It takes a truly cool customer to be a spy. And although he plays one on TV, Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan can say for certain that he doesn’t have the goods to be a true master of espionage. “I couldn’t do it,” he admits. “There is a perseverance, a fortitude, that is unwavering.” At least he still gets to enjoy the globetrotting lifestyle, as Donovan went to Japan, Spain, Morocco, Kuwait and Iraq (where he and castmate Bruce Campbell visited with troops) last fall during a break in production. As “burned” spy Michael Westen, Donovan’s back in Miami tomorrow on the USA Network when Burn Notice continues its third season, which will conclude on March 4. I talked with the Amesbury, Mass., native for an upcoming feature in the magazine, but read below for his thoughts on the second half of the season coming up and about playing a spy on the run.

When did you develop an interest in traveling?

I never got on a plane until I was 20 years old. We just grew up very poor, and I went to college a two-hour drive away. We were named one of the five best college productions in the country, and they flew us to D.C. to perform The Playboy of the Western World in the Kennedy Center. We got to play for the ambassador to Ireland, since it’s a popular Irish play. He was very nice and gracious, and he came backstage to shake all of our hands and tell us that we didn’t suck.

What was it like flying for that first time?
It wasn’t like I was scared or terrified or anything like that. It was more, “I can’t believe it took this long!” I’m like, “Really? I’m a 20-year-old man, and this is the first time on a plane?!” Technically, it’s not the first – as a baby, my dad was in the army so we were on military transports a lot. But as far as I can remember, I wasn’t on a plane. It was exciting. It’s just like why I continue to travel now. Doing Burn Notice has opened up this incredible world of the intelligence field, and to understand not only military intelligence but also covert intelligence — about going to a culture, immersing yourself in it, and becoming invisible within it because you adapted so well — is so fascinating as far as a character portrayal.

What can fans expect when the show comes back tonight?
It’s a tightrope I walk about this. There are a lot of things that are being revealed about Michael’s past, and it’s going to come to a pretty explosive ending for season three. There is someone that I am forced to work with who will help me get back in and off the burn notice, and what that turns out to be is he’s actually under the power of someone even he doesn’t know, and it actually backfires on everybody. The season finale is based around Michael. Let’s just say Michael won’t be in Miami at the end of season three.

We’ve seen other guys like Michael, but with his relationships with others and the concept of the show, it seems like he’s a great spy character to play.
To play a James Bond or a Jason Bourne is cool enough, but to be a fired James Bond, an unemployed James Bond, is a pretty cool role. You’re struggling. James Bond never struggled. He was always sipping martinis and getting the girl. Michael is always trying to find his way home to be a spy again, and the irony is he has to use every skill as a spy to get back in. And obviously, his tumultuous relationship with Fiona [Gabrielle Anwar] and his mother [Sharon Gless] are always fun to play.

Was there a role in your past you looked back to or carried pieces of that helped you flesh him out?
There was no role I’ve ever done that prepared me for Michael. I’ve never played anything like this character before, and it really takes every ounce of ability I have – and there’s not much to go around – to get my head around what this guy is thinking at all times. And that’s what’s so fascinating: No matter what you think he is thinking, he’s thinking 10 moves ahead of you. That’s a hard platform to operate from. Part of the skill sets these guys have is they do it naturally. They’ll walk into a restaurant, and they’ll always have their back to a wall, always with their view of the entrance. They’ll know the exits and entrance points before they sit down at a table. They’ll count how many people are in the room, and who’s most likely to have a weapon on them. These things are just naturally going on in their brains when they order a drink. The other really fascinating part about these kinds of people is they can never make new friends unless they make them your friend — meaning, someone walks up to you in a bar and says, “Hey, how are you doing? You’re really interesting, let me get your number.” I can, as Michael, never trust that guy because he approached me. I will never know his true agenda. It makes for a very lonely life.

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