Marsha Thomason (Lost, Las Vegas) plays FBI Special Agent Diana Berrigan on White Collar. Last season, Diana got engaged to her oft-mentioned, rarely seen, girlfriend Christie. This season, the team is back together in New York but something isn’t right with Diana. Marsha talked to AfterEllen.com about whether we’re going to see Christie this season, what she thinks Diana would wear to her wedding, and if we’re going to find out why Diana has taken Levi Johnston‘s crown as the world’s least excited to be engaged person. Marsha was funny, lovely to talk to, and generous with her time. I only wish there was a way to put her lovely English accent on the page for you all to be able to hear.
AfterEllen.com: I’m a really big fan of the show and I’m very thrilled to be able to talk to you about it.
Marsha Thomason: Oh, that’s awesome, thank you.
AE: Everything about the show is really fun and I really like the way that the team has such a great banter…
MT: Yeah.
AE: Of course, a lot of that comes from having crisp and really good writing but some of it has to come from the fact that the actors have really good chemistry. Did that chemistry come naturally or easily or is it something that you think has developed over the three-plus seasons?
MT: You know, honestly, I feel like we had that chemistry from the get go. To be honest, we really did. It was easy. Thinking back to the pilot, which was so long ago, my goodness, I can’t believe we’re in our fourth season, we really kind of just clicked all of us together and that’s why… I’m sure all the time. Sharif [Atkins, who plays Agent Clinton Jones] and I were joking today we’re like brother and sister we just pick on each other and you know, take the piss constantly… You know, we just have a good time.
AE: It really comes across on screen. I think some of that is contained within the script there is some nice stuff on the blooper reel of you guys goofing around. I particularly like the bit of you and Matt [Bomer, who plays Neal Caffrey] bouncing around in the car between takes.
MT: Oh, yeah. [laughs]
AE: Would you say that any of your friendships with the other actors are at all similar to the relationships between the characters you play on screen?
MT: Well, I’m very close to Sharif because we have so much together. I’m close with all the actors but I think our relationship on the show and in real life echo one another. But Diana is very wary of Neal and though she clearly cares for him like everybody she still doesn’t trust him as far as she could throw him and I absolutely don’t feel that way about Matt. I love him. I think Tim [DeKay, who plays Agent Peter Burke] and I kind of have a similar dynamic in real life but he’s not my boss, except actually this week he has been my boss because he’s been directing which has been amazing.
AE: Who on the show is most like or most unlike his or her character, do you think?
MT: Oh, oh, interesting. Well, oh my goodness, I don’t know! We’re all a little bit like our characters. It’s funny, now that you say that, we’re all a little bit like our characters.
AE: So we should look out for Matt [laughs],
MT: Yeah.
AE: He’s the most likely to pick our pocket?
MT: Well, no, but he’s definitely suave and charismatic and that side [of his character].
AE: White Collar is obviously a drama but has what I would consider a very dry, witty sense of humor, with a lot of deadpan humor.
MT: Yeah.
AE: A lot of sarcasm. You did a guest spot on 2 Broke Girls which obviously has a very different humor sensibility are you drawn to one type of humor over the other? When you watch television are you drawn to one type over the other?
MT: You know, I watch a lot of television and I like all kinds. I don’t watch that many sitcoms, actually.The comedies that I tend to watch are usually single camera, Louis CK‘s show… What else am I watching? I love Modern Family, like everybody else. But I also love drama, I watch everything on HBO. [laughs] I watch a lot of television [laughs], it’s kind of embarrassing.
AE: Along with the sense of humor from the show which, honestly, has me laughing out loud a couple of times each week.
MT: That’s great.
AE: It usually surprises me, it kind of sneaks up. One thing I really enjoy about the show is how we’ve slowly gotten to know the characters, which has given them both a nice mystery and some real dimension.
MT: Yes.
AE: For Diana, we have the fact that she’s sort of a total badass, she does not hesitate to use force when necessary, but last season in what I’m calling the “engagement episode” [Season 3’s “Pulling Strings”] we got to see what was a really sweet and unsure side of her, are we going to get to see any more sides of Diana this season?
MT: We do actually. The next episode is episode four, in episode five I have a great storyline and we see a delicate side to Diana, she becomes much more vulnerable and connects with Neal in a way that she has never done before. I haven’t seen the episode and am really looking forward to it. I think the fans are going to enjoy seeing that side of her.
