The geeky stars of NBC's spy comedy, Chuck, don't just play videogames on the show. The actors have been playing games their entire lives, and their real gamer enthusiasm has infected the show.
Zach Levi, who plays Chuck Bartowski, the lead technician in Buy More's Nerd Herd on the show, said from the minute he and co-star Josh Gomez met with producer McG, they were talking about videogames.
"We were sitting there geeking out about our Gamertag names and whether GoldenEye 64 was a better shooter than Halo, and everyone else was just looking at us like we were crazy," said Levi.
Those conversations led to some ad-libbed scenes in the pilot, which also featured gameplay from Gears of War. Subsequent episodes featured more Gears and Halo 3.
"We're definitely trying to push the gamer language because not all the writers are completely fluid in 'gamer speak,'" said Gomez.
Once the Hollywood writer's strike is over, there should be plenty more gaming cameos on Chuck. While product placement is routine in television shows, never before has there been a setting in which games so easily blended with a show's plot line. And that's just the way Levi and Gomez like it.
Levi, who has become a regular on the growing Hollywood videogame premiere party scene, said Chuck earned him and Gomez a sneak peek at Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
"When Activision and Microsoft and these game publishers come to the set, Zach and I tell them that we're both big gamers," said Gomez, whose voice acting can be heard in a number of hit games, including Call of Duty 3, BioShock and the upcoming Turok relaunch.
In addition to having a networked house with Xbox 360s in multiple rooms for online gaming parties, Levi moved his 60-inch plasma TV into his small dressing room on the Warner Bros. set.
"His dressing room's the size of a bathroom and he has this giant TV in it that you have to get around to sit on the couch," said Gomez.
Unfortunately, they're so busy working when they're on set that they barely have time to play outside of what ends up in the show, Gomez said.
Levi admits he hates playing in front of the camera. As good a gamer as he is -- he says he plays through to the end of every game at least once -- he just can't fake playing with a controller.
"I'm always telling the director that I'm good at games and I can make the exact same move take after take, but they never trust me," Levi said. "So we use a tape of gameplay and I have to pretend I'm playing."
