s just like any
other relationship, if you don’t have that then there is no ground to
it.
M. Bomer: As much as the trust dynamic is liquid between Peter and Neal,
I think Tim and I pretty much … each other.
T. DeKay: Yes. Yes, that’s good. Therein lies a big difference.
Moderator: Our next question is from Rosa Cordero from
AccidentalSexiness.com.
R. Cordero: Matt, you were fantastic singing at the Kennedy Honors. Are
you going to be singing this season?
M. Bomer: Yes. I do sing with Diahann and Billy Dee in that episode.
R. Cordero: That’s amazing.
M. Bomer: It was an incredibly surreal moment.
T. DeKay: Yes, it was a great moment. It’s one of those moments on the
set where— Matt has sung before—fun singing around the set, just being
goofy—but when he and Diahann sang that song everybody on set just got
quiet because we had to rehearse it. The whole crew just went into a
spontaneous applause. It was just one of those moments like, “Oh, wow,
that’s neat.” Then Billy Dee Williams at the piano doing an amazing job
faking it.
M. Bomer: He’s the best fake piano player I’ve ever seen in my life. He
had such a look of just unconditional support when he would look up at
me when I was singing and it really bolstered me. I wish that I could
take him everywhere with me when I sing.
T. DeKay: And fake the piano.
M. Bomer: Diahann is amazing; I mean she’s a legend. He’ll fake the piano
and the real pianist will be offstage. Diahann is obviously a legend and
incredible and it was a real honor to get to sing with her.
Moderator: The next question is from Pattye Grippo, from Pazsaz.com.
P. Grippo: The working relationship between Peter and Neal is sort of an
unusual one at best. Do you think this sort of relationship could exist
within the FBI?
T. DeKay: Well, because of my technical consultant, Tom Barton, he has
expressed to both Jeff Eastin and me certainly relationships like this,
to the extent that the CI or Criminal Informant just comes into the
house and pours a bowl of cereal. I don’t know if it goes that far, but
Tom certainly has talked about how he’s received Christmas cards from
people in prison that he’s worked with. That’s where Jeff’s inspiration
came from. Who knows, maybe there is a relationship like that out there.
Moderator: Your next question is from Troy Rogers, at TheDeadbolt.com.
T. Rogers: Usually USA likes to promote their episodes, but this one
there is really nothing that we can find. I just want to know, how does
it feel to be involved in such a big mystery around the show especially
in terms of the status of Mozzie.
T. DeKay: Usually there are two questions people ask me about the show
it’s, “What’s Mozzie’s fate?” and, “What’s going on with the music box?”
It’s exciting. I feel like I keep giving the same answer of “Oh, you
won’t be disappointed, let me tell you—” It’s very difficult. You want
to answer it for these people, at least I do, so it’s difficult to evade
that question all the time. I’ll be glad when it airs.
M. Bomer: Yes, I feel like we’re always sort of dancing around the
secrets involved with the mythology of the show and that’s fun. That’s a
fun aspect of it. Jeff is always outdoing himself as a writer and every
time we get the mid-season finale or the finale script, we always look
at each other and go, “Really?” He’s almost like the writing equivalent
of the guy at the party who takes the joke one step too far, but then
that night you think about the joke and you realize it was actually
really profound and kind of amazing.
T. DeKay: Exactly.
M. Bomer: He’s incredible that way. He’s always surprising us. I don’t
like to know too far ahead of time what’s going to happen because I like
the element of surprise as well. Then I also don’t have to dance around
the mystery quite as long.
Moderator: The next question is from Jamie Ruby at SciFiVision.com.
J. Ruby: Can you kind of talk about how you both got started working on
White Collar?
T. DeKay: Well, Mattie was first.
M. Bomer: I went into a room and met with Jeff Eastin and auditioned and
then had to test twice for it. Jeff Eastin thankfully was in my corner
from the get-go and stuck by me. We hashed it out and thankfully, I got
the job.
T. DeKay: You had the job for a while, didn’t you?
M. Bomer: I did. I had it for—I don’t know—maybe a month or so before I
met you.
