Digital Spy interview with Zac about Season 3

The current holder of the title “funniest spy drama starring Zachary Levi” is back for a third season. The last we saw of Chuck, our eponymous hero had destroyed the upgraded Intersect, not before downloading its contents into his head. Now he’s keen to become an actual, proper spy – but it’s not going to be an easy path. Naturally. Keen for the latest intel, we called up Mr. Bartowski to find out more.

The renewal for season three of Chuck last year was rather last minute. How did you feel about that?
“I was a little surprised that we were on the chopping block to begin with, just because I felt like we were one of NBC’s shows that was at least holding steady within whatever our time was. We were on one of the toughest nights in television – Mondays. I felt like we were doing pretty good. As we got closer and closer to the upfronts and still no answer I thought we were sitting pretty well and then we weren’t and I was like: ‘If we’re not meant to come back we’re not meant to come back.’ But the whole grassroots fan campaign was really smart; patronising one’s advertisers is smart. You’re not just annoying a network with hordes of letters, you’re doing what they want you to do which is spend money on the products that are advertised, whether or not you watch the commercials. I didn’t think we were not going to be renewed then I came round to thinking we were dead in the water and then the fans rose up. It’s amazing to have fans like that who care so much about what you do.”

Do you visit messageboards for more detailed fan feedback?
“Every once in a while, yeah, I’ll check some boards. It’s informative and fascinating at the same time. The things that people say or the quandaries or hypotheses they come up with – it’s pretty entertaining. Some of it is right on but I guess that’s part of doing what we do. You have opinions and whatnot thrown around a lot – correct or not. It’s always interesting to read them, good or bad, to see where people are at with the show.”

You had Brandon Routh as a guest star for some of this season. What was it like working with him?
“It was cool. I’ve known Brandon for a while. We were already friends through playing poker and basketball back in Los Angeles, and we have some of the same friends. When he called me and said ‘I just met with Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak about playing a role on Chuck – I think I’m going to do it’, it was really cool. It’s always cool when you have good people come and work with you and it’s even cooler if you know that person already. We had a good time.”

Does Josh talk to you much about how future story arcs will pan out?
“Yeah, I try to get some talk time in with Josh or Chris or Robert Duncan McNeil – anyone who can give me information. The more information you can have as you go into it, the better. For the fourth season, I’ll most definitely be sitting down with Josh and Chris and or whoever and get the broad strokes idea of where we’re going. It’s tough though. I wouldn’t say I’m a blabbermouth but when I get excited about something on the show I want to talk about it but at the same time I don’t want to spoil it, so sometimes it’s better if they don’t tell me anything!”

You also have Christopher Lloyd on for a guest spot this season. How was that for you?
“Awesome. He’s a really nice guy. The biggest perk was that he plays a shrink so I get to call him Doc! As somebody growing up with Back to the Future on his mind the whole time and being so jealous of Michael J Fox – to be able to do a few scenes where I’m calling Christopher Lloyd ‘Doc’ is pretty epic!”

Chuck season three premieres May 31 on Virgin1.

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