Chris Vance, who’s currently headlining Fox’s shrink procedural Mental, is Burn Notice-bound.

Sources confirm to me exclusively that the ex-Prison Breaker has booked a four-episode arc as Gilroy, a sophisticated and ruthless former MI-6 bigwig who now oversees freelance black ops.

Translation: He’s about to make life hell for one Michael Westen.

Vance will appear during the second half of Burn Notice’s current third season, tentatively scheduled to air in early ‘10. The gig won’t conflict with Vance’s Mental duties since production on the drama’s first (and likely only) season wrapped months ago.

Burn Notice (Thursdays at 9 pm/ET) is on fire, both figuratively and literally (usually thanks to Fiona’s pyrotechnic work). After opening its third season with a cool 6 million viewers, the USA Network action-drama has been spying impressive demos. But will things ever combust between Michael and his onetime lady love? Gabrielle Anwar offered TVGuide.com a peek at what’s to come.

TVGuide.com: That was some nifty knife-throwing Fiona demonstrated in last week’s episode.
Gabrielle Anwar: [Laughs] Thank you. I fooled ya, huh? Yeah, that wasn’t me. I did learn how to throw that thing, but I confess that they wouldn’t let me do it if there was another human being within a mile radius.

TVGuide.com: So then what fun skills have you learned on the show? Is there anything you could pull off in a pinch? Maybe wire some C-4?
Anwar: I could probably blow something up. But I think our props master, who is quite the genius, is reluctant to give me every ingredient in the recipe, just in case I ever have a pissy moment.

TVGuide.com: Jeffrey Donovan in real life boasts some mad martial-arts skills (including a black belt in karate and six years of aikido training). Does he ever show you moves?
Anwar: When we do have a fight sequence, he shows me what to do because I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen if I, you know, flick my elbow this way or thrust my knee that way. He’s been quite instrumental in my not hurting anyone!

TVGuide.com: Fiona this season seems somewhat intent on making inroads on a relationship with Michael. Is that an accurate take?
Anwar: I suppose so, yeah. She’s a girl who knows what she wants and doesn’t like to be crossed. She’s definitely setting out to get inside his head.

TVGuide.com: In the season premiere, her “I’m glad you are alive” was terse yet seemed laden with emotion.
Anwar: Yeah, I don’t think that her verbal articulation is quite as seasoned as her physical expressions. She’s not one for mincing words.

TVGuide.com: Will the Michael-Fiona fans ever get more than a forehead kiss?
Anwar: I hope so! We haven’t shot anything like that yet this season. But we do have some steamy moments.

TVGuide.com: Do you think there is a way to put them together and still keep things exciting?
Anwar: I don’t know…. It depends on what your definition of “put them together” is. I know that in my own personal life, once something is taken for granted, no matter what it is, it loses that element of enigmatic passion. It’s the nature of the beast. I can’t imagine that Fiona would ever settle for a mundane lifestyle. I doubt that “Fiona settles down” would ever be in one of the episode outlines.

TVGuide.com: Moon Bloodgood’s new character, Det. Paxson, was billed on-screen as “Michael’s worst nightmare.” Might she prove to be a thorn in Fi’s side as well?
Anwar: Perhaps, and possibly as more than an obvious physical [rival]. I think it’s more another element that’s going to keep Michael preoccupied, and away from me. I think that if Fiona was bothered by every absolutely drop-dead, stunning, gorgeous chick that came along, she may as well just head out of Miami.

TVGuide.com: There have been some recent headlines about Burn Notice’s production having troubles down in Miami. What’s that all about?
Anwar: Yeah. There’s some sort of political rumblings about the property that we use for our production offices and sound stage. There’s a possibility that it might be torn down. I’m not sure where it’s going.

TVGuide.com: Do you think the show would ever relocate and change its setting?
Anwar: For what the show is right now, I can’t imagine it being anywhere else. It’s a key feature. I’ve heard Jeffrey say in interviews that Miami is a character unto itself, and I couldn’t agree more.

TVGuide.com: Plus, any place less warm wouldn’t allow Fiona to wear so little.
Anwar: [Laughs] That is a very good point!

Sharon Gless plays women with toughness, drive and, when it counts, a comic streak.

No matter how vulnerable her character may be, she’s no shrinking violet, nobody’s patsy.

She’s in her third season on her latest series, the action drama “Burn Notice,” which airs Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT on USA.

