Q&A with Burn Notice's Sharon Gless

SR: You're known for interesting female roles—Cagney, Debbie, Madeline. Are there any women who inspired you?

SG: My mother and my grandmother. Two totally different personalities. My mother was very, very loving, so I used that when I played [Queer As Folk]. NOTE: I would put the whole name of the show in brackets. We shouldn't leave as just "when I played Queer". I just remember how it felt. When anyone walks into a room, no one lit up like my mom, so I brought that piece of her when I played Debbie.

Burn Notice is more of my grandmother. My grandmother was tougher and sort of let us know that she knew what was going on. No matter what it was, she knew what was going on. I think Madeline's a little warmer than my British grandmother. She was not as open; she just wasn't raised that way. She was very, very smart and nothing escaped her.

They're both powerful women in their own ways. I was lucky to have both of them—I was lucky to have both those parts too!