Conference Call with Zac, Josh

From Buddy TV:

This morning, we were lucky to be part of a press only conference call set up by NBC for Chuck, one of the fall’s most talked about and highly-anticipated new shows.  Star Zachary Levi and co-creator Josh Schwartz (The OC) took questions from the press and discussed everything Chuck-related, including some big time casting news.  It was announced today that Rachel Bilson of The OC will guest-star on a couple of upcoming Chuck episodes as a possible love interest for lead character Chuck Bartowski.  Here’s the play-by-play from this morning’s call.

Zach says that he’s quite computer savvy. Not a great typist, but a great “poker”. But he can navigate his way around. He has his own Chucks that he goes to for help.

Josh says that the minute they saw Zach’s audition they knew they had found Chuck. Zach explains the casting process: first he goes to the casting director, than to the producers, than to the studio brass, and then to the network brass. Zach was the first person cast, so he was able to read during the auditions with all the other potential cast members, which is when they realized Joshua Gomez would be perfect as Morgan.

Zach says that Chuck prefers the term “nerd” to “geek” because the Nerd Herd is in competition with the Geek Squad.

Zach says that “Chuck’s a lover.” Josh talks a little about Rachel Bilson’s character. When she comes along, Chuck sees her as a potential real relationship with a real girl. But…maybe Bilson isn’t exactly what she first seems.

Josh says it’s fun working on two shows, Chuck and Gossip Girl, because of the great writing teams on each show.

Chuck will mostly be self-contained episodes, but there will be some over-arching story lines, especially regarding Bryce.

Josh says that they’re doing their best to keep up the level of action that the pilot had through the rest of the episodes.

Zach, recently, is a big fan of Heroes and Lost. He loves good sci-fi serials and the ambitious nature of TV these days. Zach calls the late John Ritter an icon of his. He also loved Alf, Different Strokes, and Wonder Years.

Josh says that recently his favorite TV/film projects come from the Apatow or Abrams camps. He also is inspired by anything the Seinfeld/Larry David team has done.

Josh likes writing nerds in his shows because he can identify with them, and that the reason they’re always the coolest characters on his shows is “wishful thinking”. Josh has no answer in a “who would win in a fight between Seth Cohen and Chuck” question.

Rachel Bilson is going to be appearing in a couple episodes of Chuck later in the season. She’ll play a sandwich maker who is a nice, sweet girl who, again, might not be who she says she is. She had been filming a big Doug Liman action film all over the world and was in LA and free for a couple of weeks, so it all worked out nicely.

There’s going to be a balance between The Office-like comedy at the Buy More and the spy work that Chuck is forced into. Chuck is going to keep his spy work a secret from his family and friends.

Josh is extremely pleased with how NBC is treating Chuck, that they’re really pushing and publicizing the show.

Zach thinks that he’s “more Chuck than he’s not Chuck.” He loves being in action scenes and especially a helicopter scene that’s coming up. He’ll be using an ejector seat in a coming episode.

There will be some tender moments throughout the season, like the end of the pilot episode. In Zach’s words, there will be some “gravitas.” There will be a good balance between comedy and drama.

Josh took a lot of the crew from The OC to Chuck. Zach makes it clear that it’s always a good idea to have beef jerky at craft services.

Josh is going to continue working with music like he did on The OC. In coming episodes, they’ll be featuring new songs from Spoon, Band of Horses, The National and The New Pornographers, among others.

Zach says he’s very good at Guitar Hero.

 

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer