Zachary Levi having a blast as 'Chuck'

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Zachary Levi has traded the sweet life of sitcoms for shootouts, car chases, explosions, terrorist threats and attempts on his life.Levi is enduring all of this drama as the star of NBC's action-packed "Chuck." The assassins going after him may not be real, but the series' shooting schedule is a real killer."We've had days as long as 18 hours," Levi said about his shoots on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Calif.It's a tough job, but somebody's got to save the world. And the 27-year-old Levi said he's having fun doing it."Chuck" is currently off the air, but NBC has renewed the show and, according to Levi, filming will start in early May for another season. "The first-season DVDs will be out right before the launch of the second season this fall," he said in a phone interview.Levi plays Chuck Bartowski, a nerdy employee at a Buy More Electronics store whose life is changed after he receives an encoded e-mail from a friend who turns out to be a government agent.When he opens the e-mail, all of the nation's secrets are instantly downloaded into Chuck's brain.That turns the geek into someone the U.S. government must protect. Maj. John Casey (Adam Baldwin) of the National Security Agency and CIA agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) are assigned to help Chuck as he heroically faces and defeats assassins, terrorists and other baddies.It's a big change from Levi's last TV series, the 2002-06 ABC comedy "Less Than Perfect," in which he played Kip, a not-so-nice assistant trying to get ahead at others' expense in a TV newsroom. At least nobody was trying to kill Kip, even if they felt like it at times."I loved every second of being on that show," Levi said. "It was a huge blessing."He still cherishes the friendships he made on the set. "I consider (co-star) Andrea Parker to be one of my best friends," he said.The transition from half-hour sitcom to one-hour drama has been a challenge, especially coping with the 14-hour (and longer) workdays."Of course, I'm only human," Levi said. "The grass is always greener on the other side. I've had many days when I wish I was back on a sitcom. But I'm happy with what I'm doing."Levi said the one-hour-drama format gives him a better chance to develop a character. "You flex different muscles as an actor," he said.On "Chuck," Levi gets to do that literally. "I try to do as many of my own stunts as they'll let me," he said.For insurance reasons, his character's most treacherous leaps, falls and other maneuvers are done by professional stunt double Dave Castillo. "He's a dead ringer for me," Levi said. "People will look at him and think they're looking at me."Away from "Chuck," Levi seems like anything but a nerd.The tall, slender and well-groomed actor stands out at press parties, not just for his height (according to the Internet Movie Database, he is 6-feet-4), but also for his friendly personality.But Levi said he has his nerdy side: He loves video games."I play my Xbox 360. It is so much fun," Levi said.So never mind that Chuck's a nerd. Levi likes him anyway."He's a good guy. I like the fact he's an underdog. You can relate with him," Levi said.Things will change somewhat for Chuck during the second season, Levi said. The character will mature a bit."He understands his new role better, and he feels more comfortable," Levi said. "I see Chuck as constantly evolving. It's a tough tightrope. You want the character to evolve, but he can't evolve too fast. It's a slow evolution for Chuck."Every James Bond, even a nerdy one, gets to spend time with beautiful women. Before that encoded e-mail changed his life, Chuck hadn't dated a woman in years. Now he hangs out with Sarah, the beautiful CIA agent, and the second season will continue to build on that relationship and the question marks around it."There's going to be sexual tension," Levi said.Right now, Chuck has to keep his life as a spy a secret from the very people who would be impressed by it.But Levi said he could see Chuck eventually sharing that secret -- maybe even with his sister Elle (Sarah Lancaster). Just don't hold your breath."Elle will be the last one to know."(Dave Mason of the Ventura County Star in California can be reached at dmason(at)VenturaCountyStar.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)