by Troy Rogers
Although Chuck fans have been wondering who would
be the right girl for Zachary Levi's Chuck character,
Levi and Chuck make their return to NBC on Monday,
March 1 at 8pm. Sliding back into the NBC airwaves
for the episode, "Chuck Versus the Fake Name",
Chuck cooks up a secret agent storm for Ellie,
Devon and Hannah, but first has to pose as the
world's most dangerous assassin ahead of the meal.
With Chuck back in the NBC fold for Season 3, much to the delight of fans, we caught up with Chuck actors Zachary Levi and Josh Gomez to find out more about Chuck online, the fate of Chuck if Lester learned his secret gig, and what it was like to work with both Scott Bakula and Christopher Lloyd.
THE DEADBOLT: Since you guys are kind of tech geeks in real life, what do you think about the show's online presence with the games and mobile features?
ZACHARY LEVI: You know what's funny? I actually have not delved into a lot of the stuff that's online partially because I'm at work every day. [laughs]
JOSH GOMEZ: And partially because they don't have an Xbox Live game. Come on, let's get with it.
LEVI: Yeah, seriously, right? When are we going to get our Xbox 360? Then we're talking.
GOMEZ: Yeah. Now we're talking.
LEVI: A little adventure RPG perhaps?
GOMEZ: Plus one to Morgan's security.
LEVI:
[laughs] But I'm aware of it for sure and I
think it's great. I think anything you can do
to feed the appetite of your fans - especially
real dedicated and devoted fans that have supported
us and believed in us and fought for us for
as long as they have - is fantastic and I want
more of it.
GOMEZ: Yeah. They do a really great job, too. And like Zach said, I haven't really delved into every little thing but I know what I have seen and stuff like that. I know our web guys do a really, really great job. So I think the more the better. I say we keep going with that stuff because that's really our fan base. Essentially, all of that stuff. You know, mobile gaming and all of that - The Chuck iPhone App.
LEVI: The Chuck Me Out App, that's fun.
GOMEZ: All of that stuff, I think and that just sort of caters to our fan base and I think they've done a pretty good job.
THE DEADBOLT: You guys mentioned earlier that Morgan isn't malicious towards Chuck. But let's say, hypothetically, Lester learns what Chuck does outside of the Buy More. What do you think would happen to him? Would Casey just assassinate him?
LEVI: [laughs] We don't talk about these things.
GOMEZ: [laughs] No. He would get relocated to Anchorage, I believe.
LEVI: Yeah. Isn't that what happens to everybody? It's either Hawaii or Alaska. He would be outside of the continental foyer, you know?
GOMEZ: Oh, that's funny. I don't know.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
Zachary Levi and Josh Gomez on whether Morgan's jealousy toward Hannah will affect Chuck:
LEVI:
It does, but I'm also unaware of his cluing
into my life a little bit more. I'm unaware
of his suspicions. You'll see how it progresses
and affects both Morgan and my character in
my ability to sneak out [on missions] like I
always do. I'm surprised it took this long to
be honest [laughs].
GOMEZ: [Morgan as assistant manager] has just set me on that road to go, 'OK, wait.' Plus he had an eye for Hannah, which didn't help. It's hard to talk about it now because there is some cool stuff coming ... But it's an honest, true friendship. It's always been a thing of, 'Hey, talk to me, dude.' Chuck is wanting to do nothing more than talk to Morgan. If there would be a person who understands, it'd be Morgan. Not that he wouldn't be a liability to the world's safety, but it's not in Morgan's nature to do anything that would cause direct hurt to his friend.
Gomez and Levi on Scott Bakula:
GOMEZ: He's doing awesome work, I can tell you that much.
LEVI: I know this is a spoiler and we're not supposed to talk about it, but it turns out he's my dad. He really is doing fantastic work. I can't even tell you how much I love him ... He's always on his moments. He dives into this character of Steven Bartowski, who's very odd and quirky and brilliant. He brings it every time.
Levi and Gomez on working with Christopher Lloyd:
LEVI: So insane. I will say, we've been very, very blessed. Every guest star on our show has been someone who's a pleasure to work with. I think that has a lot to do with the kind of person the show attracts. We have a unique show and one that runs the gamut of genres. When I found out Christopher Lloyd was doing a show, I think I had an accident.
GOMEZ: As you know, there have been some really cool people on our show. But for us personally, that's going at some geek fanboydom. So it was like, 'He's on the set right now!' We don't always get like that. But to have Doc Brown on the show was like, are you kidding me?
LEVI: Now I just need a hoverboard and my life will be complete.
Zachary Levi on the Season 4 finale of Chuck:
LEVI: We haven't actually gotten it yet, so I don't know. But I'd imagine it's going to accomplish both. It will wrap things up in a way that you'll feel some kind of closure on the off chance that we don't come back for another season but also leave it open to whatever the possibilities for another season would be. That's always a smart way to do things for a show like ours.
I feel pretty good about what our chances would be for another season given all the circumstances of where we're at as a show, where NBC's at as a network, with the five new hours of programming that have opened up. I feel like we could have a place there.
