Editor’s Note: I know this is a deviation from our normal ‘All Yvonne Strahovski, All the time’ mantra, but this was an amazing opportunity to publish an interview with an awesome actress. Besides, I didn’t figure you guys would mind another attractive and talented woman to admire. – Lykaon

I was given the opportunity to sit down with Patricia Rae, aka Morgan’s Mom, last Thursday.

She offered to do an interview with me, face-to-face, to discuss her character and working with Yvonne. We hope you enjoy the surprise!

Devon Newberry: First of all, obviously, I’m from Strahotski.com. The first question is going to be, did you get to meet her?

Patricia Rae: You know what, I would have to lie and say “yes,”… I haven’t seen her yet. She didn’t feel well, so my shoot date got moved and I came in and shot my scene instead of her.

DN: Compared to other shows that you have worked on, what was it like to work on “Chuck” thus far?

PR: It’s a great set and all of the actors are very wonderful. The crew is so lovely, and very welcoming. From the minute you get there, the makeup and the hair girls are very sweet. “Oh, we love you! We want you to come back!” the wardrobe says “Oh! Put that away for her cause’ she’ll come back and we’ll have outfits for her!” and the ADs [assistant directors] are very nice. The 2nd time I came back they all said, “Morgan’s Mom is back!” It’s great because they say I’m a MILF!

DN: Was Joshua Gomez a good son?

PR: I think he was a little devil, haha!

DN: Were you a big fan of “Chuck” before you got the role?

PR: I don’t watch television on a regular basis to begin with, but it was one of those shows that if it was on, I’d watch it and see what’s going on. I’ve always got my eye on the arc and style of every show, because I know I could possibly get called in for a role. So, I knew the characters, thank God. I knew the premise of the show. Before I went in for the audition, I went on NBC.com, and started watching every episode, so I could get the rhythm of the show, the comedy. It’s got film comedy style, ya know? The comedy in the script is really smart, and it’s all in the writing.

DN: What’s your favorite part about acting?

PR: Connecting with people. In theater, you really feel it. You feel the immediate reaction. I get the ability to explore, be a child and still play.

DN: We actually talked about this before we officially started the interview, but how did you get the part?

PR: My agent got a call that there was a possible recurring role on “Chuck,” so I did my homework. You go in there and if you’re informed it really takes that edge off, and the nerves disappear. Once I walked in there, I was like “Oh, you want me to be a middle-aged sexy mom? I don’t have to pretend dude, I am that. Please, where’s the camera?” You have to own the character. I walked in and took it like a piece of candy.

DN: And they called a couple hours later?

PR: Yeah! I was on my way to work, because I still have a day job, and my manager had left me a message saying “You are in the running, they absolutely loved you.” And then they called the next day, or maybe 2 days later, and they had “pinned” me. Which means, they wanted to put a hold on me. Wow that sounded dirty…I had it by the end of the weekend.

DN: Aside from Yvonne, Mark Christopher Lawrence is by far the sexiest person on the show, how was it working so intimately with him?

PR: [laughs] I first met him on set, he was just hysterical and very charming. He’s comfortable with himself. I’m Latin and he’s black, that’s a biracial relationship that’s going to be on primetime. That’s very rare. It’s going to be a big deal. Because she’s Latin, she prides herself on who she is and that is what makes her comfortable, and she finds someone who is comfortable too. He treats her with respect.

He’s definitely rooting for this character to continue on because it expands his story as well. It opens doors for 3rd season story arcs in the future. I’ve actually never done a screen kiss. My first thought was “Whoa! Big Mike’s going to be my first screen kiss, that’s hysterical!” So I wanted to be comfortable because, first of all, they dressed me up as a Latin Barbie doll. I had 3-inch platform heals, a little spandex skirt that my daughter could fit into. I couldn’t move! Big red lipstick!

I wanted to be comfortable with him because I had all this red lipstick on and was going to plant this huge kiss on him. So I said, “Okay, listen. Let’s be friends.” Because, I want this to look sweet. I don’t want to make her this threatening, egotistical, sex vixen. She’s a beautiful woman, and sexy. We sat down in our chairs between takes and I asked him where he took me on our date, what did we eat, what did we do, what did we listen to, what did we drink, so we had a date. So when I kissed him, I had a relationship with him already. He wasn’t a stranger to me.

DN: We talked about this earlier also. It sounds like the character could be recurring. How excited by that prospect are you?

PR: When the breakdown came out it was a possible recurring. One word, I want it! I’m going to go in there and book this job. It worked out to my advantage, because I wasn’t up against series regulars. I just snuck in and took it. No one was looking. I thought it was funny and I never get to do comedy. I did sketch comedy for two years in New York. I’ve always done comedy on stage, but I never get to do comedy on TV. I’ve been crying for 20 years! Needless to say, I’m very excited!

DN: Josh [Gomez] seems like he’s always making jokes, is he ever serious?

PR: No. I don’t think so. Not when I’m around. They call him J-Go on the set. We were sitting in the make-up chairs and I said, “So I’m gonna be your Mom.”

They never specify what nationality we are. They say we’re Latin. Well, what are we? Are we Colombian? Mexican? Are we Puerto Rican? Are we Dominican? What do we eat? He believes, they had mentioned he might be Mexican, and we left it like that.

We’re kind of generic Latino right now. He’s very funny. He’s like ‘Damn, my mom’s a MILF!’ and so whenever the crew guys are like “Whoa! Morgan’s mom is here!” he’s like ‘Hey! Get off my Mom!” It’s funny. The funny thing is, I haven’t had a scene with him. I have no scenes with my son!

