DVD Giveaway - Solitary Man
Ends Sep 12, 2010
Enter to win this DVD release starring Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, Susan Sarandan, and Mary-Louise Parker.
The shadowy world of espionage is no longer reserved for dark alleys and secret passageways. Electronics stores have become the new battleground of national security…at least according to NBC’s action-packed spy comedy Chuck. Zachary Levi plays the show’s title character, an employee at the fictional store, Buy More, who accidentally downloads all of the country’s national security secrets into his brain.
The premise is admittedly outlandish, but it plays on the desire and fantasy every normal guy has of becoming an action hero. “[Audiences] have a much easier time connecting with a regular person,” Levi tells me. “That’s why I think a lot of the superhero stories people gravitate toward and really like are [stories like] Peter Parker. He’s a regular guy, gets bitten by a radioactive spider and next thing you know, he’s Spider Man. He’s still a regular guy dealing with regular issues.”
Given that Chuck lacks superpowers, Levi suggests that the everyman quality Chuck possesses may be even stronger than that of other fictional heroes. “With Chuck, he doesn’t even have superpowers. He just has this odd thing happen to him and ends up with all the government secrets in his head. He can’t fly, he can’t climb up walls and he can’t shoot webs from his wrist. He’s just a really regular dude who’s defenseless and needs his protectors.”
While Chuck may be a fish out of water when dealing with the nation’s nemeses, he manages to bring his own unique sensibilities and skills to each scenario. “That’s definitely where a lot of the heart and the comedy comes from,” Levi points out.
Levi says he enjoys the challenges that result from portraying the various aspects of Chuck’s complicated life. “I get to play so many different beats and tones with Chuck, and I get to wear so many different hats,” he says. “In Buy More, I’m the straight guy. I’m the regular dude and everybody else is wacky. In the espionage world, you’ve got the straight-laced, hardened Adam Baldwin and Yvonne Strahovski, and I’m the comic relief. It’s a really interesting dynamic.”
Of course, the dynamic that any show strives to achieve only succeeds when the cast members form believable bonds and ignite on-screen chemistry. In that way, Levi says he feels blessed that the show has “the right components” and that “everything came together the way everything was supposed to come together.” Levi acknowledges, “When all those pieces come together, it’s like capturing lightning in a bottle.”
An even more daunting challenge may be building on Chuck’s impressive first-season success. Levi’s optimism about the upcoming episodes seems to put any fears of a sophomore slump to rest. Although he confirms that the show now benefits from a slightly increased budget, he promises that the core of Chuck remains the same. “What the writers have done, and smartly so, is that they have stayed with the formula that’s worked,” he says. “They’ve stayed with the good. Unfortunately, with a lot of TV and film and video games, when a sequel comes around, the powers that be feel compelled to make it bigger, better and faster. Sometimes that works and sometimes they end up sacrificing the heart of what worked to begin with. I feel like we haven’t done that. It’s actually going to be a lot of the same, but in all the best ways. We’re not veering away from what worked. If it aint’ broke, don’t fix it.”
Given this wise approach, there’s nothing top secret about the fact that Chuck deserves to be on everyone’s radar screen this fall.
