Yvonne in Starlog Magazine

Recently, Yvonne Strahovski was featured in an issue of Starlog Magazine. Take a look.

Soon after she was cast as CIA agent Sarah Walker on the NBC TV series CHUCK, Yvonne Strahovski asked Josh Schwartz why he gave her the part. After all, she was an unknown Australian actress with no U.S. credits to her name, and not a likely candidate for a primetime show. Schwartz, who co-created CHUCK with Chris Fedak, didn’t have to think long before giving his answer.

“He said it was because I could be really sweet, and then switch into a lethal agent, which was necessary for the role,” says Strahovski. “Also, being athletic and looking convincing holding a gun didn�t hurt.”

Indeed, the 25-year-old Sydney native, who recently opted for a more accessible, easily pronounceable surname than her original Strzechowski, excels in fleshing out the duality of her role. And in so doing, she deserves credit for helping make CHUCK the artistic and popular success that it is.

“Sarah is really good at what she does,” explains Strahovski. “As a CIA agent whose role is to protect Chuck [Zachary Levi] and the government secrets he has in his head, she can deal with dangerous situations and handle them very well. And Sarah can certainly take care of herself. But it’s an uphill struggle for her when it comes to normal daily situations, just being a normal human being. This is a different kind of assignment for her, because she must protect Chuck and pretend to be his girl friend in order to provide both of them a cover. At the same time, Sarah gets to see a part of Chuck�s life that she doesn�t have: his family and friends.”

She meets his sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), who cares about Chuck’s job opportunities no less than his prospective love life; Ellie’s amiable boy friend, Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin), whose extracurricular achievements match his ability to have a cozy home life; and Morgan (Josh Gomez), Chuck’s loyal friend, whose heart is in the right place, even when his fanboy behavior is consistently immature.

“Chuck’s family and friends show her that there are people who are compassionate and innocent,” explains Strahovski. “Most of the time, all she sees is the negative side of people.” That’s because Sarah is in a business rife with intrigue, back-stabbing and diabolical plots. “She sees Chuck’s innocence and vulnerability and is attracted to it, because she doesn’t have that in her own life.”

It’s only fitting that her major credit is a fantasy series, not only because the actress is an SF fan who likes “ALIEN movies and JURASSIC PARK,” but also because it’s part of her upbringing. “My parents both have scientific backgrounds,” she notes.

“My Mom is a lab technician, and my Dad is an electronic engineer. I grew up around that, and I do enjoy SF movies and television. What appeals to me [about the genre] is that it’s about exploring your imagination and how far you can go with things, imagining what life could be like if the world were different or circumstances changed or aliens came for a visit…”

Read the complete Yvonne Strahovski interview in STARLOG #363 — ON SALE NOW at newsstands and bookstores near you.