On the Set Farewell to Chuck Part 5: Life After Chuck
Castle is closed. The Buy More has gone out of business. The time has come to think of life after Chuck.
For the cast of NBC's spy dramedy, the two-hour series finale Friday (8/7c, NBC) is the last vestige of the life they knew for five years. Denial will not be an option for long, and many of the cast have already started planning for a future that's alternately exciting and daunting because of the numerous possibilities.
Check out which actors are going to take it easy (for now) and which have multiple plans:
Zachary Levi, "Chuck Bartowski"
"As an actor, creatively, you want to do films. Films are really cool because every couple months, or however many times you can get a job... you're playing a different character and that's fun, but it's also a cool piece and you begin and end. I started in theater, in my life, and I love to go back to theater, just to have the experience and to recharge my batteries creatively. There's nothing quite like a live audience and being able to entertain them. Would I do the West End? I'd love to. I'd love to live in London. I think that first step would be to try to go and do something on Broadway, because as far as the bucket list of things, I'm like, 'All right, do a show on Broadway... Check. Done. Now we'll go to Sheboygan and do some region things...'"
"I'd love to go and direct some fun comedy stuff with Josh [Gomez] and Vik [Sahay] or anybody in our cast. They're all very near and dear to my heart and they're all such fun, talented people... I'd love to go and direct a pilot. On a pilot you really get that creative influence and I think you get the chance to put your vision into it."
"It'd be really fun to go over on Community or any number of shows. I like the idea, now that I feel like I've been able to kind of establish myself as having my own show, then you can kind of go back and have some fun on other people's shows and be like, 'Whatever! Give me a fun little cameo.'"
Yvonne Strahovski, "Sarah Walker"
"Sleep. Look, this has been a long run. I won't lie. The hours are very difficult on a show like this. I think we're all a bit worn-out. We're satisfied, beyond belief, with the hours. So, I think, right now, I need to take a deep breath and take a break and do something a little easier on the body. For me, [it's especially difficult] with the fight scenes and everything. When you get sick, you're sick for a long time. You just have to keep working through it 'cause you just can't rest up. I need to give my body a break, for a little bit."
Adam Baldwin, "John Casey"
"Go to the gun range. That's what everyone wants to hear."
Joshua Gomez, "Morgan Grimes"
"I'm going to enjoy, definitely... just not do anything but grow my beard out, and then eventually shave it."
"I'm gonna test [pilot season] out. We'll see. I'm going to see if there's something I really like. That's the cool thing, I don't really have to immediately go, 'I got me a job!' That's the beauty of doing five years on a show is that I get to kind of go, 'Oh, OK. Cool,' and play this out and see if there's anything that comes along. I'd like to do something different, obviously... But I have my own stuff that I've done that I went out and shot this summer. I did a pilot with my brother, so we'll kind of shop that around once it's finished. We're editing that right now."
Ryan McPartlin, "Devon 'Captain Awesome' Woodcomb"
"Just getting back to the gym right now. Trying to stay in shape now that we're done with Chuck. I try and keep things really balanced and simple... Any free time I have, it sounds corny, but I just try and be present as a husband and a father. It's really time dedicated to the family.
"I have to stay motivated somehow or other. I'm doing a handful of CSI: Miami episodes right now because I thought it was interesting to go and play a lawyer... Just trying to do something different from what I've done in the past. I'm more selective as an actor now because I've had the experience of working on such a great show. It set a bar really high. So I've already passed up on projects that I can't afford to at this point, but there's a certain integrity I want to keep because we worked at such a high level."
And just before their last goodbyes, a few of the cast members had their eyes on certain set pieces or props. Did any of them score?
Scott Krinsky, "Jeff Barnes": "I stole a sign from the Buy More. It was an 'Employees Only Restricted Area.'"
Vik Sahay, "Lester Patel": "I've stolen things over the years that I can't talk about, but yeah, it will be just the visuals that I have in my brain of remembering."
Gomez: "Oh my God, there's a lot of things I'd love to steal. I really wanted the ginormous Wienerlicious sign too. But again, I don't know where I'd put it, but there's just something cool about it."
Baldwin: "What should we take? Some of the weapons. Some of the Reagan paraphernalia. I would take the Bible that's sitting on the bookshelf."
Strahovski: "I would take my gun, if I could, but we can't do that. Not that I own guns, by the way. Just to clarify that."
Chuck comes to a close with its two-hour series finale Friday at 8/7c on NBC.
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