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Character, Career, and Capers with Tiffani Thiessen of White Collar
by Troy Rogers
 Since
1989 Tiffani Thiessen has enjoyed roles in some
of the most popular shows of their time. Although
Thiessen began her career on Saved by the Bell,
Tiffani went on to appear in Married with Children,
The Hogan Family, and Blossom before landing her
memorable role as Valerie Malone on the original
90210. Despite growing up on TV in front of millions
of fans, Tiffani Thiessen has been a familiar
face on the small screen for almost her entire
life. Now, in 2009, Thiessen plays Elizabeth Burke,
the wife of actor Tim Dekay's character, Agent
Peter Burke, in the new USA Network series, White
Collar, starring Matthew Bomer as cunning con-man,
Neal Caffrey.
Now that viewers have been introduced to White Collar, which airs Friday nights at 10p.m. on USA, we caught up with the lovely Tiffani Thiessen on a conference call to learn more about her White Collar role, her chemistry with Matt Bomer and Tim Dekay, what she loves about White Collar, and how Tiffani feels about being a first time mother away from the White Collar set.
What made you want to
be a part of this show?
TIFFANI THIESSEN: Ever since I read the script, which has been a little over a year ago now, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the characters. I fell in love with the show, and more and more, when the cast was brought together, the more excitement I had for the show and wanting to be a part of it. This is really the first time I feel like in my whole entire career which has been over 25, 26 years of doing this that I finally feel like I’m kind of playing a role a little closer to home for me, which is kind of exciting.
Was there instant chemistry
when everyone began working together? I know
you’re very close working together with Tim
and Matt as well.
THIESSEN: We are, from day one. I of course had met Tim through the testing process of us being put on screen and doing our scenes together, and we had chemistry from day one. I absolutely adore that man and then met Matt, actually, after we had already started shooting the pilot. We actually were on the same flight going to New York to shoot the pilot last year.
Then Willie Garson I actually had known just being in the business for so long. We had met prior, and I’ve always really enjoyed him and loved him, so I was really excited to know that it was actually really kind of a special cast that we were putting together. I couldn’t be more thrilled with everybody I’m working with. It’s really a nice group of people. Being away from home, it makes it so much nicer when you actually like the people you’re working with.
It feels like there’s
more to your character than what we’ve seen.
I almost feel like maybe she’s hiding something.
What sort of background can we expect as we
move along?
 THIESSEN:
I think you’ll start to see background on all
of our characters, especially the guys. Surely,
this show is definitely the guys’ show. It’s
Matt and Tim’s show, and Willie and I definitely
play more of a supporting role, but you will
definitely see much more of me in the further
episodes as you’re coming along. Last week or
two weeks ago you saw a little bit more of what
I really do for a living and kind of my career,
which is really nice to kind of see because
we really never saw that in the pilot, and it
was something that we kind of came up with actually
after we shot the pilot.
They’re definitely putting more of what I do outside of my relationship with Tim into the show a little bit, and that’ll continue on even, hopefully, in seasons from here on out, which hopefully there’ll be five to ten years of White Collar. In general, I can’t give you exact specifics, ideas of what’s going to be happening, but I can promise you you’ll see a lot more of her.
What about any sort of
action scenes. Do you get involved in any of
the sort of cops and robbers element of it?
THIESSEN: I don’t think so. It’s really not part of my character and my storyline in this show. Again, I’m definitely a supporting role, especially being that I’m the wife of Tim’s character, but you will see a lot of a triangle in a sense of what I can do and help with Matt’s character as well, especially, I think, when it involves the storyline of Kate. You’ll see that a lot as well.
Now, as a first-time
mother, how do you think that it will play out
balancing your roles and responsibilities of
motherhood and your part on White Collar?