AE: Great! Definitely something to look forward to. Back to the engagement episode. The way Diana announced her engagement felt very much in keeping with her character and with her relationship with the guys.
MT: Right.
AE: I loved how giddy they got on her behalf. They seemed almost more excited about it than she did.
MT: [laughs]
AE: She was pretty hesitant last season, [in last week’s episode “Diminishing Returns”] I thought she bordered on hostile when talking about ring shopping. Are we going to get a little more information on what is going on there and what he problem is?
MT: We are, absolutely. Actually, that episode five that I was talking about, that’s where we see all of that. This whole engagement story is at the fore.
AE: Great!
MT: Yeah, yeah.
AE: She seems to be the most unhappy engaged person I’ve ever seen and it will be nice to find out what’s going on.
MT: Yeah, absolutely. She isn’t necessarily having the response that we all would imagine you have when you become engaged. [laughs]
AE: No, not at all.
MT: And particularly after finally being given the right to be engaged and get married.
AE: Please correct me if I’m wrong, but in the last episode, episode three, Diana is wearing an engagement ring.
MT: No.
AE: No she’s not.
MT: No, that was on my right hand.
AE: I was going to ask you about that [the ring being on the right hand rather than the left]. The shots are difficult to catch sight of the ring but I saw and ring and I was going to ask you about why you chose to have it on the right hand.
MT: No, that’s actually a bunch of rings that I’ve always worn rings as Diana on that finger on my right hand and this was just a different set. Early in the season we had some new stuff and we were trying it on.
AE: Are we going to get to see Diana and Christie go ring shopping?
MT: No.
AE: Oh, bummer.
MT: [laughs]
AE: You spoke about Diana’s relationship with Neal and I thought that they had some really nice moments together in the engagement episode.
MT: Yeah.
AE: How would you describe their relationship and how it has changed from their first meeting, as you said, quite a long time ago in the pilot?
MT: I think that Diana obviously cares about Neal. He’s become a work colleague and a friend though she’s constantly got one eye on him because he’s a friend and colleague but she doesn’t trust him. She thinks that, you know, he’s so smooth and “a guy” and I think sometimes she’s like “oh brother, give it a rest.” She doesn’t fall for his charms in that way.
AE: Sometimes they come off as having a sibling rivalry with Peter as the dad with both of them vying for his attention.
MT: Yes, I think that’s a really good way to describe them, actually.
AE: Diana thinks that he’s the little brother that gets away with everything.
MT: He does! He does things and he gets away with it all the time.
AE: If Diana and Christie aren’t going ring shopping I’m guessing there isn’t going to be a Neal hosted bachelorette party?
MT: No, I’m afraid not.
AE: Oh, too bad.
MT: [laughs]
AE: Jones might have been the most excited about that idea last season.
MT: I know. There’s some wonderful character development this season with Jones as well. We really get to see another side of him as opposed to the serious FBI agent. I’ve enjoyed watching that development of his character.
AE: That’s great. I think we got, either last season or the season before [Season 3’s “As You Were”], we got to meet his former girlfriend and that was a nice piece of information to draw into his story.
MT: Yeah.
AE: Last season we got our one and only glimpse of the Shegull’s Nest and Christie, any chance she’s coming back or is she just too stuck in the hospital?
MT: [laughs] We’re not going to be seeing Christie, I’m afraid.
AE: Too bad.
MT: It’s all, every question you have, it’s all episode five. Episode five reveals everything.
AE: I can hardly wait. Diana’s daily wardrobe is pretty standard issue FBI suits which I’m guessing are not brands that an FBI agent could ever afford.
MT: No, I’m not sure how many FBI agents can afford Hugo Boss.
AE: We’ve also seen Diana dress up for a number of undercover missions. She seems equally comfortable in pants or a dress and I was wondering what you picture Diana wearing to her wedding?
MT: I think that Diana would probably wear… I don’t think she’d wear a dress. I don’t think she would. Even though she’s comfortable in a dress, we see her undercover all the time in a dress and done up and all of that. I don’t know. Maybe a really dope white suit from Gucci or something, I don’t know. She wears suits to work so that would be lame. I don’t know. [laughs]
AE: Sort of an unfair question.
MT: I just don’t see her in the blancmange, you know what I mean?
AE: No, that would be hard to imagine. Your fellow Lost alum Rebecca Mader is going to guest star and the rumor is that she plays a con who is looking to work with Neal and maybe cozy up to Diana, can you tell us a little bit about that episode?
