Jeffrey Donovan is Michael Westen in the second season of the hit USA Network original series Burn Notice, which airs it’s season finale tonight at 10/9c on USA Network. Renowned for his versatility and striking presence, Donovan has made a name for himself through memorable performances on both stage and screen. Most recently, he starred in “The Changeling” opposite Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich for director Clint Eastwood, which was produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Last year, he was seen on the big screen as a captivating leading man in the Joey Lauren Adams film "Come Early Morning." Written and directed by Adams, the film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Donovan received high praise for his performance as Cal, the romantic lead opposite Ashley Judd. The Roadside Attractions film also stars Laura Prepon. Donovan also starred as Jim Keith in the independent film "Believe in Me," an adaptation of the young-adult novel "Brief Garland" by Harold Keith. Directed by Robert Collector, the film follows the true story of Keith, a high school girl's basketball coach in the 1960s who gets inspired by his young team and who in turn, inspires them to greatness. Also starring Bruce Dern, Samantha Mathis and Heather Matarazzo.

Donovan last appeared on the big screen in a memorable cameo in the blockbuster romantic comedy "Hitch" opposite Will Smith. Other film credits include Barry Levinson's "Sleepers," "Purpose," "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" and "Bait." Donovan made his feature film debut in "Throwing Down," which won the grand prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival. In 2004, Donovan earned critical acclaim for his starring role as Detective David Creegan in the USA Network Original Series "Touching Evil." His television credits include HBO's original film "When Trumpets Fade," recurring roles on "Crossing Jordan," "Spin City," "The Beat," and "The Pretender," and notable guest appearances in "Monk," "CSI-Miami," "Law & Order" and "Homicide." Most people would be thrilled to be on the warm, beautiful sands of South Beach. However, Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) is not "most people." He's got a pesky FBI tail, a violence prone ex-girlfriend looking for closure, and a hypochondriac mother calling him 30 times a day. Yet these are the least of his problems.

After 10 years of serving his country working in Eastern Europe and the OPEC countries as a covert operative, Michael Westen is living every spy's worst nightmare. While in the middle of a dangerous mission in Nigeria, Michael's "contact" informs him that he has been burned. Now Michael has a much different mission: he must find out who issued his burn notice and why he was blacklisted so that he can put his life back together. Meanwhile, he has to fend off a suddenly hostile world of old foes gunning for him. In order to survive in Miami and fund his own personal investigation, Michael enlists the help of the only two "friends" he has: Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) an ex-IRA operative who also happens to be an ex-girlfriend and Sam (Bruce Campbell) a washed-out military intelligence contact whom the feds have keeping an eye on Michael. He's also forced to deal with the family he went halfway around the world to get away from - particularly his mother, Madeline (Sharon Gless), who couldn't be happier to have her son back in town. As he gets closer to the truth, Michael scrapes by helping out whoever needs his services -- mostly desperate people who can't go to the police. Using his Special Ops training, some duct tape and his sardonic humor, Michael becomes a reluctant hero. It's a dangerous gig, but it's the best he can do ... for now.

Jeffery recently spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about the second season and how his character and the show have evolved.

Question> Can you tell us a little bit about Tricia Helfer’s final appearances and what kind of closure we maybe can expect from between your characters?

Jeffrey> 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.

Question> At the same time it seems like we’re getting perhaps a little bit closer to finding out who burned Michael. How much more in depth do you imagine this is going to be? How many more layers might we expect before he comes close to an answer?

Jeffrey> I think that the actual person who burned me, you’re actually going to meet in the season finale. And he’s going to have answers that only - will satisfy people halfway; dealing anytime with any kind of covert organization they can’t ever spill the beans totally. But what you’re going to see in the finale is pretty exciting because though Michael does find out who burns him it doesn’t release him from the perils of his career choice. And that’s what season 3 is going to really focus on is who in his past is a threat to his livelihood. And that’s what basically you’re going to find out in season 3.

Question> Where do you think Michael Westen’s willingness to help the little person comes from?

Jeffrey> 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. And 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. And 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.

Question> Does that feel a bit incongruous to you that this hard nosed spy who can do these incredible things would care so much?

Jeffrey> No I think the - I think that paradigm is everywhere, you know, you see straight laced governors who are having - who have a family, children, and go after corruption in their career and then you find out they have prostitutes and they’re screwing pros in hotels. You know, you see our, you know, our past administration saying we want to protect the American people and then they go and make America the most sought after dangerous place to go after in the world. You know, I think those paradoxes and paradigms are prevalent in all our society and I just think it’s in keeping with Michael’s career choice that he’s going to live a parallel life.

Question> One of my favorite elements of the show is Michael’s narration because  inside his head is a very interesting place to be.How much work goes into creating those?

Jeffrey> 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. And 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.