T. DeKay: Right, usually it happens faster than that. At the time, I was
doing the New Adventures of Old Christine, doing a recurring on that. I
got a call to do a chemistry read. I was excited because I thought, “I
think I skipped a step there”, which was good, as opposed to just going
in and auditioning. Then I went to the casting director’s office and
Matt was there in the waiting room and we chatted then and—
M. Bomer: I told him I was a huge fan of his work…Both stage and screen.
T. DeKay: I thought, “Oh, this guy certainly has great taste,” and I
thought, “All right, well, this should be fun,” and went in there and as
I’ve said many times as soon as we read the scene I thought, “Holy
bleep, don’t screw this up, Tim, because this could be something really
special.”
M. Bomer: I just remember it being so incredibly fun. There were a lot of
great actors that came in to read that day, but it was so fun with you.
I think we’d both been around the block in TV enough to know that we
were going to be working long hours together and that this should
probably be really fun.
T. DeKay: Yes.
M. Bomer: Tim was amazing. I knew from the second we did the scene that
he was going to be the guy.
T. DeKay: The thing was I also felt that good writing shows a lot of
different layers and certainly, Jeff’s does. There was a strong heart to
this show that I was concerned that they didn’t want to turn their backs
to—that Jeff and company wanted to make sure that that stayed strong
throughout the show, throughout the pilot and it did. That was something
that came out in the audition. I thought, “Oh, these guys—” because at
the bottom of it they really like each other.
M. Bomer: Yes.
T. DeKay: Then there were all these tests and you sit in the waiting room
and you see other guys who are reading and you think, “Oh, he’s going to
get it. He’s my idea for the role.”
M. Bomer: Yes.
T. DeKay: You play all those crazy, stupid games. You know what, I had to
admit, I didn’t play that game with this show.
M. Bomer: I didn’t either. I mean, I was nervous as hell, but I think I
just went into to have as much fun as possible.
T. DeKay: Yes, exactly.
Moderator: The next question will be from Joshua Maloney at Niagara
Frontier Publications.
J. Maloney When we’ve done these conference calls with you guys in the
past, it was really sort of in the early stages of the show when
everything was sort of being established and you guys were finding your
fan base. Now that you have established the show and now that you guys
have had success with it, how have things changed, or how maybe would
you like to see things change? Not necessarily on set so much, but just
even with the development of the characters.
T. DeKay: I don’t know. That’s a tough one.
M. Bomer: I don’t really feel like much has changed for me personally
other than it’s great to have the support of fans who are interested in
the stories we’re all trying to tell, which is amazing and a great
feeling. In terms of character, now that we’re starting to really put a
lot of major story arcs to bed, I would love to dip into Neal’s past a
little bit more and maybe see some of his family members come into play
and see what kind of conflicts that brings up between he and Peter. I
wouldn’t mind seeing him be a little bit of a man-whore, to use a little
bit of the James Bond tactics to maybe do whatever it takes to solve the
case.
T. DeKay: I feel as far as character, I think Jeff and the writers have
met everything that I had hoped for. The big story arc with the music
box was something that I didn’t expect or even see. I find it wonderful.
I too, would like to delve into some more of Peter’s background and we
did an episode where Jeff and I both went to the University and got into
both Peter’s and Neal’s background.
M. Bomer: Oh, yes, your blue collar upbringing—
T. DeKay: Yes.
M. Bomer: —in a White Collar world.
T. DeKay: Those are fun because what it comes down to is I think the more
Peter and Neal know about each other actually it strengthens and
lengthens the relationship because these two just love to dig. Peter
would love to meet a family member of Neal’s. He’d love to sit down and
get to know his mom or dad or brother or sister.
M. Bomer: I could go on and on with my ideas, but I think the great thing
about having somebody like Jeff at the helm is that you know whatever it
is, it’s going to be fun and interesting and well written. You get what
you get and you don’t get upset.
T. DeKay: Yes, but we had to look for something. Like Jeff answers it. I
mean it’s one of the most exciting moments of the week is to crack open
that next script.
