The ‘White Collar’ star discusses his guest appearance on ‘Glee’ as well as his upcoming roles in ‘Magic Mike’ and ‘The Normal Heart’ with senior editor Daniel Montgomery.

1. Matt Bomer Is More Than Just a Pretty Face: He’s got blue eyes, too, people! (Kidding) You White Collar fans know well that Bomer can handle drama and action with the best of ‘em, but his role as Blaine’s brother Cooper is his best comedic TV work yet. Work that is definitely Emmy worthy. “It was one of the most fun experiences I have ever had, truly,” Bomer tells me. “I mean, [executive producers] Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan gave me a real gift, comedic gift of a character to get to play, so just getting to do the scenes they wrote was a blast.”

2. Cooper Anderson Is So Wrong He’s Right: As the international spokesperson for a credit-rating commercial, Cooper (Bomer) believes he is a great mentor to the New Directions kids, and teaches them that pointing and yelling lines is the best way to convey real emotion. (Take notes, people!) “It was fun to play somebody who has such strong convictions and opinions that are all completely ill-founded and misguided,” Bomer tells me. “But at the heart of it, you know he’s really trying to look out for his brother and gave him some of the slings and arrows of the entertainment industry and he’s trying to help.”

3. Darren and Matt “Clicked”: “He’s incredibly talented but also a really great guy,” Bomer says of his onscreen bro. “He’s completely accessible, and when I got the job, we went out to dinner to talk about our characters but also to just get to know each other, because in order to play brothers you have to have a sort of inherent understanding of the person. And he was thankfully a great professional and totally open to becoming friends so that it would translate onto the screen. Interestingly enough, I felt a very brotherly kinship with him. When we sing together, our voices seem to blend well together so it all worked out great. He’s just a fantastic guy.” And fantastically wet and shirtless in this episode, FYI. There is a boxing-shower montage you Darren Criss fans won’t be mad at! Get those freeze-frame fingers ready.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

When Matt Bomer’s Cooper Anderson arrives at Glee’s McKinley High, Blaine’s (Darren Criss) older brother will cause quite a stir when everyone — including Jane Lynch’s Sue Sylvester — is impressed with the local celebrity.

While his heart is in the right place, the White Collar star tells The Hollywood Reporter that his hilariously named character is a total hot mess when it comes to offering career advice for the kids of New Directions: Point to be dramatic! Wink to be funny! “Unfortunately, the wisdom he’s dispensing is really illegitimate and awful,” Bomer says.

THR caught up with Bomer to discuss how he connected with Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy for the role, covering childhood fave Duran Duran and whether Cooper Anderson could be back for graduation.

THR: Considering your partner, Simon Halls, is Ryan’s agent, has working with Ryan been something you’ve wanted to do for a long time?
Matt Bomer: I’ve been a huge fan of Ryan’s work for years, so yeah, absolutely. I’ve met him socially at the Golden Globes and incidentally at things over the years. But the first time we sat down together was at the meeting for was for The Normal Heart in September, and I was blown away by his talent. To be honest, nobody makes me laugh harder.

Is that where the idea for the best-named character ever — Cooper Anderson — was hatched?
(Laughs) I can’t take credit for that, I’m sure that was either Ryan or [writer] Ian Brennan. Ryan called me one day and asked if I wanted to play Darren Criss’ brother on the show. I was floored and said absolutely. He pitched a story line, and I was literally crying from laughter hearing what a hot mess this character was and how much fun it was going to be to get to play him. He, Ian and [Glee writer] Michael Hitchcock put together a real gift of a role for me.

How much of a “hot mess” is Cooper Anderson?
He’s somebody who has really strong convictions and opinions that are completely misguided and ill-founded, but his heart is in right place. He’s back in town to rekindle a relationship with his brother, and he really wants to help him and his classmates skip out on some of the flames and arrows of the business that he’s had to endure. I wanted to make sure that all the advice and “wisdom” he dispenses to the kids were all founded and based in something. He tells them, “Whatever you do, don’t go to New York,” because he didn’t have a good experience there and wants to save them the heartache of a very difficult business. Unfortunately, the wisdom he’s dispensing is really illegitimate and awful. (Laughs.)

You can read the rest of the interview here.

You can also check out a  sneak peek of the episode below!

I added 44 captures from the sneak peek here.

Gleeks already knew that Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) was dreamy. But, on the April 10 episode of Glee, viewers will get to meet Blaine’s even dreamier older brother, Cooper — yes Cooper Anderson — played by White Collar‘s Matt Bomer.

Cooper is the star of a credit-rating commercial, which makes him an A-list celebrity in Lima, Ohio, and major crush material for Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch). He also gives the New Directions kids a “master class” in acting with such gems as “The key to a dramatic scene is pointing,” and “The secret to great acting is ignoring whatever the other actor is doing.”

