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Season 2 Finale Spy Secrets with Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice
by Troy Rogers
 After two seasons on the Miami set spy series Burn Notice, actor Jeffrey Donovan has quickly become a fan favorite as covert agent Michael Westen. Although the USA Network series became a hit in its first season, it still took Donovan an entire first run to truly get inside the head of Westen. When the second season of Burn Notice hit the USA airwaves, Jeffrey Donovan "was," for all intents and purposes, Michael Westen.
After reuppung his Burn Notice contract for another six seasons - a huge sign of confidence that USA has in the series - the second season finale is about to close out the sophomore spy run with secrets surfacing about Victor's past and a tension-breaking showdown with the mysterious Season 2 villain Carla, played by Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer.
Leading up to the season finale of Burn Notice, airing March 5 at 10pm on USA Network, we spent some covert ear-time with Jeffrey Donovan to find out about the final episode of the season, his showdown with Tricia Helfer, and Michael's penchant for helping the little guys of the Burn Notice world.
THE DEADBOLT: Is there an end date for the whole show? Will this end in ...
JEFFREY DONOVAN: No, no. You know, I just renegotiated an eighth season. So they have high hopes for it going at least to eight seasons. It’s a cliché, but we’re just going to take it one season at a time. We know that this season this is what we would like to do. But there’s no ending date right now.
THE DEADBOLT: So when we see the guy who burned you it’s going to be like an onion, I guess. Another layer of who got him to do it and then who got them to do it?
 DONOVAN: Basically, but this will be the guy; this will be the guy who burned me. And he’ll explain what happened and what’s going to happen to Michael Westen if, basically, he keeps making trouble. It’s going to be an interesting season three.
THE DEADBOLT: If you’re not allowed to do your own stunts, are you working out just for the shirtless scenes? Is that the reason?
DONOVAN: [laughs] No. You know, I’m serious when I say that it’s for my health. And I mean that in many, many ways. Staying in shape, it just keeps you healthy; it keeps your immune system up. But also I can’t be injured. I mean, I do my own fights. So just because I’m not driving a car into a wall doesn’t mean I can’t get hurt because I do all my fights. So that’s what I’m training for. I’m training to stay in shape so I’m healthy; I don’t get hurt when I do the fights. And God forbid I get sick because if it does, you know, unfortunately production shuts down.
THE DEADBOLT: So I guess Sam's workout regime is like a six pack a day?
DONOVAN: Yeah, yeah. Maybe even a 12-pack.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
Jeffrey Donovan on playing undercover characters with different accents:
 "There’s no hard and fast rule governing my performance with each accent and with each dialect. It is kind of a dance between me and the writers. The writers say something like 'Michael walks into a bar' and sometimes it’ll say with an Australian accent. Or sometimes it’ll say 'Michael walks up to the bar and starts talking to so and so.'
"And it won’t say I have a [new] voice but I’ll go, 'You know what? He’s a good old boy. We hired an actor who’s a good old boy. I don’t want to play him like a good old boy as well because it will knock down his defenses.' So it’s a bit of a dance. We kind of find it on the day."
Donovan on working with Sharon Gless and dealing with the smoke:
"Man, she’s such a pro. She’s such a pro. I call her mama, and I mean that in such an affectionate way. She’s so motherly to me, so caring and endearing and talented, and God, man, you walk on set, she starts rehearsing with you and you’re like - you’re in the scene; you are just in the scene. She’s your mom, you’re her son and the comedy that comes out of it, she knows what she’s doing and she makes it look like she doesn’t. It’s pretty remarkable to watch.
"The smoking - the smoking is tough. She really smokes real tobacco, and it’s kind of hard to deal with knowing that every time I’m in a scene with her is smoking. But that is what Michael goes through, he can’t stand it either."
Jeffrey Donovan on what type of closure the fans can expect from Michael and Carla going into Tricia Helfer’s final appearance:
"Well, you know, I think it’s no surprise that Carla and Michael were going to eventually be in each other’s crosshairs. And in the final episode, literally, that happens. Without giving too much away, the eventual outcome was necessary. What’s going to happen is that she gets, basically - she has powers above her that control her and she basically relies on Michael to save her butt at the end. And he tries but it doesn’t go as well as expected for her."
Jeffrey Donovan on Michael Westen’s willingness to help the little person:
"You know, there’s an interesting theme between Madeline and Michael that was on last week where she describes the map of how to fix the car’s radio and how it’s tied to the ignition. It was really well written. And she says, you know, I think he did this so that he would always feel needed and wanted and useful and would want him around.
 "I think that Michael went away from his family because he didn’t feel wanted or needed. And so he went with a bigger family, you know? He went for the flag and the country needed him. So I think that when he’s back in town, when he helps a little guy, it’s less about the little guy and it’s more about that Michael is somehow validating that need, that someone needs him. And he never got it as, you know, not to be too psychological, but he never got it as a child."
Donovan on how important Michael’s narrations are to the show:
"They’re very important. I think that they’re the heart of the show, because what’s great about Burn Notice, especially with Michael, is that Michael never lets on how he feels about something except when he’s with his family. So that’s 90% of the time of his job is he’s covering.
"What’s great about playing that role that way is I don’t have to show anything that I actually feel or think because I know that in the back of my mind that narration is going to let you know. And I think that’s kind of a cool device that we take really seriously that we get to say, 'Hey, here’s a secret; this is what I’m thinking.' And it’s a little conspiratorial with the audience and I think it’s a great element."
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