Hilarie Burton Gets Emotional Talking About Late “White Collar” Costar Willie Garson: 'My Biggest Cheerleader'

The 'One Tree Hill' alum revealed she is "different" thanks to the influence of Garson, who died in September 2021 from pancreatic cancer

Hilarie Burton is paying tribute to her late White Collar costar Willie Garson more than two years after his death from pancreatic cancer.

The 41-year-old One Tree Hill alum became emotional on Thursday’s episode of The View as she reflected on her friendship with Garson, who was 57.

“He taught me so much and was always my biggest cheerleader — oh, I’m gonna cry,” she shared. “So honoring him in this felt really important.”

“Obviously, when I started writing the book, I didn’t know we were gonna lose him,” she added of her new book Grimoire Girl: Creating an Inheritance of Magic and Mischief.  “But being able to honor him in this way felt really important because he’s written on the pages of my grimoire. I am different because of that influence.”

Related: Sarah Jessica Parker Gave a Sweet Nod to Late Friend and 'Sex and the City' Costar Willie Garson on 'AJLT'

Burton also shared that she bonded with Garson over both being new parents while filming their USA Network drama. The actress shares Augustus, 13, and George, 5, with husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan while Garson adopted son Nathen, 22, in 2010.

“When I met Willie, my son was 3 months old. I got a job with him and he had just adopted his son so we were new parents together,” she shared. “I had just come back to Manhattan. So as new parents, we would go out in the city together and just like be each other’s comfort zone.”

Related: Hilarie Burton Explains Tattoo Honoring Late'' Willie Garson: 'He Saw the Version of Me That I Wasn't Yet'

Burton and Garson starred together on USA's White Collar, which aired from 2009 to 2014. Garson played Mozzie, while Burton played Sara Ellis when she joined the cast in 2010.

Burton opened up to PEOPLE in September 2021 about how their friendship formed on set.

"Willie was the person who took me under his wing and had lunch with me and took me out to dinner," she said at the time. "He saw the version of me that I wasn't yet, but that I was working toward."

Related: Hilarie Burton Got a Tattoo to Honor Willie Garson Before His Death: 'I Needed Him to Know How I Felt'

To honor her late friend, Burton got a new tattoo shortly before his death in September 2021. The script on her left forearm reads, "Calm down."

"He would pay you the biggest compliment in the world, and the second you'd start to get bashful about it, he'd be like 'Calm down, calm down,'" she explained. "It was his way of forcing you to accept the compliment, because he would diffuse it, which was a lovely habit."

Following the news of Garson's death, Burton shared a heartfelt tribute to her former costar on Instagram. Among the carousel of photos, she included a note Garson had written to her and her husband when he gifted them a first edition copy of The Grapes of Wrath as a wedding present.

The note read, in part, "Somewhat hard to gift people I care so much about — so here goes — first edition, first printing (the book jacket is a reproduction of the original, mint ones are like $15,000 — I mean I like you, but calm down)."

In her caption, Burton wrote that she included the note "because it illustrates a quality of Willie's that I loved" — and would become the inspiration for the new tattoo.

She continued, "Before I went to see him, I needed him to know how I felt. And @hudsonvalleytattooco was so kind and understanding and got me in the night before my flight. I wanted Willie to know that I was carrying that 'calm down' with me forever."

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