Zachary Levi's Inner Geek

Zac ile yapılmış eğlenceli(eğlencesiz olanına rastlamadım zaten) bir röportaj. Chuck dışında yeni projesi "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel"den de bahsetmiş. Oradaki Toby karakteri Chuck'tan da nerd bir insanmış.

Zachary Levi Embraces His Inner Geek
by Jeanne Wolf
Zach Levi has scored in prime-time on NBC’s Chuck as a nerd who becomes a reluctant high tech spy. Now, he’s out-geeking himself on the big screen in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, playing an adult still hooked on video games who gets stuck babysitting the 'munks.

Parade.com’s Jeanne Wolf discovered that Levi doesn’t deny he was once a nerd himself.

Exploring his inner geek.
“I know that kind of awkward guy is in me. That’s what I draw upon for Chuck and that’s what I drew upon for Toby, who is definitely even more of a nerd. I was kind of Toby in junior high school which was a rough patch of life for me. By high school I was okay, even though I had some spotty times. But, it was never as bad for me as it is for Toby in the movie. He’s getting the worst of the worst.”


Connecting with a video-game obsession.
“I love them. I’m a child of the '80s and that’s when they really hit, so I grew up with video games like Nintendo. I had an Atari, and then went to NES. There was a little Gyromite. Remember Gyromite, with the little robot and the thing? Sorry, I’m getting off track. By the time I was 21 years old, I was like, ‘I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. I have to grow up.’ But then X-Box came out and I had to buy one. I convinced myself it was a good idea because you could play DVDs in it. The truth is, I played like one movie in that X-Box the whole time I owned it. I was only playing video games. I admit it, I’m hooked. I can’t get away from them.”

As for relating to his chipmunk co-stars, he’s probably just kidding.
“There really is no way of preparing to work with talking chipmunks. You can’t find chipmunks at pet stores. How many domesticated chipmunks are there? You have to be inventive. I just went into the woods in the buff, living off nature, eating nothing but twigs and nuts and various berries that I could find. I became one with the animal kingdom and of course, chipmunks -- none of whom ever talked to me.”

Imagining talking 'munks.
“They’re never there on the set. Instead of chipmunks in my scenes, I was looking at a tennis ball on a stick. The little critters are added later with CGI. You’re working with thin air, which is what it’s like for me before I go out on audition and I’m just, like, running lines with myself in a mirror. So it’s not a totally alien concept, I suppose. Occasionally, you have to work with actors that don’t really give you all that much either, so I guess it’s kind of similar in that way too.”

Making Chuck a little more like Bruce Willis.
“For two years I’ve been waiting on the sidelines like, ‘Put me in coach, let’s go. I want to just kick everybody’s butt.’ So now I’m doing more than just screaming like a little girl and running away. I get to do some kick-butt stuff but still be the hapless hero that’s not quite a spy. But we’re going that way.”

Maybe, eventually, he’ll be a real super hero.
“The idea is that, God willing, if we get to go seven years or however long NBC will have us, Chuck becomes basically like Jason Bourne. Well, sort of like him. He has all that in him. It just needs to be brought out of him as he finds his footing in this new espionage world. It’s got to be a slow burn. Chuck can’t get there too quick, otherwise you’ve got nowhere to go.”

Kaynak