Why I love Willie Garson and why you should too

Its rare the occasion when you get the chance to meet an actor you admire. Yes, you can have a chance encounter where you may see them at a press event, or maybe you can even bump into them at a store or a club. But when you are given the lucky chance to sit before someone that you truly admire and are able to have a conversation with them about their projects, their thoughts, etc it is very exciting!

I had that rare opportunity to chat with such a person, his name is Willie Garson.

Willie is an actor that plays such a variety of characters that can be lovable(Carrie’s gay best friend Stanford on Sex and the City), as well as not-so-nice (Lee Harvey Oswald on Quantum Leap) that you can’t help but love him. He takes a character and makes it his own.

The New Jersey native is currently starring in the new USA Network crime drama White Collar as the mysterious yet quirky Mozzie. At home he is also adjusting to a new role, that of a doting dad.

Here is a little insight on a guy who, after so many years in Hollywood, had absolutely no airs of grandeur and was just so funny it made me wonder why he hasn’t landed the lead role in his own show yet.

Willie: So I bet you’re wondering why I called you all here.
Rosy: Because you’re fabulous!

Willie:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Panel: What was it about White Collar or about the script that drew you back to TV?
Willie: I found the script to be very interesting and very timely. Certainly, we all have been reading about a lot of people figuring out ways to scam and get money for doing nothing, other than figuring out a way to get over on hard working people. So I thought that was a really interesting time for a show like this.

Panel: What did you think of the character when you first initially read about it on paper? Did you think you’d like this kind of person?

Willie: Yeah, I did because it’s very different from anything else I’ve ever played. Although—how do I make this not sound the way it’s going to sound? I guess because it’s me, he’s somehow becoming more stylish. All of a sudden, he’s looking—wearing pretty cool clothes. And I don’t know how that happens to me, but I am blessed with always wearing cool clothes.

But 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.

Panel: What’s the most challenging aspect of your role?
Willie: That’s an interesting question. The most challenging aspect was for me, my characters have always been very showy. This character kind of operates under the radar and that was an interesting difference in many of the characters I’ve played, certainly from Stanford and certainly from NYPD Blue, certainly a little more behind the scenes kind of guy.

Panel: I love the show and I like your character. He’s very interesting and even though you call him under the radar, he kind of has a real dynamic, interesting attitude. How much of that character was your invention?

Willie: Well, certainly, the reality is when you buy me, you get what you get, so that’s kind of what they’re trapped with is that I’m a little bit of a hambone. But I find that he’s really only quirky and interesting more so when he’s alone with Neal Caffrey played by Matt Bomer. They have a very strong and deep partnership. So I like to say that he’s more the people person and I’m more the quiet, I should be able to fade into the background if there’s anyone else around. That was interesting for me to try to play.

Panel: So 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 you’re like, “There is no Stanford in this character.”

Willie: 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?

God bless Kelsey Grammer, but I didn’t want to play—you don’t want to play Frasier Crane for 25 years or however long he played him. It’s a choice. It’s a choice to make, and fine.

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.

I do long periods. I mean, NYPD was three or four years. Sex is 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 on Sex and the City, and it was like—we go to say—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.

Panel: Mozzie is a career criminal and I would just like to know what is the worst crime that you’ve ever committed?
Willie: Oh, wow! Well, okay, I stole $50 million, no—let’s see, the worst crime I’ve ever committed. I used to definitely borrow things, like I would say, cash from bars where I worked as a bartender. I don’t think that’s any secret.

Bartenders give away drinks, etc., to get some extra tips. Certainly, at a bar I worked at in London, they were on to every bartender trick. So they would measure the bottles every night and I certainly have put water into a liquor bottle to top it off to the level that would make sense with what was keyed into the register at the end of the night. It’s a pretty good scam.
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This is the point where I tried to be daring and sneak in a Sex and the City question. So many rumors out there but one of the biggest ones on the internet is the marriage between Stanford and Anthony Marantino.