DN: What are some plotlines you can see your character getting involved with later on down the road?

PR: Because I’m really Colombian, I thought it would be funny if Chuck had to go to Cartagena, Colombia, and what if they had to take a translator? [in Bolognia’s accent] “I should go! I should go witchu! I could help chu!” We took a lot of pictures, between the first and 2nd episode. They give us a lot of history through pictures. I can see her getting involved in kind of an “I Love Lucy” situation where she tags along on a spy adventure, when she and Big Mike go on vacation.

DN: Looking at your filmography, you’ve done a lot more serious roles. Was it a change of pace to do a comedy like “Chuck?”

PR: Oh God, yes. Like I said, I’ve been crying for 20 years on television. I’ve had my daughter raped, my son fall down an elevator shaft, my husband killed and found at the bottom of a pool, my son was in a gang on “The Closer”. So, I’ve spent some 15-20 years on television crying over some travesty that’s happened to me. So, to be funny and sexy on television…

DN: And here, you get to be sexy and funny all at once.

PR: Funny! Sexy! I was like “The Lord has shined down on me, thank you.” I’ve been in SAG for over 20 years. I was on “Miami Vice.” I got to be sexy on “Miami Vice,” but I was 20. I played a hooker. That’s why she was sexy! She was a prostitute!

DN: Do you have a funny story from the set?

PR: Hmmm… A funny story… I’ll have to think about that one.

DN: We can come back to it if you want. Were there any jokes played on you, or jokes you played on anyone else?

PR: I don’t think so. Not yet. There’s always opportunity!

DN: In another interview, you actually talked about how you delved deep into your characters’ backgrounds, what’s the background on Morgan’s mom? And did you create the character, or was it given in the script or by the director?

PR: While I was creating, I asked J.Go why I wasn’t married anymore? I just assumed he was a dead-beat Dad who just took off. I ended up raising Morgan on my own. I gave her some kind of job where she gets to look pretty everyday, like a realtor. They didn’t make her tacky, they made her classy. She probably works at a make-up counter.

DN: And you gave her the more emotional characteristics?

PR: Yeah, I brought the acting, and they crafted her. They have a very clear idea of what they want her to look like. She’s a little sex kitten. They’ve made her very Hot.

DN: How did you react when you found out you had to play a member of an online dating pool?

PR: That was funny. Oh my God. I’ve actually done the online dating thing, and I have crazy stories from when I did it. She’s a woman that’s very lonely, and I won’t say she’s desperate, but she really wants companionship and it’s very, very hard. Especially for a woman at her age to find somebody that isn’t married, doesn’t have kids. Where do you find that? That’s probably how she ended up online.

DN: Does your character suspect any spy activity at the Buy More?

PR: I don’t think so. I guess if I’ve known Chuck all my life, I would think that Chuck is too goofy, or nerdy, to have that kind of prowess. I’ve seen him grow up… I still see them eating frozen fish sticks – she doesn’t cook. I think she’s a TV dinner type of girl.

DN: Did you bring that to the character?

PR: Yeah, that’s all me. She has high maintenance and low maintenance. She’s not a big cleaner either. She doesn’t know plumbing, she wants someone to do things for her.

DN: And finally, what else are we going to be seeing in the future? Do you have anything booked?

PR: There’s a great film coming out called “North by El Norte”. About a Mexican immigrant who has dreams of being in America. I also have a film out on Netflix called “P.J.” There’s another film called “Chasing the Green” with Ryan Hurst and Jeremy London that is doing the festival circuit, but it did get distribution. It’s getting a theatrical release in April, I think.

[the tape on the recorder runs out, during the time I was reloading, she asked who else Strahotski.com has interviewed, and I told her no one.]

PR: Just for the record, I popped Devon’s cherry. His interview cherry.

DN: We haven’t been able to get anyone to talk with us yet, so thank you. It’s a pleasure.

PR: I had read on Facebook that Scott was going to watch the 3D episode. I immediately thought, “Oh! A Chuck fan!” I’m on the hunt for “Chuck” fans! I think it’s a brilliant idea that NBC is doing [a biracial relationship]. It brings a whole new, demographic to it.

I don’t know how many Latinos and African-Americans are watching it… this is a show about a nerd that gets the girl. Their demographic is males 8 – 25… everyone in that demographic blogs. So it had dozens of websites! You ask middle-age people if they watch “Chuck” and they say, “Is that the one with the spy?” But if you ask a 19-year-old they say, “Oh! That’s the show with the hottie [Yvonne] in it, right?” The show deserves a larger audience. It’s a very well-written show, and the actors are wonderful on it. How many TV biracial relationships can you name?

DN: I’m shooting blanks.

PR: I have a whole Latino contingency that’s been waiting for me to do something. They always say [in their accent] “Hey Pari! When you gonna be on TV so we can watch you again?”

These people are waiting for me! If they could see me on TV being sexy every Monday night, they’ll start tuning in. That’s a gianormous demographic…back to the Scott thing, I don’t know how we got on the topic but he said something about being a moderator for Strahotski.com and I’m like, “What’s that?” So I went on the internet and went “Oh. A whole site dedicated to Yvonne. I need one of those!

DN: Everyone was really excited. The original plan was to do a phone interview and then I pitched the idea that, being in the LA area, I could do the interview face-to-face, but I didn’t want to push too many buttons. When we pitched the idea, you accepted it and we went for it.

PR: If viewers like the storyline, why are they not going to bring me back? I’m trying to reach the fans. I need people to know I’m on the show!

DN: In order for the character to come back, we need a third season, so there’s a lot to come from this, hopefully. Well thank you.

PR: No, thank you! Thank you for coming!