MT: Well, I can’t say too much, I don’t want to give anything away. You know what? I don’t even want to comment and give it away. It’s coming up soon and all will be revealed. I know that’s a really boring answer but anything I say is just going to ruin it.
AE: I understand.
MT: When I’m watching TV I never watch coming up next on whatever. I don’t watch the trailer for the next episode because they tell you everything!
AE: Some shows, they really do. I don’t think White Collar tends to give it all away.
MT: No, it doesn’t because, actually, the trailer the upcoming episode on Tuesday it [cut] out huge chunks of what’s going on. So that’s actually really good.
AE: There’s always some sort of surprise or twist and it’s nice that in a show based around mystery that it’s not all given away beforehand.
MT: Yeah.
AE: Each episode tends to have an undercover piece, whether it’s Diana who goes undercover or Neal who is usually heavily involved. Last episode we saw Peter pretending to be someone else. Do you have a favorite undercover mission that you’ve done so far?
MT: For me, it’s the one where I went undercover at the magazine [Season 3’s “Deadline”]. It was the most challenging episode because I had to be American and English which was harder that you would think. For me, I’m pretending to be American but Diana was pretending to be English and so it was the opposite way around. I’d be on phone calls to Peter in an American accent and then I’d have to hang up and switch on the English accent and it was just, ugh, a topsy-turvy world. It was kind of cuckoo, but really fun. I had a great time on that episode.
AE: That’s actually one of my favorites. One of the reasons was that we got to hear your regular accent instead of your American accent, which is quite good.
MT: Oh, thanks.
AE: We also got to see Diana sort of uncomfortable and a little bit frazzled.
MT: Yeah, which is great because she’s always so cool.
AE: She’s always so cool and always so under control and this was an episode where she was legitimately frazzled and her team thought it was very amusing. I’m sure Diana didn’t think it was funny at all. It was fun to watch.
MT: I have a couple of undercover episodes toward the latter end of the season. Titus Welliver, another Lost alum, he guest starred on the show and I had a fun undercover with him. I don’t want to say too much but I got to play a fun character.
AE: I read that you’re a big karaoke fan.
MT: I am.
AE: What would it take to get Diana to sing karaoke and what do you think she’s sing?
MT: I think that Diana would totally sing karaoke. I think she’d need a couple of drinks and I thnk she would sing Carly Simon‘s “You’re So Vain.”
AE: [Laughs] To Neal?
MT: [Laughs] Maybe. [Laughs]
AE: That’s great [Laughs]. A couple of questions unrelated to the show. I’ve read that you’re a big Manchester City fan.
MT: Yes!
AE: It’s been a pretty good year to be a Manchester City fan.
MT: Yes it has.
AE: Winning the Premier League in such fantastic fashion and at the cost of Manchester United. Were you in the States during all that? Were you following it?
MT: I was in the States. I was shooting White Collar but I was watching it on television and literally couldn’t bear to look anymore. In the eightieth-something minute it looked like we’d blown the whole thing and couldn’t believe it and I was so mad and so upset I didn’t even know what to do with the emotions. So when the whole thing turned around there was no better feeling. Really incredible after forty-four years, my god!
AE: I’m a Red Sox fan so I think I can feel something akin; the years of futility and taking down your biggest rival at the same time.
MT: Exactly!
AE: There’s not much better joy, at least for a sports fan, I don’t think.
MT: No, absolutely not. I don’t think we’ll ever have a moment quite like that because, god forbid, it’s another forty-four years.
AE: No, you don’t want that. Are you excited for the Olympics?
MT: Yes I am. I’m going to go home and watch. [We spoke as the Opening Ceremonies were happening in London.] It’s going to be on in our home every day.
AE: Any favorite events?
MT: Not especially. I really like the track events but I don’t know who is competing or who the stars are. I don’t know any of that stuff anymore but I really like the track events and I like the gymnastics too.
AE: Last question, any preview for upcoming episode? Neal is going to charm a widow and Peter is still not back with White Collar. Anything else we should look for?
MT: Well, I’m not going to say anything about it but I am going to say that Laura Vandervoort plays the widow. She and I were in a movie a while ago and she’s great on the show. God does she look breathtaking, she really does. But other than that, I’m not saying anything [laughs].
AE: I thought that might be your answer.
MT: [Laughs]
AE: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.
MT: Any time. Thank you very much.
White Collar airs at 9 PM on USA Network.
