The hit NBC series Chuck is trying something different in its fourth season, which currently airs on Monday nights at 8 PM ET on NBC. The show introduced a new recurring character dubbed Greta, although the character will be played by a different actress (or actor) in each episode. This week, in Episode 4.03: Chuck Versus the Cubic Z, former WWE Diva and actress Stacy Keibler will be playing Greta, and she will be joined by another WWE alum, Steve Austin, as well as Nicole Richie. The episode will air tonight, Monday, October 4 at 8 PM ET and Stacy Keibler recently held a conference call to discuss her role on the series and here's what she had to say:
Can you talk about how your version of Greta will be different than the other two who played the character?
Stacy Keibler: I actually haven't seen the other two characters play the Greta, so I'm not sure how to really compare that. So I don't really have an answer for that one. But I'm not sure how physical the other Gretas are getting, and I definitely have a little bit of physicality, and I face off and fight with Stone Cold Steve Austin. And I do it all in my high heels. So I'm not sure if the other Gretas had that same experience or not.
I wanted to ask you how was it between you and Steve on the set?
Stacy Keibler: It was great. It was so great to see Steve. And, you know, we worked together for years, and we had a really good time just reconnecting, and really also just talking about how different this business is from the business that we sort of came from. And we were just sort of talking acting. And we had such a good time working together, so it was really fun.
Why don't you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with the show this season. I mean, Chuck's done some really great casting across the board, and I know there are a lot of people that were excited when you signed on.
Stacy Keibler: Yeah, I was so excited. Really I've wanted to do something on the show for some time now. Actually, I was really upset, because I went out of the country, and I had got the audition for one of the Gretas, and I couldn't do it, so I was so happy. I was away in Europe. I got the call saying that we want to bring you in for Greta, and it just all worked. I flew home early, and I got to do it. And it was just really fun and exciting to be a part of the show.
So I've talked to some people in the past and they've talked about how this, the Buy More experience, I mean, working there amongst all the other people, especially like Jeff and Lester, it's always just like such a great time. So do you have any just really funny stories or memories from the time you were shooting?
Stacy Keibler: We had so much fun. The cast, the crew, every single person is just having a great time, and I think that that's the magic of a show that is successful. I think that what the audience doesn't see at home a lot of times, I think, is when you have that kind of camaraderie and like everybody is friends, playing jokes, just being silly. I actually have known Zach, because had a role in Big Momma's House 2 that we worked on together years ago. And so Zach and I have been friends. So it was really fun for us to have a chance to work together on this show. And we were laughing all day long, and it was fun. It was really, really a great experience.
What was the most challenging aspect of playing the third Greta?
Stacy Keibler: It was very challenging to do all of the fighting that I was doing in my high heels. I was wearing - I mean, I don't know they were probably like 4 inch high heels. And there was like - it was just - at first when we were just sort of blocking out what we were doing I was like, how am I - am I really doing this in my high heels? But, you know what, I sucked it up, and it was part of the magic, and I did it. And I think that that will be something that will be fun to watch.
The cast of Chuck is such a well oiled machine. Was it instant chemistry when you began working with them?
Stacy Keibler: It was, because I've known Zach for some - like for years now. And it was just everybody was very welcoming. Everyone was having a great time. And I think that that probably comes through that they have such a great bond as a cast.
You seemed to enjoy doing action stunts and doing action sequences. Is that one of your favorite parts of doing shows and doing TV or movies?
Stacy Keibler: Yes, I do. I think that my favorite things to do is comedy and action. I love - every time I get a role like this and I get to work and I start working out the stunts, I get so excited, and it just - I'm very athletic so I love it. And I worked on a project for ABC Family where it was based off of a comic book, and there was a lot of sword fighting and everything, and I did all my own stunts. And really just sort of embrace it all, because it's just really fun. I think that there's not too many people that can really embrace doing their own stunts and being physical and loving it. So I hope to do more in the future.
We were also just really curious about how you were going to get to interact with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the show, and I know you had answered that earlier. I wondered if you could elaborate on that a little bit more.
Stacy Keibler: I guess he's the bad guy, so I'm sort of out to sort of help save him from hurting anybody else. I guess that's like the best way to explain it.