M. Bomer: Yes. To crack open a cold one and then crack open that next
script.
T. DeKay: Try not to pour that cold one on that script.
M. Bomer: There might be a ring here or there.
Moderator: The next question is from Amy Harrington at
PopCulturePassionistas.com.
A. Harrington: I’m actually here with my sister Nancy, who is my writing
partner. It seems like the show started as a show about the two of you
and it’s become more of a real ensemble piece. We’re wondering if you’re
enjoying the fact that you get to work with your co-stars more
frequently?
T. DeKay: I certainly do and yet I like that in the end that it’s about
Peter and Neal; that’s the base of it. I love it when Elizabeth gets
involved with a case and I love that Diana is back and working on the
case. She adds such an intelligence to it.
M. Bomer: Yes and a sexiness.
T. DeKay: I love that Jones is involved more and that Peter and Mozzie
have found a way to dance together.
M. Bomer: Yes. I think it makes the day really fun and it has added a lot
to the show. It opens up a lot more relationships and we get to work
with Hilarie, who brings so much to the table, and Gloria who’s
relationship is so different than that of Neal and Peter’s. It breaks
things up. It’s more of a window into the character when you see how
they behave with a lot of different people. It’s kind of fun to get to
explore those relationship dynamics. At the end of the day, for me it
always is fun just to kind of come back to home base and do a nice Peter
and Neal walk and talk down the streets of New York.
Moderator: This question is from Sammi Turano at TVGrapevine.com.
S. Turano: With so many awesome USA shows out there, which one would you
like to cross White Collar over with, and how do you think that would
work out?
T. DeKay: I think my immediate response goes to Royal Pains because it’d
just be nice to go out to the Hamptons for a few days. Then again, it
would be nice to go down to Miami and shoot some things in Miami.
M. Bomer: Yes, I think Burn Notice would be a really natural fit just
because of the worlds that our characters live in and inhabit, but to be
honest with you I love all the shows they have. It would be really fun
and an honor to get to work with on any of them—to cross over on any of
them.
T. DeKay: It’d be fun to do some World Wide Wrestling as well.
M. Bomer: Well, yes, I mean that goes without saying.
T. DeKay: Yes.
M. Bomer: Tim, you’re about to get us into a tag team wrestling match.
T. DeKay: I can you just see me reaching over the ring, “Tag me, tag me,
come on.”
M. Bomer: Peter and Neal’s trust dynamic, WWE Wrestling.
Moderator: The next question is from Brittany Frederick at
DigitalAirways.net.
B. Frederick: I know the second episode this season is that long talked
about backstory episode. I’m kind of wondering if there is anything that
was revealed in that episode that surprised you or maybe didn’t match up
with what you had in mind for your characters.
T. DeKay: For me there was not anything that didn’t match up. No.
M. Bomer: I think for me the way I met Mozzie and the way we sort of came
to become friends was pleasantly surprising. I thought for some reason
that maybe we’d gone back a little bit farther than that, but it was
fun. Getting to see Willie in several different toupees and facial hair
arrangements was sort of the highlight of that episode for me, one of
many highlights of that episode.
T. DeKay: Yes, and he said he brought them out from his closet and let
production use his old toupees.
M. Bomer: Yes, shake out that toup and put it on a Styrofoam head and
tuck it under his arm and bring it on into work.
Moderator: The next question is from Kelly DiMarzio at TheVoiceofTV.com.
K. DiMarzio: The premiere opens the door to Neal’s past. How do you feel
about opening that big curtain to see his beginnings of the con and how
do you think that’s going to really affect Peter and Neal? Is Peter
going to be shocked?
M. Bomer: Well, it’s the second episode back. I think for me it was so
interesting and amazing that Jeff was able to squeeze so much into one
hour of TV. I think he was smart in that it’s a lot of really nice
little glimpses into the past or enough snippets to sort of piece
together where he came from and why he is who he is. The nice thing
about it is it also leaves the door open for a lot more flashbacks to
fill in a lot of holes.