 THIESSEN:
You know, that’s a very good question in the
sense that I really don’t know being that I
am a first-time mom, so it’ll be a very different
kind of thing for me being that I’ll be working
and being a mother at the same time. There are
millions of people who do it. My mom did it
herself, so I know I can handle it, but it’ll
be a very new experience, so it’s hard to say
what is going to be like. It’ll be all brand
new for me.
The onscreen relationship
between you and Tim’s character, Peter, seems
to be loving, but also a bit strained by his
professional commitments. Now, with the charming
and charismatic Neal Caffrey entering the picture,
how do you think this partnership will affect
Elizabeth and Peter’s marriage as the show develops?
THIESSEN: I don’t know if I would actually use the word strained. I think in every marriage there’s always the challenge of making time and making priorities in their relationship when people have careers, and what you will start to see more and more is my career, being that it takes up a lot of my time as well. I think it’s going to give a lot of, not so much looking into Peter’s career and how it affects our marriage. There’s also my side of it as well.
I think she is very understanding to that. She’s been living with it for so long and knows what he does for a living, and she knows what she married. I don’t think there’s a strain to it. I think there’s a challenge. I think probably the challenge is the word I could use for that. I think what Neal brings into it is that I think my husband on the show is very kind of black and white in the way he thinks, and I think Neal is definitely much more colorful, and I think he will definitely teach my husband a little more of the colorful side of being romantic and all those things that you do need in a marriage as well.
I know you did a short
film a couple years ago that you directed, and
I wanted to know is that something you still
want to be doing? Is there a chance maybe you
could direct an episode of White Collar?
 THIESSEN:
I do. You’re so sweet. Yes, they definitely
know directing is something that’s in my thinking
of wanting to do more and more, and it all really
just depends on time and all that. I wanted
to make sure that when we started the show my
focus was on my character and what I’m doing
as an actress. Now with my new role coming as
a mother, it’s going to be a little more challenging,
but it’s definitely something I want to do more
of, so yes.
You’ve been in the business
for a long time since you were very young. If
you weren’t in the entertainment business, what
else would you want to be doing?
THIESSEN: It’s so funny. Last year when we did the pilot, we really didn’t know what Elizabeth’s character was going to do for a living. They had some ideas, and they kind of changed it, and then I had come to Jeff Eastin, our creator of the show and said, you know, it’s funny. I think it could work, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do if I wasn’t an actor. I’d always wanted to be an event planner, and I think it could work really well for Elizabeth’s character being that she’s in New York City. We could really show the city in a different light, and they loved it. I have to say funny enough, that was my idea, and that’s exactly what I would do if I wasn’t an actor.
What would you say to
those that haven’t seen White Collar yet to
convince them to watch?
THIESSEN: Oh gosh, well, besides having really cute guys on the show, it’s definitely the type of TV and movies that I like to see. I’m a huge fan of The Thomas Crown Affair and those kinds of feels of movies and shows and 48 Hours, which is so interesting, Catch Me If You Can, things like that. If people are really into those kinds of movies and those kind of story-telling, they have to watch this show. It is so absolutely entertaining. The characters are so rich and so fun to watch and follow.
As well as you see New York City in a completely different way. It’s shot in a beautiful way. It’s interesting, a lot of shows that are shot in New York City can be a little more dark and gray, and this show really, I think, kind of captures New York City in a really beautiful light, and it’s nice.
You’ve played a wide
variety of characters. How do you think these
roles have prepared you to play Elizabeth Burke?
THIESSEN: It’s funny. I think I’ve made this statement before a few times, but it is really true is that this is the first character in over 25 years of me doing this that I actually feel like it’s the closest to me that I’ve played in all the different shows and movies that I’ve done in my career. I think it’s more about myself and my own experience that I can bring to Elizabeth. She has this really solid wonderful marriage. I feel like I have that with my own husband. She’s career-driven, which I feel like I am. It’s all those things that you put towards a character like her that I feel that are definitely very much me.
USA Network has some
big hits out there right now. How does it feel
to be a part of the network?