Question> I’ve heard that you used to do a lot of impressions in high school which is what got you into the acting biz because somebody said that you should be an actor. How has that helped with your different roles especially in Burn Notice when you’re doing, your different accents and you’re trying to be different people out on your mission?

Jeffrey> Yeah, you know, I did have a gift for mimicry when I was a kid and growing up I’m a ten-year-old and I’m imitating John Wayne for my mom. You know, that - it didn’t - no one came calling after that but it did kind of give me confidence that I could do accents and voices and mannerisms. But that’s not really where I honed my skill, I actually studied a lot. I studied at - in college and then I went and got my MSA in Acting at NYU. And at NYU is really where I kind of perfected how to do accents and dialects so I worked with a speech, vocal and accent coach there for three years.  And just like any specialized profession acting can be specialized in that sense that you’re up and working on your craft 10-12 hours a day for three years. And that’s really kind of where I honed it.

 Question> Do you prefer acting in movies, TV shows or stage?

Jeffrey> Yeah, the theater is really important. It’s hard to say what my favorite is because they all for different reasons. But I’ll tell you why I need each one. TV it’s exciting, it’s very quick. There’s not a lot of room for mistakes so you’re on the fly all the time. Movies, movies are so epic and they’re so grand and you can’t lose your specificity in that so it creates a really interesting challenge. And then as far as theater is concerned I love the reciprocity of being on stage and I do something and something comes back. And that’s unique only to stage. And that’s why I need to do theater.

Question> MacGyver has nothing on Michael as far as the spy gadgets go. What are some of your favorite spy gadgets to date that you’ve actually gotten to play with on the show?

Jeffrey> You know, I thought one of the coolest things was the episode where I built an x-ray machine in my trunk.  I thought that was - and you know what I found out from our consultant he actually did it. Our consultant is an ex-spy and he gave us the idea that you can put a taser through a old TV tube; a radio wave that you can ignite which would create an x-ray with a lead plate behind it. I couldn’t believe it and it did it. But that was one of my favorites.

Question> Do you ever get a chance to contribute your own gadget ideas or anything like that or do you guys pretty much leave it to the consultant?

Jeffrey> I leave it to people who are far smarter than me. I’m too dumb to think of cool things like that.

Question> Is there any gadget that you’ve everwanted to just take home from the prop department or anything like that?

Jeffrey> Yeah, well it’s not so much a gadget but kind of a device. I really thought the infrared detector where you can see at night, the goggles, those are pretty cool. The night vision goggles those are pretty cool. Yeah, driving at night or out in the wilderness in the woods, that’d be kind of cool.

 Question> What’s going to happen next season with Fiona and Michael; where are they going in their relationship?

Jeffrey> Yeah, well it’s fun to do. We have great chemistry. And we love exploring the kind of push/pull attraction that we have for one another. But I think that, you know, season 3 you’ll probably see more of Michael and Fiona trying not to be together; really, really just trying to find out maybe there’s someone else. Maybe there’s someone else out there that we can fall for and can give us the love that the other person can’t, you know. I think that because the more in 2 and 3 we get the more you’re going to see people from Michael and Fiona’s past come back into their lives.

Question> And what makes the bromance with Sam so special? It must be fun to do?

Jeffrey> You know, I haven’t figured it out and I don’t want to. It’s just so easy and so fun and but I’d say 90% of it is just Bruce. He’s such a good spirit. He has great comic timing and he truly loves being on the show and it shows. So when we’re together it’s us, you know, Jeff and Sam just having fun with the writer’s work. You know, and as long as we keep going with that then the (bromance) will be (healthful).

Question> It’s been reported that you got a big raise for the show. Have you purchased anything special? Was there any special indulgence as a result?

Jeffrey> No. You know, I grew up really poor and very frugal. And so whenever money did come in I always thought well it will never come in again. So, you know, I have this kind of gut reaction of don’t spend money. In fact I think spending less money now than I did before the raise because I’m scared of it. But the one thing I do want to learn and it will take a little bit of money is I want to get my pilot license for small single engines. And I think that being in Florida with all the local airports I think I’m going to try to do that and that will be my gift to myself.

Question> Now you mentioned that the person who burned you will appear in the season finale. Is there an end date for the whole show do you know? Like will this thing end in five years or four years?

Jeffrey> No, no, you know, I just renegotiated a eighth season, so they have high hopes for it going at least to eight seasons. But, you know, 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.

Question> Okay so basically when we see the guy who burned you it’s going to be like an onion; another layer of who got him to do it and then who got them to do it?

Jeffrey> 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 3.

Question> With  the narration being such an important part of the show is there ever a chance we’d have a different narrator like Fiona or Sam for an episode?

Jeffrey> You know I’ve pitched that. I’ve pitched that that Fiona and Sam actually start talking in my narration and then I go, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing? This is mine. This is my narration. And then we’d get in a fight as a voice over. So I pitched that; they thought it was funny and then they said no.

