Originally, T2 was the hot topic of European fans of Yvonne Strahovski.  She was scheduled to appear and a few people from our forums banded together to buy some Strahotski.com gear and make an appearance.

Sani1    sarah-fan    kroblues

Unfortunately, Yvonne’s off filming The Killer Elite and had to cancel.  No ill will towards her, of course.  I think we all can’t wait for her to become the movie star that she should be!

The lack of Yvonne Strahovski did not deter her fans, however.  They still showed up in their Strahovski best and made a splash at the show.  Many of the actors commented on their shirts, and I’m told that Adam Baldwin even mentioned Strahotski.com in a Q&A.

Julia Ling was asked to step in for Yvonne Strahovski at the last minute and I’m told that she didn’t disappoint.  Our own Strahotski Crew was lucky enough to win some raffle tickets for a meet’n'greet with Ms. Ling.  Though it comes as no surprise, Julia is apparently awesome and won the hearts of all manner of convention goer.

Since kroblues from our forums was wearing one of our “Got Strahovski?” shirts, Ms. Ling signed an autograph for him, etched with “Got Ling?”.  Inspired by her suggestion, I added a shirt to the store just for her and I’m told she thinks it was a great change to the shirt design.

Adam Baldwin is also said to have been great fun, and everyone seemed pleasantly surprised at how funny Bonita Friedericy and her husband, Phlox… I mean John Billingsley… was.  Apparently, some convention goers even got to watch a soccer game at the same pub as Mark Sheppard.

All in all, it sounds like it was an amazing time.  Though we all wish Yvonne Strahovski could have been there, her fans were not deterred and showed up in force to show both their love for Chuck and their love for Ms. Strahovski herself.

I am also told there was much squeeing to be had.  If you want more stories and pictures directly from the convention goers, check out the forum topic on the subject.

Saturday Night Magazine Interview With Yvonne Strahovski

The interview talks with Yvonne about all manner of things from on-set antics to her personal favorite places in LA.

All in all, it’s one of the best and most personal interviews we’ve gotten with Yvonne in some time.  Kudos to Saturday Night for asking good questions.

When asked about crazy fan stories, Yvonne mentions that fans have given her stuff like teddy bears.  Could she be referring to our very own Strahotski Bear?  I like to think so.  It is my pleasure to be labeled ‘crazy’ on behalf of the entire Strahotski.com fanbase.

Along with the article also comes a number of excellent photos.  You can see the bulk of them over at the Saturday Night Magazine site, but we’re also fortunate to have received a few high resolution ones for you to admire as well that you can check out in our Gallery.

A big special thanks to Saturday Night Magazine for making these high resolution photos available to us.  I can think of no other community that will enjoy them more than the one here at Strahotski.com.

At any rate, get over to Saturday Night Magazine’s site and check out the article.  Heck, buy a copy of the issue for your very own!  It’ll brighten your day with both the interview and the pictures!

Though there are photos bouncing around the net from both events, I’m happy to have received permission from Jon  of Joits Photography to host some of his excellent photos of Chuck Fest up in our gallery.  It’s always great to get some professional quality photos for the site.

But it doesn’t end there.  The white dress was so stunning, that I figured it certainly deserved it’s own wallpaper.  So I’ve whipped that up and added an 11th wallpaper to our Official Strahotski.com collection.

It’s been a while, so hopefully this satiates the thirst for more wallpapers.  Be sure to go to the Wallpaper gallery to pick the right size image for your desktop for maximum Yvonne Strahovski beauty.

There’s also a new random sidebar image featuring the white dress that you should see in time as it comes up in the rotation.

Consider yourself an artist?  We’d love to receive fan-created sidebar images!  To get started, download the template here, create your own image and then email it to submissions@strahotski.com.

Enjoy!

Well it turns out Chuck writer Ali Adler got word of this awesome costume and made a point of showing it to Yvonne Strahovski on the set of Chuck.

That alone would have been a major coup for little Bailey, but it only got better from there.

Yvonne was so impressed with the costume, that she mailed Bailey a special gift for her awesomeness.

