PCM's Kristyn had the opportunity to sit in on a great conference call with Tricia Helfer. Tricia plays the role of Carla on USA's hit series, Burn Notice. Read the exciting Q&A that follows between Tricia and the media.

She answers questions about her character on the show, the season two finale and even about her time on Battlestar Galatica and what's next for her! She had a lot of really interesting things to say about her career and her work on various TV shows!

(Bruce Campbell, Producer/Writer Matt Nix, Gabrielle Anwar Interviews)

Q: When you joined the cast of Burn Notice, was there instant chemistry when everyone came together, or did it take some time to develop?

T. Helfer: I'd say there was instant chemistry, but it was really only, I really only worked with Jeffrey Donovan. I met Gabrielle and I met Bruce and worked with him a little bit. Bruce is just such an easy going guy it's impossible not to get along with him, and Gabrielle is really sweet. Jeffrey had actually emailed me prior to going down there the first time to welcome me and say he was excited that I was joining the show. So I went down knowing it was going to be a great cast to work with and they didn't let me down, they were just really wonderful to work with.

Q: What have you found the most challenging aspect of your role as Carla?

T. Helfer: I think the most challenging aspect was actually similar to sort of the first question about Battlestar, it's kind of not knowing the end. With Carla, I didn't know who Carla worked for. I didn't know who management was the entire time I filmed, so you're just kind of filling in the blanks yourself, but at the same time you don't really want to say, okay, this is who it is or make too strong of a back story yourself in case it is revealed. But that I'd say was the hardest thing is Carla being pretty much as elusive to me as the actor as she is to the audience.

Q: Can you tell us, what is your involvement beyond the season finale next week? Are you on board for next season?

T. Helfer: I'm not on board for next season, no. As I like to say, I was the baddie of the second season, so yes, my last two episodes are this week and the finale, March 5th.

Q: Okay, so what can you tell us about those two episodes? What kind of resolution might we get?

T. Helfer: I think the first two episodes back from the midseason hiatus definitely showed that Carla had been taken by surprise a bit, she's been rattled, which she's not used to. It definitely comes to a culmination in the finale where she's been trying to get information from Michael Westen about who tried to kill him, who tried to blow up his apartment, and it really comes to a culmination with management breathing down her back. And she's put her neck on the line in terms of vouching for Michael Westen and Michael hasn't really fully come up with anything to help her out, so it comes to a culmination point in the finale.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about how you first got involved with Burn Notice?

T. Helfer: I first got involved with the very rare, but very wonderful situation where you get offered a job. I was up in Vancouver filming Battlestar and I was approached by my agent or my manager about the job. I actually hadn't seen it, the show, because being in Canada a lot in Vancouver filming Battlestar, Burn Notice doesn't air up there yet, unfortunately. So they sent me DVDs and I was hooked from the first episode and gladly signed on to join in for the second season. But it came in as an offer and I was hooked from the first episode.

Q: Let's talk about how you've managed your career from being discovered as a model in Alberta those many years ago and playing the role in Battlestar and having management and agents who are actually seeking roles on shows like Burn Notice and Chuck. So how have you managed that career path?

T. Helfer" To be honest, it is the career path that I never thought I would be going down. When I was in high school I thought I was going to university into psychology. As you said, I was discovered by a model scout and I thought I'd give that a try. Cut to ten years later, eight years later, I had a great career, but feeling like I wanted more and definitely something more intriguing for the mind. So I started acting classes just on a whim, thinking it would help with commercial auditions while I modeled for another year or two. And then I figured I'd probably-I was in the finding out stage of what I was going to do and was I going to go back to university or what, and got into an acting class and absolutely fell in love with it from the first class.

I modeled for another two years and took night classes in New York City and then moved out of New York and moved to LA and a year later got Battlestar. So it's building blocks and it's a career, I started at the bottom again, a new career and just building your way up. I'm happy that I have agents and managers that believe in me. So it's a normal process that anyone takes if you're not born into it or have any kind of dealings with the business, you start out and you work hard and hopefully things fall your way.

Q: What are your aspirations for acting beyond this? You're doing some guest starring roles and things here and there. What have you got your fingers in that you can look forward to in the future?

T. Helfer: Well, I'm right in the middle of pilot season right now. It's my first year in five years of being available because of Battlestar now being finished. I got Battlestar in my first year of acting, so definitely being on a show, it's amazing to be on a show, you want to be on a show, but it also limits what you can do with your hiatus when you're shooting 22 episodes a year of a show.

Now is really the first pilot season and I'm actually in negotiations right now with a pilot that I'm quite excited about, but it's a little too early to stake my claim on it yet until everyone has signed on the dotted line. But yes, I'm looking, as one of the callers earlier asked about varying roles and I'm definitely looking for my next project to be something that's a little bit different. First off, I'll be playing a human and not a spy. But yes, I'll be looking for something that varies the roles up.

Q: What was it like when you shot your last episode for Battlestar Galactica?

T. Helfer: Shooting the last episode is intense, not only do emotions run really high because obviously this is the last time you're working with a lot of these people and you become like family over five years, but it's also very intense because last episodes tend to come in very long. I think we had a four hour script in a two hour time frame to shoot that we were maybe given a couple of extra days. So we really shot incredibly long hours and everybody was kind of like zombies at the end of it. So it's intense, emotions are really high, but it's also a wonderful feeling, it's a great feeling of accomplishment and camaraderie, too.

Q: Basically as we still don't know whether Chuck is going to be renewed for a third season or not, I did want to know if the role that you play, is it sort of open ended, so that if Chuck does come back for a third season you might consider doing another episode?

T. Helfer: Oh, definitely, yes, if it does comes back, and I expect it to, it's a great show, so I hope it comes back, yes, it's definitely open ended in terms of I could come back. Agent Alex Forrest is alive at the end of the episode and she could always come back, but I don't expect to come back, certainly not on a regular basis, but I'd certainly sign to coming on again and shaking things up. I think she may have a little thing for Casey at the end of the episode, so if she comes back, it would be fun to come back and explore that because Casey doesn't get very much action.

Q: You've done Battlestar Galactica and Burn Notice, what was it like working with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell on Battlestar? Were those experiences a little bit different than working with Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell?

T. Helfer: Yes and no. I'd say they're very similar because they're all very talented and very professional people, there's no diva attitudes, and it's really about the work and the craft and they're incredibly hard working. Starting, when I started Battlestar, Eddie and Mary had been in the business for a long time and Emmy nominated, Oscar nominated. It was just an incredible experience to be able to work with them. For all of the younger cast on Battlestar it was wonderful to have these two kind of helm the show and you got to really see what two people who are so talented, how their passion to the work goes and how much work they put into it and how much dedication.

It was very similar going down to Burn Notice and you have that same vibe with people that are just-they love the show they're working on. They're dedicated to it and they're really hard workers. So there really wasn't that much difference, aside from, obviously, the show itself and the type of show.

Q: With this finale of Battlestar Galactica fast approaching, do you think that there'd be any possibility of a spin-off of Battlestar further in the future? I know they're working on the prequel, but would you see any possibility of a future spin-off, like for the series?

T. Helfer: You know, I've never really thought about that. Without giving away the finale, I guess there sort of could be. It's definitely a closing in one respect, but now that you mentioned it, there could possibly be a spin-off. I don't expect there to be. I really don't expect there to be and I don't think that's their intention, but I guess you can never say never in this business.