THIESSEN: Absolutely exciting. I tell them this all the time that I feel blessed to be on such an amazing network. This is the first time I’ve ever done a cable show, and I’m utterly thrilled and over-the-moon with the fact that they’re so supportive and they’re so behind their shows, and they really do give such a great chance of us really trying to make it. It’s nice. It’s nice to feel like we’re really wanted in a sense and really have a lot of passion behind us. It’s a lovely, lovely feeling.
You mentioned that Elizabeth
is the closest to your personality. Do you know
if your pregnancy will be incorporated into
the show?
THIESSEN: I don’t know. That’s actually going to be up to the writers and the executive producers and USA and Fox and everybody involved. I’m going to be still somewhat not too pregnant along when we’re finally coming to the end of the season. We really don’t have too much more left, so it’s really up to them if they want to. I’m open to whatever they feel. We tried to time it to a certain degree so I wouldn’t show too, too much.
We’ve also grown up watching
you as you’ve grown up in front of the camera.
What’re the challenges that you have if any
in creating a new character knowing that you
have a career behind you?
 THIESSEN:
Yes, well, it’s bittersweet at times. There’s
good and bad. There are people who of course
followed my career and who have loved the shows
that I’ve done in the past and are always up
to seeing something new of myself or any of
my past co-stars, which is really wonderful.
Then there’s always people who have opinions,
and of course, that’s how the world works, and
that’s A-OK.
Some people were really open and loving to the fact that I’m actually playing a role that’s quite different than what I’ve played in the past. Like I said, it’s definitely much more close to home for me, this character, but some people had a hard time with it. Some people didn’t believe the relationship between Tim and I, which is so funny to me because we had chemistry from day one, but that’s how the entertainment business works. That’s how people are, and that’s okay. Everybody has their opinions.
Well, we’ve seen on the
show that Neal has escaped from prison for love.
What’s the most romantic thing a guy’s ever
done for you, and then maybe what is the cheesiest
thing a guy’s ever...?
THIESSEN: Oh, gosh. Well, my husband himself is definitely romantic. I mean, he is romantic almost every day whether it’s leaving me cute little notes somewhere throughout the house or the way he proposed to just the day we got married. He was amazing and romantic in everything he did, so I’m blessed to have a husband like that. The cheesiest, God, that would be really hard. I wouldn’t want to out anybody because I feel like anybody who wants to put themselves and their heart out there is a wonderful thing, and we shouldn’t put them down for it, right?
You’ve been on a few
shows that have been a little short lived in
your career. What makes White Collar something
you think can surpass a couple of seasons?
THIESSEN: Well, I think a few reasons. People are already enjoying it. We’ve had a lot of great feedback and a lot of great critics really loving the characters and the storylines and the show and us on it, which is exciting, the fact that we are on a network like USA. They are so behind us, and they really put us out there, and it’s nice to have the passion behind us because I think that helps a lot. These network shows, sometimes they don’t give it a chance, and it’s nice to know that we have somebody who’s really given us a chance. I think we, knock on wood, I think you’re going to see us for awhile.
On television, there
tends to be a fine line between that perfect
supportive spouse that’s believable and the
one that is so over the top that you’re like,
no one in this world exists quite like this,
and you are actually doing a wonderful job being
that supportive spouse that we definitely believe.
How do you strike that balance, and how do you
plan to keep it going?
THIESSEN: Thank you so much first of all. That’s very sweet of you to say. That means a lot to me because I really try, and Tim and I both have long talks about this as well as our creator, Jeff, that we really wanted this to be a relationship that does work on TV, not one that has a lot of problems, not one that you constantly see drama, which you see a lot on TV.
Funny enough, Tim and I come from marriages that work, that really do work like that, so I think we really take it from just our own experiences. Tim’s been married for quite some time to a wonderful woman and has two great kids. My husband and I have this wonderful relationship and humor has a lot to do with it, communication, all those things I feel that are so, so important. I take those just being from my parents who’ve been married for over 45 years. My grandparents were married for 67 years. It’s important, so I feel like I take from my own life and really try to bring what I can to the relationship and the characters.