But for many viewers, Gless will always be Det. Chris Cagney, the crime-busting, disappointed-in-love cop partnered with matriarchal Det. Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) on the classic CBS drama “Cagney & Lacey.” A “buddy drama” with realistic women heroes, it broke new ground in the 1980s.

Since then, Gless, to no one’s surprise, has remained an unstoppable force.

A few years ago she tackled an unusual role, even for her: The fiercely proud mother of a young homosexual man in Showtime’s “Queer as Folk,” which depicted a gay lifestyle in startlingly frank terms. Gless’ supporting character — quirky and colorful — worked at a diner.

“I always said ‘Queer as Folk’ was about this waitress,” says Gless with a hearty chuckle.

And what about now, with “Burn Notice“?

“It’s about this chain-smoking mother,” she replies, beaming.

That’s not entirely accurate, of course.

The lighthearted caper show centers on Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, a mysteriously blacklisted spy stranded in Miami, where he’s trying to wangle some work while he clears his name and flushes out the person who “burned” him. He keeps his sanity with the help of fellow renegades including Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona, a gorgeous ex-IRA operative, and Bruce Campbell as Sam, a washed-up intel contact and Michael’s closest pal.

Also in the picture is Madeline, Westen’s meddlesome mom who, a Miamian, just loves having her formerly wayward son stuck close at hand.

Westen is tied up on a case when his cell phone rings: Mom calling.

“It’s somebody’s birthday todaaaay,” she coos. “I thought you’d come over for a nice dinner.”

“We’re celebrating birthdays now?” he scoffs.

“It’s never too laaaaate!”

“Where are we getting takeout from?” he brusquely replies.

“Who said anything about takeout?” says Madeline, at that moment juggling her cell phone, a cigarette and a takeout flier from a Greek restaurant.

In this show about fighting crime, Gless is a culprit whenever she appears: She is likely to steal any scene within reach.

How did she land the role? She has a theory: “They needed the mother from hell. ‘Let’s get Gless!’”

A native of Los Angeles, Gless has logged movie, stage and TV credits reaching back to “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” where in the mid-1970s she was cast as the love interest for series co-star James Brolin. “They said there was no chemistry between us,” she recalls with no argument.

At 66, she sports a sleek, ivory-white haircut and great round eyeglass frames. She’s on a publicity hop to New York from her native Miami, where she lives with her husband of 18 years, producer Barney Rosenzweig, whom she met when he cast her for his show, “Cagney & Lacey.”

“He’s the first feminist I ever met,” she declares with clear admiration. “The kind of feminist who says, ‘You want to be equal? Open your own door.’” She bursts out with a laugh. “So there’s an edge.”

A widow whose husband died during a fake insurance scam begs Fiona for help getting her husband’s dangerous associates away from her and her son.

[CALIA] Female, African American, mid 30s. A tearful and frightened widow, she recently lost her husband to an apparent car accident that was actually an insurance scam gone wrong. Now her husband’s dangerous associates are threatening her and her son, forcing her to continue the scam by suing the city for millions and giving them the money. Referred to Fiona by a friend, Calia assumes that Michael and Sam are Fiona’s employees, and she’s grateful for their help…GUEST STAR

[RYAN LEGRAND] Male, Caucasian, late 20s to early 30s. This petulant young man, on parole for fraud and assault, wears designer clothes and watches and drives a Porsche. He works with his greedy, amoral father on a series of insurance scams using naive strangers as the victims. Ryan is a bit spooked by Michael’s reckless act, but proud to bring him into the fold as an asset — until Michael begins taking over the operation and making Ryan look bad in front of his father…GUEST STAR

[CARSON LEGRAND] Male, Caucasian, in his 60s. He is Ryan’s amoral, dangerous, difficult-to-please and greedy father (he considers himself a “businessman”) who masterminds a series of insurance scams. He prefers a death toll for higher payouts. Before agreeing to let Michael oversee a job, Carson tests Michael by sending him to collect $10,000 from a group of tough bikers who owe him.sptv050769..GUEST STAR

[TINA] Female, Caucasian, 55-65 years old. She is a no nonsense but friendly clerk at the county records office who proves to be immune to Sam’s charms. However, she smokes the same brand of cigarettes as Madeline and the two become fast pals, playing cards and heading to the beach together. When Madeline asks her to steal some medical records and risk her job, Tina is stunned and hurt…GUEST STAR

