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Actor Jeffrey Donovan, best-known to New Zealand TV audiences as Michael Westen in TV3's hit series Burn Notice, has packed a lot into his 40 years.
Not only has he appeared in practically every cop/forensic series made in the past decade (the US version of Touching Evil, CSI: Miami, Homicide etc) but he has also played Hamlet on stage and appeared in numerous off-Broadway hits, including The Glory of Living opposite Kiwi Anna Paquin.
His film credits are just as impressive, culminating in an appearance as a bad guy police chief in the recently released Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood.
Somehow he's also found time to visit the South Island although, in 2002, few people would have recognised the actor.
"I was on vacation during Christmas," recalls Donovan. "I flew into the North Island and rented a car and drove down south. It was unbelievable, what an incredible country - like a cleaner California in the middle of the Pacific."
Being his first Christmas abroad after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the American felt in need of solace on Christmas Eve and wandered into Christchurch Cathedral for midnight mass. "It was really beautiful. People were really welcoming to me as a stranger. It was like a warm embrace."
Comments like those are about as far removed as Donovan could be from his character Michael in Burn Notice, now in its second season on TV3. Michael is a secret agent, trained to kill, mysteriously cast adrift by his employer and back in his old stomping ground of Miami to seek the truth, possibly with vengeance in mind.
The show, which stands out from the crowd thanks to its unemployed spy's use of first-person narratives and stream of consciousness, has proved a hit here and in the US. Donovan is shooting a third season in Los Angeles and is in an exalted position that few actors ever attain; starring in a stylish and successful television series (for which he has an eight-year contract) while being courted by Hollywood producers eager to cast him in their big-budget films.
Working with Jolie and Eastwood on Changeling was, he explains, like rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty.
"It was incredible," Donovan enthuses. "She is a phenomenal actress who is at the top of her game."
And Eastwood? "Clint Eastwood is The Man. He has an unbelievable way of working, so gentle with actors and actresses. He's an actors' director. When actors have worked with him, they don't want to work with anyone else."
He also praises Oscar-winning New Zealand actor Anna Paquin, who won a Golden Globe last month for her role in the upcoming Prime vampire series True Blood.
"I had a chance to work with her in a play six or seven years ago. It was great to see her grow up on the stage."
University-trained Donovan still hankers for the stage. "I just did another play - a farce. It gets a little demanding this schedule of mine. But I just love to work."
He has been offered more film scripts since Changeling but admits it is going to be hard following up with a film after working with Eastwood and Jolie. "Spare" time is a misnomer in Donovan's life, but he has one other passion besides acting - golf. He regrets leaving his set of golf clubs at home on his Christmas tour of New Zealand.
"Next time I'll bring my sticks," he promises.
* Burn Notice plays on TV3, Thursdays at 8.30pm.
