Chuck

BuddyTV interviews the lovely Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Sarah Walker on Chuck.

Yvonne Strahovski is a force to be reckoned with.  As television's evolutionary Sidney Bristow, Strahovski plays Sarah Walker, secret agent, on NBC's Chuck.  In tonight's all-new episode of Chuck, we get to see Sarah as she was in high school for the first time.  Turns out, she wasn't always the super-hot bad ass we know from the first two seasons of Chuck.  We managed to snag a quick interview with Yvonne earlier today from the Chuck set.  We talked about tonight's episode (one of the series' best), guest star Nicole Richie, and what we can expect from the rest of the season.  In addition, Yvonne spilled the beans on a character we'll see later this year.

Below you will find the written transcript, as well as the full mp3 audio of the interview.

Hey, this is Oscar Dahl form BuddyTV and I'm here with Yvonne Strahovski from Chuck.  Yvonne, how's it going?

Good, very well, thank you.


Great, so we've seen a few episodes of Chuck this season.  Coming back for season two, after the writers' strike and all that, how's it been back on set, and was it really nice to get that full season order before the premiere went on air?

Yeah, it was really nice.  It kind of showed that the network and the studio had a lot of faith and didn't wait to get any rating feedback before ordering the whole season, which was really, really lovely for all of us.  And it has been really great to be back, we had a very long break and I think we were all anxious to start work again and make our magic (laughs).


We've gone a bit more into Sarah's past this season. In tonight's episode, which, I must say, is pretty great, we see what Sarah was like in high school.  What was your reaction when you saw the script and were you surprised with what the writers had in mind for Sarah's back story?

I don't think I was surprised.  I was very excited to do the flashbacks, even more so excited to find out that Sarah wasn't as cool as she is now.  She was baggy and she had braces.  She didn't wear very cool clothing or anything like that, so I was really excited when I read that.


Had you created your own back story for Sarah before you got the script for tonight's episode?

Um, not really.  I mean, I knew to an extent that she had no family.  I hadn't really come up with the reasons for it, but I'd say I was surprised that the father that she did have...I'm mixing up my episodes, because we go back to Sarah's father in another...Oh, I hope I didn't give anything away (laughs).  She does end up having...we meet her father as well, but not in tonight's episode, that's later on down the track.


On tonight's episode, your high school make-up and outfits are pretty rough.  Did you enjoy embodying the awkward high school Sarah?

Yeah, I loved it.  It was great, the braces brought me back to when I was twelve.  I used to have braces myself.  It wasn't that odd.  I was pretty lanky and kind of dorky in school (laughs).  You know, I can relate a little bit. 


Your co-star in tonight's episode is Nicole Ritchie.  What was that like working with her?  She's not really known for being an actress, but I thought she did a really good job, actually.

Yeah, we all thought she did a great job as well.  She was a sweetheart and I was pretty impressed, as well, doing the fight scene with her.  She was excellent.  For somebody doing their first fight scene I think she did a really good job.  You know, it's often hard for our guest stars.  They come on the show and it's always, more often than not, the first fight scene that they've ever done on camera and it can be very nerve-wracking.  There's a lot to remember and you go to make a hit look like hits to the camera and I thought she really handled everything really well.


You talked about the shower scene, which is one of your more brutal and awesome fight scenes.  How was that scene to film, was it different than other fight scenes and do you ever get wary of doing all this stunt work?

I usually welcome all stunt work with open arms, I love doing it.  I was a bit wary of the tiles because we were shooting in an actual shower room.  It wasn't on set or in the studio or anything, it was an actual gym locker room.  So it would get a little bit slippery, but we managed it.  In the close-up shots there's always a mat down on the floor so we don't actually slip and fall and crack our heads open.


Going forward, what would you like to see your character Sarah do, what direction would you like to see Sarah go in?   What would be your ideal plot line?

What they're doing with delving into the character's past and history, I really like that.  I think there should be more of that.  I think they should explore Chuck's parents.  We've never really seen what has happened, no one really knows what has happened to them and why they don't exist in Chuck and Ellie's life.  And somehow for Sarah to be a part of that, when we discover what actually happened to them and if Sarah was a part of that in some way, that would be pretty awesome.  I'd like to go back and see also if Sarah and Casey had any history, missions that they went on or anything fun that happened between them.  And also I think it'd be interesting if Sarah got a love interest, a genuine love interest, someone who isn't Chuck and I think that would throw a wrench into the Chuck and Sarah thing as well.  There's a lot of interesting things they could go with.


Is there anything you can tell us about Sarah in some upcoming episodes?

Well, I already spilled a little secret about the dad (laughs).  What can I say?  I don't really know what I can say without getting into trouble.


Sorry, I'm just trying to trap you a little bit, you know?

Yeah, well that's my little give-away.

All right, Yvonne, I know you have a busy schedule and you have to get back on set, so I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.

No worries, thank you.

-Interview Conducted By Oscar Dahl
(Image Courtesy of NBC)