White Collar Q&A: Conference Call with Andrew McCarthy

USA’s hit show White Collar has returned for the completion of their successful second season and in this half of the season they introduce the much hyped and much alluded to Mr. Vincent Adler. And if you ever wondered how Neal became the white collar criminal that he is, well look no further because all of your questions are going to be answered. In preparation for his debut as the original man behind the con, Vincent, Andrew McCarthy made time for a Q&A session on Monday evening and in this session he talked about being the bad guy, the road to becoming a villain, and his love for USA.

Andrew McCarthy started his journey on White Collar this week, but fans of the show already know of his character Vincent’s life-altering past with Neal.

When asked about how he became involved with the show, McCarthy described it as a great opportunity on a network that he already knows. Fans of USA Network may recognize McCarthy from his guest role on another network series, Royal Pains. McCarthy credited his great working relationship with the cast of Pains and his love for USA to deciding to take this role on White Collar.

“They have an interesting formula that they work with,” McCarthy said of the network. “It’s appealing to me in a certain way. They don’t take their stuff too seriously. They usually have a very distinct visual style which I’m attracted to.”

McCarthy described his portrayal of Vincent as “easy,” admitting that Vincent’s just a stone throw away from who we all have the potential to be. “Greed is a pretty universal concept,” McCarthy said. “Everyone wants power; everyone wants to be in control. People like that are funny because they know that sociopathic quality whereas the rules that apply to you don’t apply to me and there’s great freedom in that. We’re shocked by it but it’s not that far from who we are. They’re just doing things that we don’t do because we have a bit of a conscience.”

McCarthy continued:  “It’s not that hard. It’s one or two little decisions and then that leads to another few little decisions and suddenly you’re way down the road. I don’t think these people are that far from who we are. Just a few bad choices and there you are.”

This sympathetic view on Vincent’s villainy made the portrayal of him quite easy. “I don’t know that there’s any difference between the bad guy and the good guy,” McCarthy said. “Except the bad guy’s more fun and gets better lines. No bad guy thinks they’re a bad guy. It’s all completely justified and it makes absolute sense.”

But being asked to play Vincent came with a tough realization: “I was the old mentor,” McCarthy said. “I’m suddenly the old mentor. I’m like ‘I used to play your part it seems like five years ago,’ now I’m the old mentor.”

But this is only a slight blimp in an otherwise perfect partnership. McCarthy continued: “I hate to say this, but I loved this part. It just fit me like a glove. I think there’s great freedom in playing the bad guy; you don’t have the obligations of doing the morally right thing. It’s easy and fun. I eventually turn into a bad guy, but you just find something charming and likeable about these people. I didn’t find anything hard about him. I just thought he was fun and well written.”

Andrew McCarthy fun facts:

Aside from acting, McCarthy also is a director and travel writer. He is currently working on a piece on Heliskiing and is in talks to produce a travel show. McCarthy has directed several episodes of Gossip Girl, the latest of which will air Feb. 7th.

Along with White Collar and Royal Pains, McCarthy would love to add Covert Affairs to his USA credits. So, if you happen to be affiliated with Covert Affairs, give him a call.

We all remember Weekend at Bernie’s, well Weekend at Bernie’s 2 is a memory that McCarthy would rather forget: “The first one was very funny the second one was… whatever it was.”

When asked about what his favorite place to visit is McCarthy mentions New York and Hawaii, but freely admits, “the next place is always my favorite.”

Catch Andrew McCarthy’s White Collar appearances on Tuesday at 10pm on USA. When asked how long his story arc will run McCarthy says there’s “no telling” how many episodes his story could go.