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Michael sucks it up and does a small but vital job for the slippery Stickler, who promises to clear Michael’s burn notice as a quid pro quo. At the same time, he agrees to help Barry (who’s just as slippery financially as Stickler is slippery politically) to retrieve a vital business ledger that has been stolen by extortionists…

[NATALIE RICE / WOMAN] Female, Caucasian, 30s, MUST BE ABLE TO SPEAK WITH AN AMERICAN AS WELL AS ANY OTHER NON-AMERICAN ACCENT. Natalie is an attractive woman local realtor with a picture of her son on her keychain. She’s been blackmailed into accompanying villainous Serbian extortionist Milovan Bakic on a driving tour of Miami while he sets up a chain of safe houses. Captured by Michael and Sam along with Milovan, Natalie puddles up, convincingly acting like a terrified, sobbing, wailing mess of a woman who insists that she’s just the driver. Busily pleading for a chance to save her life and see her son once more, it turns out that Natalie is not as vulnerable and innocent as she appears…GUEST STAR, POSSIBLE RECURRING.

[MILOVAN BAKIC / MAN] Male, Caucasian, 40s-50s, MUST BE ABLE TO SPEAK WITH AN AUTHENTIC EASTERN EUROPEAN ACCENT. Milovan is a foreign looking and scary as hell extortionist. He is a former torturer for an Eastern European intelligence service. Part of an elaborate scheme to extort $5 million from a hapless Barry, Milovan is captured along with his “stupid American driver,” realtor Natalie Rice. Familiar with every trick in the interrogator’s handbook, Milovan is stonily impervious to Sam’s best efforts to crack him wide open and find the location of the stolen ledger.sptv050769..GUEST STAR

[AMY] Female, Any ethnicity, 30s. She is the feisty girlfriend of Barry, the money launderer with the priceless ledger. In fact, Amy is not as interested in Barry as she appears, and she’s been offered $100,000 in order to help a pair of extortionists facilitate the theft of his ledger. Basically a clueless dupe who betrayed her doting boyfriend for a fistful of dollars, Amy is unpleasantly dragged into the real world when Michael and Fiona point out an awkward fact: her employers attached a huge firebomb to her brand new BMW… PLEASE SUBMIT MIAMI LOCAL HIRES ONLY FOR THIS ROLE, WHICH MEANS ACTOR IS WILLING AND ABLE TO TRAVEL AND BOARD THEMSELVES IN MIAMI.

When Michael finds out he’s being stalked by a group of vengeful but mysterious Ukrainians, he turns to JAMES BECK, an importer of hijacked cargo with ties to Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, before the uncooperative Beck can help, Michael is kidnapped, along with Beck, by his adversaries, who turn out to be working for the Russian PYOTR CHECHIK, a ruthless Russian mobster who is not a fan of Michael’s…

[JAMES BECK] Male, 40s, African American, a hard-core, intimidating, well-dressed man, Beck is a successful truck hijacker who ships his stolen cargo to the highest bidder; as Fiona puts it, he’s “like FedEx for the caviar and Kalishnikov set.” Well-connected in Eastern Europe, Beck is more of a businessman than a thug, and he’s not happy when Michael, who’s learned that some Ukrainians are after him, tries to befriend him for some information. He’s even less happy when he’s kidnapped along with Michael by the Ukrainians, who assume he and Michael are partners. Furious at being reliant upon Michael’s survival skills as they flee their pursuers through Florida swampland, Beck would prefer to just shoot as many people as he can to get himself out of the situation, but he’s forced to concede that Michael’s plans are generally better than his own when it comes to staying alive. Ultimately wounded when one of his own schemes goes awry, Beck is kept alive by Michael’s efforts, and in the end admits to a grudging respect for him…LARGE GUEST STAR (7)

[PYOTR CHECHIK] Male, Russian, 35-55 years old, MUST SPEAK WITH AN AUTHENTIC RUSSIAN ACCENT. A mobster/warlord the leader of a criminal syndicate, powerful, ruthless, smart, “bad temper; good shot,” Chechik had a bad run-in with Michael some years ago, has finished fifteen years in prison, and is now going after him with an army in tow. A man who seems to enjoy the hunt, Chechik follows Michael and Beck through a Florida swamp, where he taunts Michael over a two-way radio, explaining to him how his business has changed from provincial to international, providing him a “Ukrainian team, Hungarian weapons, Russian funding.” A crafty and tenacious enemy, Chechik ultimately proves no match for Michael.sptv050769..GUEST STAR (31)

Burn Notice has tapped Tony and Golden Globe-nominated actor Ben Shenkman to join the cast as the man of Michael Westen’s dreams: a dude who can make his burn notice disappear forever.

