WHITE COLLAR: Andrew McCarthy on His Role in the Flashback

The 80’s icon who appeared in such fan-favorite films as “Pretty In Pink,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” and “Weekend at Bernie’s” took time out of his busy schedule to talk in a conference call with NiceGirlsTV about his upcoming role as Vincent Adler, mentor of White Collar’s Neal Caffrey.

Tonight, in a special flashback episode, McCarthy plays the notorious Vincent Adler – the man who taught Neal Caffrey everything he knows.  Depending on how you look at it, in an act of either kindness or extreme ruthlessness, eight years ago Adler took an unformed wanna-be con artist and taught him the tricks of the trade.  After the big reveal that it was Adler who was behind kidnapping Neal’s beloved Kate and perhaps the one responsible for her death, learning the origins of Caffrey and Adler’s relationship shall prove enlightening, if not highly entertaining.

McCarthy humorously noted that it was odd to be the one old enough to be teaching the younger generation tricks of the trade, but he found the role created on White Collar irresistible and had a lot of fun bringing Adler to life.  He found it particularly easy and fun as it is a pivotal role in the series.  His character is the wizard behind the curtain pulling all of Caffrey’s strings.  So for him, the role was “delicious and juicy.”  He analogized it as having a glorious dinner party where the table had already been set and he just got to show up and share in the dessert.  Because so much of the ground work about his character had been set, he just had to flesh it out by making a memorable appearance.  While he was reticent to talk about how many episodes in which he would be appearing, McCarthy candidly shared that he will be directing an episode of White Collar next season.

Having previously appeared on another USA Network’s Royal Pains, McCarthy clearly has a fondness for the network, describing their relationship as, “They are very wise and asked me to work for them. .  . USA shows have an interesting formula, they work with a very interesting visual style and they don’t take themselves too seriously and they have a tone that appeals to me.”  McCarthy also noted that he would love to appear on Covert Affairs, about which he has heard great things from his friend Kari Matchett.

Finally, in describing what it was like to work on White Collar, McCarthy shared, “The show has a real sort of twinkle about it. It has a sense of delight and mischief about it.”   And just what kinds of mischief his character will be up to shall be revealed tonight.  Be sure to tune in tonight for the ‘Forging Bonds’ flashback episode of White Collar at 10/9c on USA Network.