Have you had a favorite
moment so far, either one that’s coming up that
we can keep an eye out for or one that’s already
been aired?
THIESSEN: Wow, that’s hard. I think there are a couple episodes coming up that I’m definitely a little heavier in, which is kind of nice to really get to explore my character a little bit, but each episode is so exciting and so fun, and it’s such a ride that it’s hard for me to pick out one more than the other or one little bit more than the other. That’s a hard choice. I have to think about that a little longer, and I know we wouldn’t have time.
What is it like to work
on such a male-dominated cast?
THIESSEN: It’s great, actually. It’s not my first time, so I feel like I’m definitely, I have the experience. With past shows, I did a show called Fastlane that was literally me and two guys. It’s funny. I don’t know why, but I tend to gravitate to shows that have a lot of male co-stars. I grew up with two brothers, so I guess it’s just normal for me to be around guys. It’s fun. It’s where I feel comfortable, I have to say.
What kind of pressures
do you think that women or you, yourself, still
face as far as looks and beauty pressures and
things like that?
THIESSEN: You’re right. It’s all there. It will never go away. I don’t think our business and the entertainment business in general will ever just be okay with how people are. I think we’re in a business that critiques everything we do, and you kind of just take it with a grain of salt. I look at my grandmother, and I think she’s aged beautifully, so I hope that I could be a smidgen of how she’s aged.
There’s nothing you can do. All you can do is take of yourself and do the things that make you feel good and make you healthy and age appropriately, but there’s always going to be people out there are going to say something, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Like I said, you have to take it with a grain of salt.
You mentioned that you
had some influence on the career of your character.
That being said, are you going to be able to
also provide future input into shaping and developing
her as well? I know that the producers and writers
have the job of carrying that out, but would
you have a chance to put some input into that?
 THIESSEN:
It’s interesting. We are very lucky to be on
a show (and that’s all of us across the board)
that our executive producers and writers are
very open to anything we have to say, which
is so nice because not a lot of shows are like
that. They believe a collaboration always works
best, and not that we are there writing the
show, nor is that what we’re supposed to be
doing, but they’re always very open to any time
we have a question or concern or have an idea,
they’re always open. It’s nice to be able to
get on the phone or sit down with them and talk
with them about it, and we all feel that way,
which is really great.
Will we see maybe a centered
episode around her, perhaps, maybe?
THIESSEN: I don’t know. That’s a question that really I can’t answer. Again, I say the show really is Matt and Tim. It’s their show, and it was from day one. I knew that coming in. I came in knowing that this role was supportive, which I was completely happy with.
It’s funny. I’ve been doing this for so long that I was actually okay not having to work every day and having the weight of a new show on my shoulders. As well as I really just fell in love with this character, and I fell in love with the cast that they started to put together, but you’ll see definitely, there’s an episode coming up that I’m much more heavy in, and you’ll see that every now and then that I’ll be a little heavier in certain episodes. It’s not something you’re going to see every week because, again, it’s not my show. I’m a supportive role on the show.
Did you ever think that
your event planning skills would be useful to
the FBI, and when will they bring you in as
an official paid consultant?
THIESSEN: I know, really. I don’t know. That’s a good question. That could actually be kind of funny. No, it was actually when we shot that episode, it was an episode we shot a little later, and they really enjoyed the episode so much, they pulled it up and made it a little closer to the beginning of the show, which is great. It was really fun to do, and it was really fun to work more with Matt and the guys in general, which was great. Again, like I had mentioned, you’ll see certain episodes that I might be a little heavier in, but the event planning thing is exciting because, like I said, I’ve always wanted to do that on the side or if I ever wanted to give up acting, that’s what I wanted to do. It’s kind of fun to live out a little bit of a dream of mine on my actual job now.
