 
GW: Fans were saddened earlier this summer to learn of Don Davis's passing, and over the last decade you spent a lot of time with that man, both onscreen and off. Do you have any favorite memories of him?
MS: I think that moments spent with Don [was] a plus. I mean, for standout memories, those are the ones that I will probably keep for me. Because they were the quieter moments or the more intimate humorous moments that you share when you get to know someone very well over the course of working with him as intimately as we worked together with that group. The greatest moments are not something that the audience will see.
GW: Absolutely.
MS: The moments of real-life emotion and conversations over a couple of drinks that really are going to be near and dear to my heart that really give me insight into who Don was from the ground up. From a work standpoint, Don was one of those people [who] every day, along with the rest of our group, we had a good laugh. I'll always remember his desire to get everything right and his constant inability to do so. And how it frustrated him so much, but [it] became a way for us to blow off steam and have a good laugh.
Don and I, a few years ago, were planning on producing a movie together. Don's passing has reminded me of my pledge to do so. I intend to make sure a movie called "The Maggie Rose" gets produced and gets dedicated to him. So that's something that his passing has reminded me of ...
GW: It's something to look forward to.
" The greatest moments [with Don Davis] are not something that the audience will see."
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MS: For me, it's something that -- when someone close to you that you've worked with so well passes suddenly -- that you really realize how short time that we have here is, and how constantly putting something off just because you think that there's all the time in the world for it is not necessarily true.
I had always planned on doing this movie with Don, and I guess that will never happen. But to take advantage of the circumstances that you have and to let nothing stand in your way and do it now is something that is very important to me. In a lot of aspects of my life. But to do that movie in Don's memory will be something that I look forward to.
GW: Your episodes of Burn Notice have started to air. After living with the character of Dr. Jackson for over a decade, is it invigorating for you as an actor to be branching off in new directions, character-wise? The character of "Victor" on Burn Notice is so far removed from Daniel.
MS: [Laughter] Yeah! It's great! I love that show. I was just saying to some people that I'm not capable of playing too many bad guys in earnest. Or even heroes in earnest, in terms of that straight, jaw-clenching kind of way. I need them to have a layer of irony to them, or something like that. And Burn Notice is the perfect show for that.
I love the writing on that show. It's wonderful to be able to play a character that is so far removed from Daniel that you yourself don't feel like you're stealing from yourself to go do something. That you can invent something completely different. I think that character is going to be a lot of fun in that regard. To create something from the ground up that is going to be as interesting and memorable as Daniel was, possibly.
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Michael Shanks as "Victor" in Burn Notice |
It's a lot of fun to be able to play a character like that. There's very few instances I've had, in my career, where you get to actually play a character that gets to have the straitjacket taken off, so to speak. The freedom to be the bad guy and do whatever you want is wonderful. So I look forward to exploring that character more.
GW: How are things proceeding with Rage of Angels? Any new updates?
MS: I don't want to comment on it. I'll leave it for Chris [Judge] to comment on. There's been a really, really positive development. He's in Vancouver and in Los Angeles working with someone right now in terms of developing the series even more. There's a show runner, that once his contract is done, we'll be able to announce that we can do it.
It's all progressing. I'm always very conservative about it, but it's moving in the right direction. There was a period a couple of months ago where I thought this was going to be in development hell forever. And it seems to be moving forward in a very positive way. So I look forward [to] the ability to speak more frankly [Laughter], and less cryptically in the future.
GW: Are there any other upcoming projects that we can look forward to seeing you in?
MS: No, I'm going back to Miami in about two weeks to finish up the season of Burn Notice. And like every other actor, [I've] been up auditioning for stuff, and getting really close to a lot of things. But there's no points for second-best in our business -- for second place, I should say -- I shouldn't say second best. So, we just carry on and get back in the mix. There's always something. There's always something lurking around.
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