Willie’s answer was not a surprise….at all!

Rosy: Regarding that Sex and the City scene, would it be a wedding scene?
Willie: Honestly, are you drunk? Do you have any idea the legal documents we have to sign? I mean, you know. We’re talking about millions of dollars from me opening my mouth in the wrong way.

Rosy: I’ll keep your secret
Willie: It’s my post-op transsexual scene. They all come to the hospital room, and they all wish me well. I go under the name—I change my name from Stanford to Lil Santa Monica.

Rosy: Is her last name Marantino?

::Silence::

NEXT QUESTION!!!
I tried you guys but he was NOT giving away any secrets!!!

Now back to White Collar.

Panel: In Sex in the City, New York City itself was as any other character on the show. So do you expect that the White Collar script will treat the city in the same sort of Manhattan centric kind of way?

Willie: Well, I do feel already right out of the gate, that’s what I’m hearing from people, certainly, is that we are shooting the city. Our show if I’m talking in a scene, we really make a strong effort to have basically like the Empire State Building sticking out of my head. There’s such an energy and there’s much architecture and people and vibe on the street, that we try to grab all of that as much as we possibly can. It does provide an energy and just kind of a sea of humanity that really helps us in terms of telling the stories. We so far already just so early on, we’ve shot right at the Central Park fountain. We shot in Grand Central Station, like crazy massive backdrops that really inform how big it is behind all of us.

Panel: How did you first become involved with White Collar?
Willie: It’s actually kind of an interesting story. Fox International Television Productions was making an off-market TV show for the international market called Mental, which was shooting in Bogota, Columbia. They asked me to go down and do an episode and I went and did one because I’d never been to Bogota, Colombia.

When I got back, I got a call from them and they said you were wonderful. You saved the show. It’s amazing, amazing. Would you like a series? I said yes, I was actually looking for one. I like the stability and the new scripts every week. I love that, so I said sure and they sent over the script and it was fantastic.

It was just a wonderful, fresh and energetic setting for a show that Jeff Easton created. Fox had teamed up already with USA on Burn Notice and done very well. And this was their next partnership with them and instead of just doing like a spin-off of Burn Notice or Burn Notice II, they came up with a fresh, unique twist and so I love the script. It always ends up being the script, always, so that attracted me immediately.

Panel: And my follow-up is I’m curious what you think you would tell someone who is thinking about watching White Collar, but hasn’t actually tuned in yet, what would you tell them the show is all about and what would draw them in.

Willie: I think it’s interesting take on what people will do to try and scam people, so people can know that there are smart people looking out for all of us and trying to bring these people down. I said this before. It’s amazing to me. I worked as a dishwasher for $4 an hour and I know in these times, there are people who have worked really hard and watched their whole life’s savings go away. I think it’s a great twist on seeing how there are people out there with good intentions trying to make sure that everyone kind of takes care of each other and does the right thing.

I think that’s a really good message for right now. And the show is really energetic and fun and fast paced. It’s really unfortunate how horrifying the people are on the show to look at. Tiffani Theissen is just so hideous and Matt Bomer is so unfortunately unattractive, so I think people once they tune in, they’re hooked once you give it a shot.
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In August, Willie announced he was in the process of adopting and 8-year-old boy named Nathan. He spoke briefly about why adoption is so important and let us in on a little secret.

As soon as the adoption was finalized he’d be showing his son off to the world! (We’d love an exclusive, wink wink!)

During a telephone conference last week, Garson confirmed where he was in the process.

Willie: We’re inching closer, hopefully by the end of the year, so a bunch of things happened last week. And we’re getting closer and closer and then it will be done. I will be done with the adoption process, which I highly recommend to everyone who’s thinking about it. I say just jump right in and do it. There’s a lot of kids who need a home.

Make sure to catch Willie and his talented co-stars on White Collar, Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. on USA.

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