Now, what was the audition
process like?
THIESSEN: It was an interesting audition process. I’ll be totally honest. I went in and read for this before they even cast Tim’s role of Peter. I did great. I was put on a short list, and then months go by and didn’t hear back because they hadn’t cast the role of Peter yet.
Then, they finally cast the role of Peter with Tim, which I was ecstatic about because I was such a huge fan of Tim’s work that I was hoping to get called back again and be able to read with him. They actually had moved on and started looking at some other girls for the role. Funny enough, they were looking at girls younger than I was, which I thought was kind of funny. A month or so goes by, and they have not cast the role of Elizabeth.
I finally got a call again. They said they really wanted to bring me back again and see what the chemistry could be like between Tim and I, and we blew it out of the park. The moment I met him and we read, it just was right. It just fit perfectly, and so I read with him once for a chemistry read, and then I went in and tested for the show with him with a couple other girls. I was told that USA usually takes a few weeks to make decisions, but I was told later that night that I got the role, so I was very excited.
What specifically about
the White Collar pilot script drew you to it?
THIESSEN: It’s kind of the type of storyline, kind of storytelling that I really, really enjoy. The Catch Me If You Can, The Thomas Crown Affair, those types of movies are always on the top of my list as well as James Bond and things like that. Those are the kinds of movies that I really tend to watch and really see myself. When I read the script, I was like, oh my gosh, this is such a show that I would watch, and I can’t really say that about a lot of the shows that I’ve done in the past in my career.
Then, the more and more I got involved with the show and just watching how it was being cast, I was really excited when they cast Matt. I had seen some of Matt’s work and heard what kind of an up-and-coming, amazing actor he was. Willie, I had known, and I’ve always enjoyed his work. Then when they cast Tim, I was over the moon because I’ve always loved his work and some of the shows that he’s done, and then just the character of Elizabeth, like I had mentioned as well. It was kind of like the first time I read a role where I was like, wow, this is really kind of more me. I could actually be playing someone closer to home for myself, which was kind of a nice change for me.
I realize that you’ve
been working a lot with Tim and Matt, obviously,
because they’re the leads, but have you gotten
to work a lot with Willie and Natalie who just
joined the cast?
 THIESSEN:
I haven’t. I got to work with Natalie once or
twice, I think, a few weeks ago, which was fun,
very briefly, though. Willie, I still have not
worked with and I don’t know if we’ll ever see
the two of them in the same scene together because
their story lines are so separated, but it would
be fun because I love Willie, and I’ve know
Willie for years. On our off days, we spend
a lot of time together. We’re actually quite
good friends. It’s just funny how we don’t actually
work together on the show.
Now, in Fastlane, you
were actually the badge-holding cop, and now
on White Collar, you’re the wife of the man
with the badge.
THIESSEN: Right.
You mentioned that you’re
a little bit closer to Elizabeth Burke from
your own standpoint, but from an acting standpoint,
which one of those two roles has actually been
more difficult for you?
THIESSEN: Definitely Fastlane. Fastlane was much harder for me to do. It was a very new thing for me to do that kind of role where I’m talking a ton, but I will say on the flip side of it, the action part of it that I got to do and the different kind of characters that I got to play inside my character was really, really fun. I can’t say one is more fun than the other, but I will say Fastlane was much more difficult.
Can you tell us maybe
a funny or interesting story that has happened
behind the scenes of White Collar.
THIESSEN: I can’t even mention one. That’s hard. It’s so hard to mention even one because the guys, Tim and Matt are two goofballs. I can’t even tell you, and Willie, too, but I just don’t get to work with Willie as much. I get to see Willie’s humor off set when we’re just hanging the two of us, but Matt and Tim, it’s always a singing-fest, dancing-fest, a joke-fest when we’re not literally in the scene working. It’s quite enjoyable, it really is. I feel very blessed and very lucky to be working with the people that I’m working with.
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