RECAP: WHITE COLLAR Cast Members Shared Their Audition Stories on STARS IN THE HOUSE

Stars in The House, benefiting The Actors Fund, continued Thursday night (8pm) with a White Collar Cast reunion (Sharif Atkins, Matt Bomer, Hilarie Burton, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson, Tiffani Thiessen and Marsha Thomason as a benefit for The Trevor Project).

Matt Bomer began talking about how he got the role of Neal Caffrey in WHITE COLLAR. "There were a lot of people up for the role and I just kept making my way through the process and the casting director...thankfully was in my corner for the get-go, as was the creator Jeff Easton. They had wanted someone who was in their 40s and British at the time so I really had kind of an uphill battle and they actually made me screen test twice for the role. Thankfully Jeff was really in my corner...we kept working on the material and it worked out ok."

Tiffani Thiessen then told her audition story. "Mine was also a long process. They had me go the distance and then they said I was too young, which that never happens in my career. And I guess they continued looking at women and then they brought me back and I went right to a screen test, a chemistry read with Tim and it was love at first sight."

Sharif "I'm a little jealous of the audition stories because I don't have one like that. I knew Jeff Easton from a previous project we had done some years before called HAWAII and the truth of the matter is...I came to him and said 'Jeff, I need a job.' In the moment I said 'Whatever you got, whatever you're working on, listen, you need a personal assistant on this gig you're doing?' To his credit, Jeff Easton said 'No man you're too good of an actor, we're gonna figure out how to bring together a lot of different roles that would have been one-offs into one. And that's how agent jones was created."

Amit Paley, CEO and Executive Director of The Trevor Project came on to tell everyone about the organization. "We are the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis prevention organization for LGBTQ young people and we provide support 24/7 for LGBTQ youth who are in crisis. We've been dramatically impacted because LGBTQ youth have been so dramatically impacted by Covid-19. Our call volume, we operate a 24/7 phone lifeline but we also operate 24/7 text and chat lifelines as well and young people via phone, text, and chat, have been reaching out at dramatically higher levels than we typically see at times more than double our rates. There are just so many young people who are trapped in homes and with families that are not supportive and not affirming of who they are."

Click HERE to watch the full episode

Click HERE to learn more and donate to The Trevor Project

The next show will air today (2pm) with Melissa Errico and A Feel Good Friday segment.

Current and past episodes can be found on the website starsinthehouse.com, as well as a donate button linking viewers to The Actors Fund.