Fans of NBC's Chuck: Prepare to meet Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) and his new venture, Carmichael Industries’ biggest threat. No, not a Russian spy or rogue CIA operative, but simply another freelance agency headed up by an agent who knows how to make an entrance: Gertrude Verbanski (special guest star Carrie-Anne Moss).
“300 agents from all over the world,” she boasts upon entrance to the show-- and Chuck’s radar. “CIA, KGB, Masad, and Interpol. We work for the Pentagon; we work for the Cremlin; and we’ll work for you.”
Quite the sales pitch, isn’t it? Immediately Chuck knows she is his greatest competition, but to Verbanski? Things look quite differently from her no-nonsense perspective.
What you need to know about Verbanski from Moss herself:
“I play a character named Gertrude Verbanski. I did not name her!” She laughed when LA TV Insider Examiner visited the Los Angeles Chuck set a few weeks ago.
“She’s just this very, very strong, capable woman who runs this private security company…and she’s rivals with [Chuck and Sarah], and there’s a lot of energy between myself and John Casey that’s complicated and based on some past experiences. He and I have this sort of torrid kind of energy together. He’s so gruff and tough, and so is she, but they kind of bring out something else in each other.”
What else should we expect from this new staunch force? Read on for more quotes from Moss!
On Verbanski’s attitude toward Carmichael Industries:
“She’s so superior to them in her mind, in her techniques, and in her whole outfit, the whole way she does everything…She comes around to them, definitely, but not in, like, ‘You guys are great’-- no, that never happens!”
On the dynamic between Verbanski and Casey:
“He’s funny, and you know, Gertrude and John Casey are definitely funny to look at together just in their domination. They’re both so dominant, but she definitely brings out another side to him…There are some moments where you see him have some slightly tender [moments] in very, tiny ways.”
Yeah, okay, but can she be the ten o’clock love interest Baldwin hoped for?:
“I think she can be that for him! I think Verbanski is looking for a ten to eleven o’clock. You know, she has things to do!”
On Verbanski’s feelings about the Intersect:
“Verbanski really doesn’t respect [Morgan]. If she doesn’t respect Chuck, she really doesn’t respect [Morgan]!”
On the dynamic between strong women Verbanski and Sarah:
“One of the things I’m really enjoying right now is Yvonne and I are having to come together to help one another, and yet there’s a total competitive energy there between our characters. [Sarah]’s strong and focused, but she also notices all of those little innuendos, and she has moments where she’s asking my character ‘Oh, how are you feeling?’ And my character’s like ‘Shut up! Don’t talk to me about feelings!’ That’s been kind of fun.”
On the fight sequences and stunts Verbanski will be involved in:
“When I read I was going to have to fight I was like ‘Oh!’ I knew it had action in it, but I didn’t think they’d want me to fight! At first I was kind of, like, really no. ‘I’m fighting on a rooftop? No. There’s a helicopter on there? No. Where are my sunglasses!?’ But then they found all of these ways to make it different.”
On what she's had most fun with about Verbanski and working on Chuck:
“I love that she’s strong. I love to play women who are strong and unapologizing and kind of rough around the edges and don’t care what anybody thinks about that. I love that about her…One of the things they do in this show that I’ve had the opportunity to do once now, and it’s not easy, is to fight and have a total conversation about life.”
Chuck airs on Friday nights at 8pm, only on NBC. Moss will first appear in “Chuck Versus The Bearded Bandit,” which airs on November 4th 2011.
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