Shenkman, last seen raging against Derek for killing his ailing wife on Grey’s Anatomy, will play the recurring role of Tom Strickler, a smooth-talking, gregarious freelance spy broker who offers to cancel Michael’s (Jeffrey Donovan) burn notice in exchange for an unspecified — and potentially lethal — job.

Shenkman’s on board for a minimum of four episodes, the first of which will air midway through the show’s third season (debuting in June).

SEAN GLENANNE:- – Male, IRISH, 30-45 years old, Fiona’s brother. LOOKING FOR NATIVE IRISH ACTORS ONLY. Charming, intense, well educated. A bit of a live wire, and no stranger to violence… imagine the male version of Fiona. Sean has a fiery passion for both love and war. Sean’s past may be slightly shady, but his intentions are noble. He’s lived his entire life in Dublin, and speaks with a flawless Irish accent…GUEST STAR, POSSIBLE RECURRING ROLE.

TOM STRICKLER:- Male, Any ethnicity, 40s-50s. Free Lance Spy Broker. A fast talking hustler, Strickler makes a living by contracting current and former spies to do work on the side. He’s like a talent agent, but for spies. A born salesman, Strickler is charismatic and gregarious, but underneath the charm is an edge that can turn deadly under the wrong circumstances. He offers to cancel Michael’s burn notice in exchange for an unspecified job — a blind date that could easily get Michael killed. He waits and watches while Michael wriggles and twists — but ultimately Michael decides that he has no choice but to accept a deal with the devil…GUEST STAR, RECURRING ROLE. MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR A 4-EPISODE ARC FROM 4/29-6/10. LOOKING FOR NAME ACTORS ONLY.

APRIL LUNA:- Female, Caucasian, in her 30s, April is a pretty young mom with two children, 13 year old Joey and 3 year old Danny. Unhappily married to a local politician with mobster connections, Erik Luna, she’s in the middle of a messy divorce from her husband, who regards “spouse” as a synonym for “punching bag.” Facing a bitter custody dispute, she fears that Erik will use his cash and connections to take her children away — and when Michael agrees to take her case, she sees the first glimmer of hope..GUEST STAR (10)

JOEY:- Male, Caucasian, 12-14 years old, he’s the son of April Luna and the stepson of Erik Luna. He loathes his stepdad Erik for his quick fists, and is determined to kill him, free his mom and half-brother, and live with the consequences. Caught by Michael while in the act of trying to boost a weapon from Fiona’s apartment, he spills his story, and cannot believe it when Michael agrees to clean up his family dispute without using an attorney or a shotgun. But Joey is an impatient kid without trust or foresight, who tries a second time to eliminate Erik the direct way…GUEST STAR (6)

ERIK LUNA:- Male, Caucasian, in his 30s, handsome and arrogant, Erik is a rich, well-connected local politician with mobster connections; he’s on every political board, he’s a big deal down at the docks, and he owns a piece of the local country club. He’s the face of the operation, with his brother Quinn providing muscle and guns to back him up. He’s certain that he can put over any crooked deal he dreams up. A little too cocky, he’s in the middle of a custody battle with his wife April, and he intends to leave her with no kids and no money, but with maybe a pair of black eyes to remember him by. Having been foolish enough to sell some very pricey (and confiscated) luxury cars without his brother’s okay, Erik has left himself open to attack from outside, and Michael mercilessly exploits that advantage, convincing Erik that he cheated on an unstable psychopath who’s out to kill him. Quickly reduced to a state of babbling paranoia, Erik winds up locked in a nuthatch by his brother Quinn, who can’t afford to have a madman as his front.sptv050769..LARGE GUEST STAR (13)

QUINN LUNA:- Male, Caucasian, 40, he is Erik’s older brother and the muscle of the family, a mobster with a commanding presence, a permanent scowl, and a staff of bodyguards. The guy who built the Luna family empire over the cracked skulls of his rivals, he’s let his smooth-talking, polished brother become the front for the family enterprises — only he can’t afford to have Erik betray him or lose control in any way. A professional smuggler who ordered his brother to marry April so that he would look respectable, Quinn has to take serious action when he’s convinced (by Michael) that Erik has lost his marbles…GUEST STAR (13)

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