White Collar Comes Clean

What better way to spend a Tuesday evening than coming clean with the cast and creative mind behind the USA Network’s successful series White Collar. That’s exactly what happened in early April when the Paley Center held a salute to USA Network’s popular new series.

Looks like Tim is blaming Matt for another caper gone awry! / Wireimage

The evening started off like many other Paley Center events with Executive Director Craig Hitchcock making a short welcome speech then introducing the moderator for the night: Craig Tomashoff from TV Guide, who commented on not only the sense of style that is aptly on display in the show but also how the series harkens back to classic series like It Takes A Thief and The Rockford Files. Without further ado, Craig asked the brains behind the series – Jeff Eastin – to take over the podium.

As Jeff placed his phone on the podium, he joked he was Tweeting to let everyone know that the evening was getting started. He then proceeded to explain that he had a treat for the audience – two featurettes from the DVD of the first season. The first was a look at their FBI consultant Tom Barden and the second was focused on the wardrobe for this stylishly clever series. One delightful highlight from the wardrobe featurette was hearing the head of wardrobe define Mozzie’s (Willie Garson) style as “homeless chic.”

With the conclusion of the featurettes, Craig again took the stage and began the introduction of the panelists, which included cast members Sharif Atkins (Jones), Willie Garson (Mozzie), Tiffani Thiessen (Elizabeth), Tim Dekay (Peter) and Matthew Bomer (Neal) as well as Executive Producer and series creator Jeff Eastin.

Craig wasted no time and went straight to asking about the explosive finale. It was revealed by Jeff that the cast had no idea where the storyline was going as scripts were literally coming in daily for the final shots but that he (obviously) knew where it was going all along. However, Jeff commented that the mid-season finale – in which Peter is revealed to have a ring like the man who was holding Kate, Neal’s love, and was meeting with her in secret, making it seem like he was not all he seemed to be – was more difficult and surprising than the season finale.

In responding to the talk of the mid-season finale, Tim mentioned that fans would approach him with a “say it ain’t so” attitude, worrying he was indeed the bad guy, and even interviewers attempted to get him to tell them what was going to happen. Tiffani also interjected that she would be asked if her character Elizabeth and Kate were sisters (which they are not) while Willie joked he “had no idea what was going on.”

Quite a bit of discussion was then held on the “items” that are used in the show, such as the ring that played so prominently in the first half of the season and then the music box in the latter half of the season. In fact, Willie mused that the cast should have done a gag reel with each of them wearing the ring in various shots to confound the viewers as to what may or may have happened in the storyline of Kate and the mystery man wearing the ring. This suggestion meant with quite a bit of laughs from the audience as well as the cast.

Willie Garson breaks out the air quotes. / Wireimage

The audition process was discussed by each cast member with the audience learning the following:

Sharif and Jeff had worked together before and Jeff offered him a role that was made up of “a bunch of agents all rolled into one” and as a Lethal Weapon fan, Sharif jumped at the chance to be in a show that was much like a buddy cop movie.

Willie stated he really wanted the part and he went for it “hard” at which point Jeff explained that another actor who was reading for the part of Mozzie during the audition process, halfway through his reading, stopped and told those in the room, “I can’t; you guys have Willie Garson out there and you’re gonna give the role to him.”

Tiffani explained her process was a “rollercoaster”, as she just KNEW the show was going to be picked up and she really wanted the part of Elizabeth. She was put on the short list prior to the part of Peter being cast and then she never heard back about the role. She soon learned that she was deemed “not right for the part” and that younger girls were being auditioned. However, she was called in for a “chemistry test” with Tim (who had been cast as Peter) and won the role.

Matt and Tim also had to do a “chemistry read” together and, according to Tim, “right out of the gate; it was like two buddies who’d been together for a long time.”

Some of the other highlights from the panel were:

Sharif Atkins is amused by his co-stars. / Wireimage

Learning the cast truly enjoys working together and gets along very well on- and off-screen.

They have great respect for USA and FOX who have allowed them to collaborate in making the show.

That Matt likes to get songs stuck in the heads of the cast and crew like “The Rose” or “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and that they even have a spinoff idea for Sharif’s character Jones called White Collar Knights with a sing-song theme that they shared with the audience: “White Collar Knights” sung in falsetto.

Matt sees parallels between con men and actors, as they have to learn everything they can about their characters so they can portray them more convincingly and con men do the same thing except for more nefarious reasons.

The most difficult episode to shoot was the one about the wine bottle, as there were so many “pieces” that had to fall into place in order to make it all work.

The show was picked up very quickly by USA once Jeff made the presentation to the network; but there were a lot of things that led up to Jeff making the pitch. Jeff also joked that he had a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio and Dennis Leary handcuffed together and remarkably that helped sell the network on the show in addition to his basic premise for the series.

The filming schedule is very tight with each episode being filmed in 7 days time and each scene getting only 2 or 3 takes and then they are on to the next scene.

Tiffani stated this is “the easiest and nicest cast that I’ve ever worked with” and Jeff stated, “These guys have elevated the work.”

Jeff Eastin and Matt Bomer watch as Tim Dekay explains himself. / Wireimage

Credit was also given to the Director of Photography, Russell Fine, for bringing New York to life in unique and interesting ways within the episodes. Jeff also explained that they received the go-ahead to film the pilot in New York, but he thought for sure they would then be moved to Toronto for the remainder of the first season’s episodes, but the final decision was to keep the show in New York, which pleased him and the cast.

Jeff would not reveal if Kate was dead or alive after the events in the finale. He also stated that Fowler will be seen again next season, which would begin filming the following week, and was vague about Alex (Gloria Votsis), Neal’s “friend and fence” possibly being seen in the new episodes.

During the audience Q&A, it was revealed that Diahann Carroll will be back next season and it is looking like Elizabeth may get involved in some of Peter’s cases as well.

They now have a “former” con artist consultant in addition to their FBI consultant. It was joked that this new consultant leads with the word “allegedly” when speaking about any of his past “work” (aka crimes).

When asked if there was one “piece” that each actor brought to their character, Willie admitted that the “Mr. Furley neckerchief” was his idea, which was a “swing and a miss, my bad.” Tiffani came up with Elizabeth’s occupation of party planning, as it seemed appropriate for a working professional in New York. Jeff then pointed out that Tim has great “looks” to go with the dialogue he has to deliver and he stated that Matt brings such empathy to the character of Neal, sharing that the character could have been “the sleazy, charming guy”, but Matt makes Neal “incredibly likeable” even when he’s conning them.

The evening ended with the fans getting autographs from the cast and Tim, Matt and Willie sticking around to pose for pictures with their fans.

White Collar will be back on the USA Network in July.