T. DeKay: Yes, there was something Jeff said. I don’t know if I can make
a direct quote, but he said, yes there are some big answers that were
given in this flashback and just also tastes of the past, as Matt said,
that allow us to do more flashbacks. I think that’s Jeff’s intention.
Moderator: The next question is from Traci Grant at TheStarScoop.com.
T. Grant: I know there is obviously a lot of mystery and secrets with the
show, but I was just wondering what you can actually tell us about what
to expect when the episodes start airing again.
T. DeKay: You can expect commercials every 15 to 18 minutes. I don’t
know. What can you expect? Just more fun. That sounds incredibly
intelligent and insightful, doesn’t it?
M. Bomer: I think I can safely say that a lot of really big storylines
that we’ve been exploring over the past couple of seasons really get
brought to a head and closure on a lot of things. We get a glimpse into
a lot the characters’ pasts and see why they are who they are and how
they got that way. We get to see, as usual, sort of a liquid trust
dynamic between Peter and Neal. Then obviously also we get some
resolution to Mozzie’s incident relatively quickly.
T. DeKay: We do and I think that Jeff and the writers came up with a
fantastic, creative, exciting way to have that happen.
M. Bomer: Yes. All I can say is that in the last episode of the season I
never—I mean, if you locked me in a padded room for five years and made
me continually guess where this season was going to end I never would
have come up with this. It was astounding and amazing and surprising and
incredibly fun where—
T. DeKay: You’re talking about the very, very, very last scene?
M. Bomer: Yes.
M. Bomer: The last scene in the last episode in general.
T. DeKay: Yes, when I read the last episode I did everything I could not
to call my wife, my dad, just—“You won’t believe this. This is
incredible,” but I didn’t want to do that because then they would just
bug me and say, “Well, what is it? What is it? What is it?” So I didn’t,
but yes. Yet, Jeff and the writers were able to shut the lid on the
music box—no pun intended—and within one second turn around and open up
this other one that just was astounding. I don’t know, maybe I’m setting
the bar too high.
M. Bomer: No.
T. DeKay: The last episode is really boring, really boring. Let’s set it
low. If we set the bar really low people will be happier. Does that make
sense?
M. Bomer: Sure. I’m with you. I got your back.
Moderator: The next question is from Vlada Gelman at Staying In.
V. Gelman: We have Hilarie back in the season premiere, so I was
wondering if you could talk a little bit about how Neal and Sara’s
relationship is going to develop this season. What’s it like having this
challenging female character to play off?
M. Bomer: I think it’s fantastic. She brings so much to the role. She’s
the real deal.
T. DeKay: Yes.
M. Bomer: She’s gorgeous, and she’s in it, and she has brought this
amazingly intelligent, challenging, super Type-A character to life that
Neal finds really intriguing and ultimately on some level I think wants
to tame.
T. DeKay: Oh, I like that. Oh, that is good.
M. Bomer: It’s a really fun dynamic to get to play with her and she’s
such a great actress. It’s really kind of moment to moment with her,
which is always fun and keeps me on my toes. Yes, and she’s gorgeous to
boot; a really, really great girl. We have a lot of fun stuff that we
get to do with each other and their relationship will grow and there
will be a lot of tension there, maybe a little sexual frustration and
then maybe some sexual frustration release; I don’t know. I’m just
saying maybe.
Moderator: The next question is from Giuliana Porro at
PopCultureMadness.com.
G. Porro : What was it like filming your series on location in New York
City?
T. DeKay: It’s amazing. I’ve been asked before if this show could be shot
somewhere else where would it be and I don’t have an answer because I’ve
never been on a show where the location, the city, is so much of a
character. If we shot it somewhere else, it’s as if you’d recast it and
this is a character driven show and you couldn’t recast it.
You couldn’t shoot it anywhere else. It’s just a blast to be in the
city. We shoot quickly. We shoot in seven days for one episode so we are
moving. We are shooting so that we can get a great angle. Russell Fine
is fantastic that way. He’s the director of photography and the
directors are with him to they make sure we get some gorgeous building
in the background for whatever location we find ourselves on.