Question> Wih all the twists this season had do you think it turned out how you would have predicted it from the beginning or was it a lot different?

Jeffrey> No, no, I think it’s in keeping with what our aim is which is giving just enough to keep you wanting to come back but also give the storylines room to grow where you say I wonder where this is going to go. You know, I have to give the writers so much credit, this show, not only a dialogue, but the craftsmanship of the show is so intricate. And until you try to write a Burn Notice you’ll never know how hard it is to write these things. And so I’m really happy with how the show is going because I know how hard it is.

Question> With Tricia Helfer leaving are there any guest stars for next season that you know of?

Jeffrey> Not yet because we haven’t started shooting yet. You know, there are some people on our radar that would love to get on the show. And then there are actually people who have called and said they want to be on the show. So we’re actually right now I think negotiating with a big TV actress to start recurring on the show. I can’t just say because it’s not closed but if it happens I’ll be really excited.

Question> Michael has a wonderful diversity of accents when he puts on a cover. How much room do you sort of have to play with all these different covers?

Jeffrey> Good question. 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.

Question> Do you have a particular favorite cover that you’ve used during the series?

Jeffrey> Well, you know, that’s funny you say that. Last year I did a British accent ala kind of James Bond. And the writers felt that it was too on the nose so I had almost done half of the episode with the British accent so I had to redub the entire performance with my standard American dialogue accent. So that was my favorite but no one ever saw it. But my favorite is where I go into my loft and I say to Fiona - she says, "What was the name of your cover in Ireland?" And I said Michael McBride. And she says, yeah, I fell in love with him. And she said - and Michael McBride is going to make an appearance again, that cover and that will probably be my favorite cover.

Question> Has the role of Michael Westen been your favorite character to play in your acting character because you’ve done so much?

Jeffrey>: I’ll say this: Michael Westen is the most fun character. I have more fun doing this role than any other role I’ve ever played. But given that it’s the hardest role I’ve ever done. The pressure I felt in Changeling, Detective Jones, was pressure I’ll never ever forget to be in that rarified air of Eastwood and Jolie. But this show is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And that I can churn out every seven days a Burn Notice episode and it doesn’t look like we did it only seven days and with all the accents, all the stunts and all the fights, I’m really proud of that.

Question> So it’s basically seven days an episode?

Jeffrey> It’s Monday to Friday then we have Saturday and Sunday off and Monday and Tuesday and that’s it. All - the entire show is done in seven days.

Question> Did you ever expect that Burn Notice was going to become the success it has?

Jeffrey> You know, I don’t think anyone goes into projects thinking they’ll fail. I think we all believe that what we’re doing is going to be good. But more specifically with me and that mix we sat down and very pointedly said to each other we’re going to make a TV show that we would watch, that we would be interested in, not the networks, not the fans, not anybody, just us. What would we want to do because we have to do this for seven years; and that was the pilot. And that it was received so well critically and that the fans, you know, started seeing us a couple million and has grown to over five million is just - it’s just icing on the cake of what we started with at the beginning which was pursue something you believe in with your entire heart in your craft and want to do that and only that and don’t you feed to well we’ll milk it down, we’ll water it down. Make what you want and see if it sticks. And USA was so gracious to give us that room and let it grow and it’s been growing ever since.

Question> What is it about the show that enables it to transcend from being a wonderful personal project to having such great appeal to a wider audience?

Jeffrey>: You know what, and this is going to sound vague, because the groups that watch it watch it for different reasons. I meet kids, I meet teenagers who run up to me and go we love your show. And I say well why do you like it? And they’re like oh man those cool gadgets. And then I’ll meet some like 40-year old guy who’s like man you and Fi, God, that reminds me of my marriage. And I’ll meet like, you know, old ladies who are like you and your mom are so sweet together. So I think that there’s just these really specific elements that are really identifiable to a lot of people. I don’t know if there’s just one thing.

Question> What are your other plans are as far as upcoming possible movies or other guest TV spots.

Jeffrey> Well I’m not doing anything believe it or not. On my hiatus between 1 and 2 I did Changeling and that was three months. And then between 2 and 3 I went to Chicago and I did a play. So that would have been when I would have done a movie that would come out in the fall of this year. But I needed to be back on stage so there’s nothing come out in the pipeline and no TV as well. I’m just going to focus on Burn Notice for the next six months and then after that I need to take a small break. I’ve worked almost 20 months straight so I’ll probably take a break and be very picky about what movie I’d like to do.

Question> Is there somewhere you’d like to travel on vacation during that time or something you’d like to do; maybe start your family?

Jeffrey> Yeah, you know, I went on vacation last year to Costa Rica and I fell in love with it; what an incredible country. I think I might want to go back there but I also miss where I’m from, my family’s from Ireland. And I might go to Cork - County Cork in the summer. So those are two places I’m looking at.