It’s not like we needed more evidence to prove that Yvonne Strahovski is an amazing person, but I really love being able to post this kind of news.  Looks like that’s certainly a one-of-a-kind souvenir!

Yes, Yvonne Strahovski is beautiful.  And of course she’s an amazing actress.  But what really endears her to all of us is that under it all she’s a great person.

It’s small gestures like this that really endear Ms. Strahovski to her fans.  A special congratulations to Bailey for her awesome jacket!

Available for pre-order on Amazon.com:

Special features will include:

• Truth, Spies and Regular Guys: Exploring the Mythology of Chuck
• Dude in Distress: Explore Some of This Season’s Best Action Sequences
• Chuck Versus the Webisodes: Web-Originated Minifeaturettes
• Chuck: A Real-Life Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome
• John Casey Presents: So You Want to Be a Deadly Spy?
• Declassified Scenes
• Gag Reel

I don’t know about you, but I think A Real-Life Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome sounds pretty hilarious.

Also, don’t forget that Yvonne will be appearing (albeit in digital form) in Mass Effect 2, which will be hitting PC and Xbox 360 on January 26th. I think that’s her on the cover.

UPDATE: Reader Mike pointed out that if you zoom in on the Mass Effect 2 cover on Amazon’s site, you can clearly see that it is in fact Yvonne on the cover:

Lofty dreams indeed, but a good parent lives to make their kids’ dreams come true and this was no exception.

A little bit of shopping around, and a plastic throwing knife later, out came a pint-sized Sarah Walker.

I’m told that she enjoys throwing her knife around just like our favorite agent, but no word on whether she can make a mean frozen yogurt.

I don’t know if mini-Sarah has any older brothers but if she does, they should be afraid — very afraid.

Did Yvonne Strahovski or Chuck inspire you to make a cool Halloween costume?  If so, send pics our way at submissions@strahotski.com.

I was lucky enough to have contact information for her agent, so I lovingly crafted a cover letter and addressed an envelope.  I went to the post office and I bought two stamps — one for the trip to Cali and one for the trip back.  With photos, letter and S.A.S.E. stuffed safely away, I dropped it in the box.

Then on the way home, I realized that I had made a fatal mistake.  I had written the wrong zip code on the outer envelope.  Worse, I typed the wrong zip code in when I bought the stamp.  My chances of getting an autograph were doomed.

But today — after many months lost in the postal system I’m sure — I found a brown envelope on my doorstep when returning from running some errands.  At first I was confused.  Had my mom sent me photos?  It looked sort of like her handwriting, but not quite.

Then it hit me — that was my handwriting.  And my envelope; with a neat crease down the center from having been folded up and put into another envelope.  Written and stamped on the outside were the warnings, “PHOTOS – DO NOT BEND.”

Abandoning the rest of the items in the car, I tore open the envelope with excitement (apologies to my wife for having to bring in the rest of the groceries by herself).  Inside I found both of my photos; not only autographed but personalized as well.

Here at Strahotski.com, we follow Ms. Strahovski’s career and we talk endlessly at how great we all think she is.  Though I needed no more confirmation to cement my opinion of Yvonne, this kind gesture from her means the world to me and I’m extremely grateful that she could take the time to do this.

So a special thanks to Ms. Strahovski!  And thank you to all of the readers out there who put this site on the map.  You’re all awesome.

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!

(I promise — the NYCC avalanche of pics & news is almost over — just in time for Chuck Vs. the Suburbs next week!)

This one isn’t too fancy, but it captures some of Yvonne’s cuter facial expressions of the panel.  And, of course, there was no way to keep Strahotski Bear out of the shots.

You can check out the Wallpapers Page for various resolutions for your desktop pleasure.

If you have any works of art involving Yvonne Strahovski, send it to us at submissions@strahotski.com!

Enjoy!

We had the opportunity to meet Eric while waiting in line for the panel; and how fortuitous for us to meet a professional photographer!  His camera was bigger than my head.

You can check out the first page of the gallery for the other eight.  They’re all worth a look.  It’s not like we needed more proof that Yvonne Strahovski is gorgeous; but these new pictures make the case yet again.

Enjoy!