We shoot that and then we move on. We’re at some Gramercy Park the first
half of the day and the second half of the day we’re on some dock down
at the Bowery. It’s beautiful. I’ve seen parts of New York I never
thought I would see.
M. Bomer: Yes. It’s a dream come true. To get to work in New York and see
so many amazing locations and interact with New Yorkers in many ways and
be a part of such an amazingly metropolitan energy that I think adds a
lot to the show. I think it’s the way we shoot the show. As well as the
way Russell Fine shoots the show is a real celebration of New York.
New York is this gritty place filled with alleys, which there aren’t
really alleys in New York City. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble on that,
but the way Russell shoots the show is we look up at the city and we
sort of celebrate the architecture and the people and the blue sky and
the sunshine that’s going on above the buildings as well.
Moderator: The next question is from Lean Lamoray at LenaLamoray.com.
L. Lamoray: How much of what goes on in a show do you think you could get
away with in real life?
M. Bomer: I test my boundaries quite a bit, but nowhere near the level at
which Neal does. I would venture to say about 5% of what I get away with
on the show.
T. DeKay: You get away with in real life.
M. Bomer: Yes, about 5%.
T. DeKay: So you only steal 5% of what Neal does?
M. Bomer: I only pickpocket 5% of the people in Neal does. I only steal
5% of the art Neal does.
T. DeKay: Right, which isn’t bad.
M. Bomer: But the great thing is I only get caught 5% of the time, which
is why I’m calling from a prison phone.
T. DeKay: Right, right.
M. Bomer: That’s not funny.
T. DeKay: Anybody have any more quarters?
Moderator: The next question is from Jessica Rae at SmallScreenScoop.com.
J. Rae: You guys are great friends, and I don’t know if you know this,
but you’re incredibly insightful about each other. I would like to flip
the table a little bit and ask Matt what question that you think we
should be asking Tim right now. What would be a great question that we
should really ask him? Tim let me ask you the same thing.
M. Bomer: This is going to be general and I apologize, Tim, but I’d say
what’s your favorite thing about Peter Burke. What’s something about
Peter that no-one would guess?
T. DeKay: My favorite thing about Peter Burke is that he has to nearly
contain his giddiness when he’s on a case that takes a lot of synapses
moving. He just loves it. That keeps him going. I’ve said it before,
there is almost a little disappointment when the case is solved. Almost
a little bit.
M. Bomer: I love it.
T. DeKay: Yes, because he just loves the chase. He loves it, loves it and
loves it with Neal because there is a part of him that would love to go
to that side, but knows he can’t. So it’s okay with him just to watch it
and every once in a while somewhat dip his foot in that pool.
Then what was the second question?
M. Bomer: What’s something about Peter that people wouldn’t guess that
you don’t mind sharing?
T. DeKay: Oh.
M. Bomer: Well you kind of did in that answer as well.
T. DeKay: Yes, I think so.
M. Bomer: Yes, you answered both my questions with one answer. You must
teach me this trick.
T. DeKay: All right. My turn to ask Neal?
J. Rae: Sure. What is a question that you want to ask of him? Put him on
the spot.
T. DeKay: If Neal were a flower, which—?
M. Bomer: It would be a poisonous flower.
T. DeKay: But a beautiful one.
M. Bomer: It would lure you in and then it would be poisonous.
T. DeKay: But poisonous only for—
M. Bomer: Only for specific—not a broad spectrum poison, only a very
specific poison.
T. DeKay: Right, that isn’t necessarily lethal, but would—
M. Bomer: Make you trip out for a couple of days?
T. DeKay: Yes.
M. Bomer: Sort of like a peyote flower.
Moderator: Next we have Kona Gallagher at CliqueClackTV.com.
K. Gallagher: Speaking of putting you guys on the spot I’m trying to get
some dirt. I knew that the episode where Neal is going to be singing is
airing I think February 1st, Jeff Eastin said on Twitter. What are you
singing?
M. Bomer: We are singing One For My Baby and One More For the Road.
K. Gallagher: Then just kind of going along with the dirt thing, you
mentioned Andrew McCarthy was going to be on. Given what happens in the
last minutes of the first episode coming back from break, is it fair to
say that he’s going to play a kind of large role for the rest of the
season?
