Adam Baldwin

Adam Baldwin is a man of many talents: he acts, plays a mean game of air hockey, and he bikes with wounded soldiers for charity. He also is more than willing to poke fun at himself as a "sci-fi icon" thanks to his roles on "The X-Files," "Firefly," "Angel," and now "Chuck."

Adam recently sat down with me to discuss his role on the NBC comedy alongside some of his favorite moments and some other projects.

Matt Carter: First of all, the news was announced just a couple of weeks ago that "Chuck" is coming back on January 10. What’s your reaction?

Adam Baldwin: We’re very thrilled, obviously. "Chuck" is a family affair, and we have such a great cast and crew; it’s so wonderful and we’re so blessed to be working, especially in these tough times and on a show we love so much. So for the fans and the for the network and the studio and the sponsors to give a show a faith is an amazing feeling and a true blessing.

Matt: I remember back around April when the show was on it felt like it could be ending. Did you ever wonder if you were going to come back or did you think it was the end?

Adam: We had cautious optimism, I think the word was that were on the bubble obviously for a while. So we were worried, sure. But, again, the fan support and Subway and the network...obviously they really liked the show to keep us going. So like I said we had cautious optimism.

Matt: How does it feel to have so much rabid fan support? Obviously with "Firefly" and now "Chuck"—is it crazy for you to be so involved in what are, I guess, shows with cult followings?

Adam: I’ve found that it’s a bit of a misnomer that it’s in any way cultish: you’re going to get strange people throughout the world. I think the sci-fi world has welcomed "Chuck" into the fold thanks to [Zachery] Levi’s talent and the creators of the show and just [Zach’s] warm personality. Such a great leader. I remember back on "Firefly" Nathan Fillion was a great leader, and I’m very happy to follow in his wake. The audience and the fans are the shows are among the most intelligent and well-informed about film and television history so it’s really honorable to get a nod from the community.

Matt: And you really see that with the fans here in Dallas. Then you have this character of John Casey: he’s a government guy, and he’s slowly starting to evolve a little bit from the pilot. Are you happy to see more of him creeping slowly onto the screen?

Adam: Sure! Again, I’m a supporting character for Chuck and I’m happy to be given the little kernels of storyline that I get and I try to steal every storyline that I can. (Laughs.) I take it as it comes, I look at series work as a marathon, and I try to be patient and whatever little kernels may come to serve the greater good of the show, I’m happy to be on board.

Matt: While we’re on the topics of "kernels," which one of these was harder for you: trying to hit the opera note in an episode or kissing Zach Levi?

Adam: Hitting the opera note—I figured that they would put in a temp or whatever to hit the high C.

Matt: I actually wasn’t sure if that was you or not...

Adam: It was more like a B-flat. So when they decided to leave it in because it was ridiculously falsetto I guess that worked out. (Laughs.) That was easy. Kissing Zach on the other hand...that was one of those "awkward" moments.

Matt: Looking back over the history of the show, is there any episode that stands out?

Adam: I quite enjoyed the episode with the undercover lover because we had this wonderful high fall down in the pool and getting to step out in a teaming tuxedo...That was pretty cool, and that was the stunt that garnered our stunt coordinator Merritt Yohnka an Emmy. So he’s now won two Emmys and he’s just a great stunt coordinator.

So whenever there’s a lot of action and stunts and explosions, that stuff...there’s one episodes where one of the Nerd Herd vehicles—I believe it was Nerd Herder Six—that exploded and flew up in the air and flipped over...That was a memorable moment; we thought Chuck was inside. Fortunately the show is called "Chuck" so he was smart enough to get out of there before it blew up.

Matt: In terms of your acting, what do you do to get into John’s head? How do you describe him?

Adam: Well, he’s a straight shooter. He’s kind of grumbly; he doesn’t appreciate the assignment that much, it’s kind of drudge work. He doesn’t appreciate the Buy More detail, but he’s a patriot. He believes in the United States and he wants Chuck to serve that purpose as best he can. He’s accepted Chuck as a useful agent and a tool for the greater good and freedom and liberty.

Matt: I know there’s confidentiality involved in my next question, but is there anything you can share about what’s coming up on season three?

Adam: Well you have a list of our guest stars—Angie Harmon joins us and Brandon Routh joins us. Robert Patrick...it’s funny ’cause Robert Patrick and I were working the other day. We were doing a fight rehearsal, and one of the production assistants drove us over. He was a sci-fi fan so he was excited that he had a couple of ’sci-fi icons’ in the vehicle. So Robert Patrick and I started to refer to each other as ’sci-fi icons.’

