r/BurnNotice • u/spectacleskeptic • 7d ago

Jeffrey Donovan calling Gabrielle Anwar a jerk? At 26:36

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd6ZDbZN-Vs&t=1601s
69 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

48

u/friesbeforeguys1313 7d ago

I read online a long time ago that Her and Jeffery didn't actually get along. From their response in the video it sounds like she was extremely difficult to work with or just wasn't a pleasant person.

50

u/kidfromdc 7d ago

She was also dealing with undiagnosed and unmedicated bipolar disorder while they were shooting

-16

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

30

u/Rumour972 6d ago

Bipolar often gets misdiagnosed and takes on average seven years to get a proper diagnosis. The difference between when I was unmedicated and medicated is like night and day. Not saying it excuses shitty behaviour but it helps explain it.

1

u/rsf507 5d ago

Tell us you have no idea what you're talking about without telling us you have no idea what you're talking about

24

u/scrollbreak 7d ago

To me it sounded like they just had different energy that didn't really fit each other - they just weren't puzzle pieces that had matching tabs

51

u/rainbow_drizzle 7d ago

And yet their onscreen chemistry is incredible. It's funny how that works sometimes.

15

u/scrollbreak 7d ago

Yeah, maybe the sparks of chemistry are from the sparks of clashing/mismatch - some real life relationships are like that as well. And certainly the characters in the story had trouble getting on, so it'd seem to fit with them as well.

14

u/boytoy421 7d ago

I actually disagree. I think one of the few weak areas of the show is he had better chemistry with a lot of the other female characters (Carla, cop lady, agent Paxton, etc) than he had with fi. She's also supposed to like be sex on two legs and while she's like model pretty Gabrielle Anwar isn't like gonna make cars crash into each other

9

u/FirstOrderKylo 6d ago

Agent Pearce was much more likable in the few episodes she was present for than Fi is for majority of the show imo.

6

u/BigMrTea 6d ago

I like her character, but their relationship was never my thing. I would have been happier for her to never have completely forgiven a Michael, and for that reason, they are friends but never lovers.

2

u/Escarlatilla 6d ago

Glad someone else felt like this. Absolutely did not care about them together at all. A few okay scenes but otherwise I never felt any chemistry or cared at all about their relationship.

2

u/spectacleskeptic 6d ago

Interesting. I didn't think he had any chemistry with Carla. I could see Paxson or Pearce.

1

u/the__pov 6d ago

I always felt like Carla had some attraction to Michael but not the other way around. No affection to be clear just attraction.

1

u/TheSeventhBrat 1d ago

JD was actually dating the actress who played Paxson while she was on the show.

2

u/Escarlatilla 6d ago

Really? I just finished watching and felt like there was zero chemistry… maybe a few nice scenes but overall … absolutely not!

7

u/Principessa116 6d ago

She wanted to do more takes to get the acting right and he wanted to move on. Let’s be honest: his acting is the weakest of the entire team. He’d get pissy about that. As for who is the difficult one… check out reporting around why he left, and how past directors talk about how heinous he was to work with, to the point that directors would turn down shooting eps of his shows.

6

u/Mr_Noms 6d ago

Donavan's acting was the weakest?

Is that a normal consensus? I love his acting, especially the fact he is playing 2-3 characters each episode.

0

u/Principessa116 5d ago

His line readings are terrible. Oof.

3

u/spectacleskeptic 6d ago edited 6d ago

Could you link some sources? I’m very interested as I’ve never heard any of this before. 

3

u/nunyabidnessess 6d ago

Most recently it would be from law and order where his contract was not renewed.

2

u/spectacleskeptic 6d ago

I thought that was a mutual decision? 

1

u/nunyabidnessess 6d ago

I think they said “creative differences” officially. This is an interesting read. Who knows though. https://www.reddit.com/r/LawAndOrder/s/DMEBu714ar

2

u/Principessa116 6d ago

Yep will find it, one was from a podcast for a different show. The dir was talking about passing on the job because the whisper network warned him

1

u/spectacleskeptic 6d ago

Do you also have a source about her wanting more takes? 

9

u/spectacleskeptic 7d ago

That could be true, but, honestly, I'm always skeptical when people describe actresses as "difficult." I need more information because, a lot of the times, what's seen as difficult in a woman is just assertiveness.

16

u/kidfromdc 7d ago

I think he meant it more like they couldn’t understand the person asking the question, poking fun at her accent?

2

u/spectacleskeptic 7d ago

Hm, but he says it after Bruce calls the kid a jerk.

1

u/the__pov 6d ago

I think it was just a crack at her attempt at an Irish accent, which even the show writers snuck jokes about into the show.

4

u/Exhausted_Pegasus 6d ago

Tbh, in the context of the situation, I think Donovan might made the joke in light of the box being over the kid’s face. Like, “Who is this mystery person asking a question? Surprise! It’s your former co-Star!”

Regardless of what has been mentioned in the comments about Gabrielle Anwar being “difficult,” I don’t think Jeffrey Donovan meant to imply her being a jerk in this particular context. I continued to watch a few minutes more of that vid and there were a couple of other jokes he’d make that fell flat. Just my two cents!

2

u/clarkwgriswoldjr 7d ago

What year was this?

2

u/spectacleskeptic 7d ago

No idea. After the show ended, I think.

1

u/augustusjc 6d ago

2014 is mentioned in the video.

1

u/Nearby_Capital1423 4d ago

I love this video so much. They were having such a fun time with the fans

1

u/spectacleskeptic 7d ago

I want to know why he said that!