M. Bomer: Yes.
Moderator: The next question is from Suzanne Lanoue at TV MegaSite.
S. Lanoue: A lot of actors have said they don’t like to watch themselves
or they do. Which do you guys like? Do you watch yourselves on White
Collar and other shows, or do you say, “Oh no I hate that, I’m not going
to watch that.”
T. DeKay: I don’t like it, but I think I’ve come to learn for myself at
least that it is an education for yourself as an actor, at least for me,
to watch the stuff. We’ve got to come back to it. I’ve got to come back
to Peter and if I’m watching it and saying, “Oh, okay this works, that
doesn’t work.” Because it’s such a group effort this filming, so, “I see
they edited the scene that way so that was their intent for this scene.
Oh I was right about that. I saw which way they wanted the scene to go
and I was right,” and then sometimes you think, “Oh, I missed it on
that. This is how they wanted the scene to be seen more than—” in a
different way than I did. I’m not crazy about watching myself, but I
feel I have to.
M. Bomer: It fluctuates for me as well. I watched the first season really
intently because the learning curve was so steep and so much of that
first season was a lot of throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing
what worked and what didn’t and what could I learn as an actor. What
part of the character that I was trying to bring out was working and
coming through and what wasn’t, but I don’t like to watch myself at all.
I try to just do it intermittently when it’s something that I can—it’s
not an aesthetic thing or anything it’s just I’m really hard on myself.
Sometimes it’s more difficult to watch myself. Every now and again I’ll
think, “Oh, let me check it out,” but generally I don’t like to watch
myself at all.
Moderator: Next question is from Christina Kovar at Maverick Media.
C. Kovar: I have a question for Tim about your horseback riding in the
return episode that we see. Is that something you’ve done before, or was
it just on the moment this is what you’re going to do in this episode?
T. DeKay: No, I’ve done that before. I don’t know what the final cut is,
but there was a lot of running the horse through Central Park. I used to
ride when I was younger from like the age of eight until I went to
college, but then I hadn’t ridden for about 20 years. I knew the episode
would be riding so they were nice enough to say, “Let’s go out to
upstate New York and you can ride and just—as the saying goes—get back
on the saddle.” I did and it was great. The next day I could barely get
out of bed my legs were so sore.
M. Bomer: I remember seeing you hobble down the hall.
T. DeKay: Oh, I know it. Oh, my inner thighs—they were just killing me.
I’ll cut to the day we’re shooting, I also had a bit of a cold coming on
so there was just this moment where I realized, “Okay, I should take
something for my cold,” because I was a bit stuffed up, “and I also
should probably take something for my thighs because they were killing
me.” I took everything at the same time and there was a moment where I
was on the horse and they were about to say action and I had to run the
horse under a bridge up over this hill. I was so woozy I thought oh
this— I did everything I could just to stay on it. I thought for sure
the medicine was just going to knock—I thought I was just going to pass
out right on the horse.
M. Bomer: Thank goodness Pippin knew his blocking.
T. DeKay: That was the name of the horse, Pippin.
M. Bomer: I couldn’t tell you were on medication at all. I thought you
looked great riding it.
T. DeKay: Oh, well, thanks, but I thought that Peter would have a horse—I
don’t know—like Luke or Lightning, Trigger or Chestnut—something, but
Pippin?
Moderator: The next question is from Guillermo Paz at Series&TV.com.
G. Paz: For Tim, you had a great con episode and when you see the chance
to sort of tables turned, how did you feel about being the con man and
of course ”Burke’s Seven” is great and I hope to see more of that.
T. DeKay: Thank you, I felt great about that. That goes back to that
question Matt asked me. Peter gets giddy and it means that he gets to go
to the other side for a little while, aw, that’s a blast. Certainly as
an actor, whenever you can go not just one step into the imagination,
but in essence two steps into the imagination, when your character plays
a character, that’s even more fun as well. In the end that’s what we
love to do as actors is just dive into the world of pretend.