* ’Robert:’ ’Hey, sci-fi icons, we’re going to do a fight scene together!’ * ’Adam:’ ’Hey, you’re not just a sci-fi icon, you’re a double-crossover sci-fi icon, both Terminator and X-Files.’ * ’Robert:’ ’And you’re ’Firefly / Serenity’ and ’Chuck’ now. ’

So we started grumbling so I think the guy who drove us over got a kick out of that. We were making fun of ourselves.

Robert Patrick is a great guy..So we have a terrific cast, guest stars...Chuck continues on his improvement as a intersect agent and I think you’ll learn more about the dastardly group that’s chasing us down.

Matt: When I heard Robert Patrick was on the show, I had a little bit of an explosion of joy in my brain. It’s kind of like what I had when I heard Chevy Chase was on the show. What was it like working with him?

Adam: Chevy’s funny. There’s a candid shot of he and I that I have on my mantle now...can’t really describe the action and do it justice. He’s groping an inappropriate area...so at least I got that going for me, I’ve been groped by Chevy Chase.

Matt: The physical comedy continues into real life.

Adam: Life entertaining art. He’s a true professional and a legend. It was an honor.

Matt: I have to ask you since you’ve got into some voice acting roles in the past several years: you’ve done Halo 3, and you’re doing Mass Effect 2, right?

Adam: Yep.

Matt: What got you into this? Did you play games as a hobby or was it just another opportunity?

Adam: I’d been in cartoon work so I had a voiceover agent and it came up as work. The Halo guys had the brainstorm of putting three characters of the "Firefly / Serenity" world so I got to work Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. That sort of got the ball rolling. So other games—I’m not a gamer. I’ve tried to play Halo a couple of times but I just ended up shooting at the sky or at the floor.

Matt: Don’t feel bad; I’m probably the worst Halo player of all time.

Adam: I play foosball or Defender pretty well. I’m a good air hockey player, good pool player. But these new-fangled gizmos! (Laughs.) I tell you!

Matt: I was thrilled when I heard you and Nathan and Alan were in Halo. Now with Mass Effect, I’m pretty pumped about that.

Adam: Good! It’s interesting working in the booth. A lot of cues. You don’t get the other actors speaking with you, whereas in a cartoon setting, you’ll have the script, you go into the studio, and you go in and sit down with the other actors. You hear them and you react to them. And then they go and animate it.

Matt: Does being alone make it more difficult?

Adam: It’s just—you don’t get the feedback as easily. You’re really in the hands of the director and the producer and you have to trust them. The guys who are doing the top-notch work know what they’re doing. So you just say ’louder?’ or ’more Western?’ or ’do you want me to just do Jayne [from ’Firefly’]?’ And then they’re like ’yeah, yeah, do that!’

Matt: Are there any specific roles you’re looking to play in the future?

Adam: I’d love to play a schoolteacher or a principal that clamps down on a school that’s out of control. I know that’s been done before, but it’s something that would be near and dear to my heart right now. Who knows, though? Give me a gun and a cigar and I’m happy. If I don’t have to shave, the better. I’d love to do another Western! Or space Western! I love being involved in space Westerns! Aren’t they really all just space Westerns?

Matt: Who knows? Maybe you’ll get a chance to use a southern accent!

Adam: It’s all about being the underdog of the frontier.

Matt: I have one final question. Is there anything out there outside of "Chuck" that you’d like to promote?

Adam: I would just ask people to support their military law enforcement as best they can. The Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation is one I’ve had the opportunity to raise funds for. And the other one is the Ride 2 Recovery, a cycling rehabilitation program for wounded warriors. They have a California ride and a Virginia Ride and a Texas ride which I did the whole thing. I only did a section of the California ride because I had to work the rest of the week.

What you do is you get wounded warriors or guys with post-traumatic stress. You get them on a bicycle and they’ll ride with a group of guys for 500 miles across a state or interstate. It’s a great bonding and rehabilitative and physically demanding experience. It’s truly humbling to have a chance to ride and to get to know these guys.

Matt: Wow, that’s fantastic. Well thank you so much for talking with me.

Adam: Thanks, Matt. Appreciate it.

Matt: And best of luck on "Chuck" season 3!