Says Bomer, “It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had. It’s so fun to play a character who has such strong convictions and opinions that are completely misguided and come from all the wrong places.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Are you a Gleek?
MATT BOMER: Yeah, I definitely had tuned in for quite a few episodes. Ryan just gave me the call and said, “Do you wanna come on and be part of an episode?” And I said, “Absolutely. That would be fantastic.” He called me the next day and pitched me the character and the story arc and I literally had tears rolling down my face. [Co-creator] Ian Brennan is a friend of mine as well. They both just gave me such rich material to go off of. They let me go as cray cray as I wanted to.

I love that you just used “cray cray.” I always say that.
I use cray cray in the episode too. I’m not sure if it made it.

When you go back to White Collar, will you be pointing more?
[Laughs] Definitely. There’s definitely going to be a lot more pointing just to make sure the audience knows who I’m talking to. And if you see me in a two shot with Tim DeKay, I might have earplugs in my ears. I don’t have to keep track of what his character is saying to mine.

At the very end of your master class, you say you’re going to show everyone the “emotional tornado.” What does that exactly look like?
I think there were a couple of takes where we actually got into it a little bit. What I basically started with is “Your fingers are up in the clouds. Uh oh — is there a little electricity brewing? Is a storm gonna come? Uh oh — I’m feeling some emotions in the tips of my fingers and now it’s dripping down. Now it’s in my elbows…” [Laughs]

You can read the rest of the interview here.

TVLINE | How did the role come about?
I had heard the Gotye song ["Somebody That I Used to know"] and I asked [series co-creator] Ryan [Murphy] if he ever thought of using that as a duet on the show. And he said he had. And then a week later I got a text from him asking me if I wanted to come on the show to sing it. And I said, ‘Absolutely!’

TVLINE | Was it fun playing such a D-bag?
[Laughs] To me, the fun of the role was getting to play somebody who had such strong convictions and opinions about all of the wrong things and in all of the wrong ways. At the heart of it, he really does want to help his brother avoid the slings and arrows of being a young artist. He clearly hasn’t had an easy road of it as an actor. And over the course of that path, he sort of developed his own short cuts and tricks of the trade, which are all horribly misleading and misguided.

TVLINE | Have you ever encountered someone like Cooper?Yeah, of course. Any actor who participated in drama in high school or college had experience with guest speakers. And sometimes there’s a lot of gold in their advice. And then sometimes you’re just scratching your head. [Laughs] I’ve definitely had crazy acting teachers… Just completely bat s–t crazy. I’m not going to name any names.

TVLINE | The script also has some fun with your looks. I think Kurt refers to you as the most good-looking guy in all of North America. What is it like to hear that? Does it make you uncomfortable?
It makes me think, ‘I really hope hair and makeup [shows up] to work that day.” [Laughs] At the end of the day, Cooper is just desperate for validation. For him, hearing something like that is just the best news ever. That was the fun of the journey. I think he comes back to town under the ruse that he’s doing all of this gritty work for the next commercial campaign. But I think he also needs to get back in touch with his roots and reality because he’s having a tough go of it. But then once he realizes that he’s kind of a hometown hero, the hubris kicks in and his ego expands exponentially.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Sara is back on White Collar, but it’s all business when she reunites with Neal. On Tuesday’s episode (10/9c on USA), Sara recruits the FBI to help her track down a missing Stradivarius violin. So does this professional collaboration mean the two exes might be making beautiful music together again? “In the last three episodes, they find a really organic, functional way to involve Sara in the closing of the season,” Bomer tells TVGuide.com. “He’s obviously incredibly attracted to her physically … but I think at the end of the day its like, if something happens, great. If not, OK.”

You can read the rest of the interview here.

For “White Collar” star Matt Bomer, this week’s episode of the USA Network series marks a mini class reunion.

The episode, “Neighborhood Watch,” features fellow Carnegie Mellon University alumnus and Mt. Lebanon native Joe Manganiello. Both actors are members of CMU’s class of 2000.

“The producers brought it up to me, and I said I would love for Joe to do it,” Mr. Bomer said in an interview earlier this month. “We reached out to him, and being an old friend, he was excited to come and he did a great job.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

Check out these 2 set videos from tomorrow night’s episode as well.

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You can now download and listen to Matt’s Q&A with fans at the Soho Apple Store from January 16th for free.

Matt and Mark Feuerstein hosted an intimate dinner on January 17th to celebrate the winter return of USA Network’s hit series “White Collar” and “Royal Pains”. Thanks to my friend Claudia for donating the photos!

Check out this article: Egos and Tear-Away Suits

PS: I would also like to thank Robert Q. for his generous $100 donation to the site!

Matt made a special promotional appearance at the Empire State Building in New York City today.

New Article: Matt Bomer On Stripping, Canklets and Being Arrested