Obviously you have the sort of pro-wrestling background. How much does that help when you're coming into a show and having to learn stunt choreography and things like that?
Stacy Keibler: It absolutely helps. When I was in the wrestling business I was sort of thrown out there. I learned as I went. I went to wrestling school. I did everything. And I learned over eight years of my career there are so many different things and what I was good at it, what I was not good at. And this is so different, because that's live television, and you don't even know what could possibly happen at any second. But everything that I learned, especially like, you know, I'm kicking and I'm punching and different things, it's a little bit different because you're actually doing that in the wrestling ring in front of, you know, thousands of people. Where here you're sort of trying to make sure that you're doing the right things for the camera, and like all - so it's great that I have the background and the training, because it's so easy. I walk on there, they tell me what they want, I do it. And, you know, not everybody may have as easy of a time getting the choreography down, but I'm very lucky that I do.
And working with Steve Austin on this one, did you then even have kind of your own little shorthand, you know, from the shared background?
You know, it was just so easy for us and I think the whole crew and everybody. It was just like this is what I want you to do, this is what I want you to do, blah, blah, blah. And like we'd go through it a couple times, and we just - we nailed it like every single time. And it was easy and fun, and after every single take I think we were like laughing.
Was it challenging to make the switch from professional wrestling to acting for scripted television, especially in comedies?
Stacy Keibler: Yeah, I mean, I've been in SAG and Actor's since I was five, so entertainment has always been in my blood and something that I knew I always wanted to do even though my career has sort of taken many different paths. And I am so thankful for the fans that I have that are some of the best fans in the world from all the different things I've done to sort of get to where I am right now. But I would say that, yes, it was a big transition. When you're in the wrestling ring and you're performing in front of sometimes 60,000 people it's more theatre where you're performing to the very last person in the arena. Where acting is so small and internal that when I first started taking acting classes in LA -- way before Dancing with the Stars. I was like oh my God I have so much to learn, because I'm quite a perfectionist, and I want to be the best I can be. And studying for years it's just you learn so much about yourself. And I know what I'm good at, and what emotions I can tap into and what I can't right now. And different things like that where, you know, in wrestling you just sort of like - I wish I would know what I know now as an actress and I could go back and do all the wrestling stuff, because I was just so young and sort of thrown out there and not really - you know, just doing what I was told instead of coming up with a character. So even though I guess I was playing a character the whole time in the wrestling business. So, yeah, it's very different. But I feel that things that I've done in the wrestling world, and I think that that's like sort of the best training you can ever get is to be thrown in front of thousands of people and on live television. So there's nothing better than being able to have another take on set.
In wrestling was there kind of like a final epiphany where you went, okay, I've got to make this change into - you know, I've been thinking bout acting?
Stacy Keibler: Yeah, there actually was.
Well what was it?
Stacy Keibler: It was about halfway through my career I realized one day that I had amazing fans. And at some times I was like, you know, wow, you know, I'm not here to be the women's champion or to be anything like that. And what am I going to do next? And I'm a woman in this business. There's not really - you know, women don't really have longevity there, I guess. And so I just sort of started thinking, and I started coming out to LA and having meetings with people. And I just was like, okay, I've got to do this, I've got to. When I came to LA first and I started taking class, I was still in the wrestling business when I moved to LA and started taking acting classes. And that's when I realized that I had a lot to learn. And I was like, okay, I'm glad that I didn't just give up wrestling and be like, okay, I'm done, bye, and now I'm going to try to start over. I sort of tried to transition at the same time. And I was really lucky with, you know Dancing with the Stars and having that opportunity to sort of cross over into mainstream. And I feel that I still have a lot of challenges to face, because I want to be taken seriously. I want to pick the right roles. And I just try to be smart about everything so that I'm here for a long time.
Well picking Chuck that's another smart move, so you're definitely on the right path.
Stacy Keibler: Oh my God, I'm jumping up and down.
You can watch Stacy Keibler as the third Greta on Chuck in Episode 4.03: Chuck Versus the Cubic Z, which airs tonight, Monday, October 4 at 8 PM ET on NBC.