It was a hoot. You will see more of that. I think with everybody—and
that also goes back to the relationships that are strengthening with the
other characters—we all are jumping into a lot of different arenas. I
think it makes for some good story telling.
Moderator: Next we have Mac Collins at TVForBreakfast.com.
M. Collins: My silly question is if you guys were going to do a duet
together, what would you sing?
M. Bomer: You have all the song books, so you’d have to really dig in
there. To me it’s very occasion specific because we do weddings, we do
bar mitzvahs.
T. DeKay: Yes, we’d be more than happy to sing some for you, but our
booking agent would not be happy.
M. Bomer: No, no.
T. DeKay: What song could we sing—would we sing? I can’t sing today.
What’s that song “Wherever he goes, whatever he—” Do you know that
one?—“we’ll always go through it together.”
M. Bomer: Oh, I like that.
T. DeKay: “We may not go far, but sure as a star—”
M. Bomer: I don’t know the song, but I love the sentiment.
T. DeKay: Yes, it’s a great one. That one comes to mind.
M. Bomer: I like that. I’ll go with that.
Moderator: The next question is from Hannah Lawrence at Hollywood.com.
H. Lawrence: You guys talked a little bit about who was going to be on
the show this season, this upcoming season. You talked about which kind
of shows you think White Collar would blend really well with that are
also on the network. I was wondering what actors you’d like to work with
in the future? Like anyone you want to have play someone’s girlfriend,
like does someone you’d like to have on maybe a small arc on the show
that you haven’t already had?
T. DeKay: Every time I’m asked this question I feel awful because I have
a list of about 25 people, be it names that you would know and then
names that maybe you wouldn’t know, but are great actors that I know
from theater or even way back in school. So, to give you two, my thought
goes immediately to, “Oh, that’s going to be printed and I didn’t give
them this name. Oh, I hope this person doesn’t read that because I’d
love to work with them.”
M. Bomer: Yes. I agree with Tim on that. There are a lot of great actors
out there regardless of their recognizability or desirability who would
be great on the show. We’re open to anybody who wants to come play ball
and have fun with us. I do have to say—I have to put it out there—if
someone is going to play my dad I think Powers Boothe would be really
good.
T. DeKay: Oh yes.
M. Bomer: But that’s just me, what do I know?
Moderator: Our last question is from Joseph Dilworth at PopCultureZoo.com.
J. Dilworth: In light of this next new episode that we have coming up do
you guys think that Peter is more understanding or appreciating of the
art of the con and is Neal seeing more of the wisdom of doing things
legally?
M. Bomer: I hope so. I mean I think that’s sort of the long-term
trajectory certainly in Neal’s character, is starting to see the benefit
that his expertise has in helping the FBI and helping better people’s
lives. The great thing about Jeff Eastin’s writing is usually when you
think it’s going to go one way you never know what could happen next. I
think he is, but I think there is a part—one of his feet is still
planted somewhat firmly in the world that skirts the law or the typical
moral parameters of getting what you want.
T. DeKay: Joe, that’s a great question. Really, that’s the crux of the
show. I mean that balance going back and forth on that line is—that’s
what we hope to keep the show living for many seasons.
M. Bomer: My dad used to—whenever we were fishing he used to say, “Keep
your line taut so the fish will bite.” I feel like between Neal and
Peter the line always has to be taut. It can never be somebody
comfortable, inherently trustful dynamic between them. There is always
that tension of the poker game. What are you going to do next? What
cards do you have and what are you going to play? Are you going to go
the right way this time? Are you going to take your own road?
T. DeKay: Yes, it’s true. To keep that with a poker game, they can be at
the table having a beer together and enjoy it, but that tension is
always there—always.
L. Murphy: Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today’s session. I’d
like to once again thank Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer for joining us, and
remind everyone to tune in to new episodes of White Collar beginning
Tuesday, January 18th at 10/9 Central on USA network. Thanks again and
enjoy the rest of your day everyone.
M. Bomer: Thank you.
T. DeKay: Thank you everybody.
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