SR: Speaking of mothers, you've played unforgettable ones in Queer As Folk and now Burn Notice. I'd read once that you said you never really wanted to play a mom. So what attracted you to these roles?

SG: When I was younger, I kept seeing the roles that older actresses were given, which was always "the mother of." I just didn't want to do it. It didn't look fun; it looked boring. But then I got the script for Queer As Folk and I called up Showtime and I said, "I want that role." And I went after it, and they gave it to me. That mother was outrageous.

The reason I took the mother for Burn Notice is the character description was just, "A chain-smoking hypochondriac." I said, "I can do that!" If they present her as having a personality of her own, then she's more than just the "mother of."