Vik Sahay reveals secret to playing Lester, half of Jeffster, on 'Chuck'

Despite his fear of revealing any spoilers, Sahay was his usual funny, pleasant self during our chat, even though we got started 15 minutes late when I wasn't at my desk the first time he called.

"That's the kind of disrespect and dismissal that, you know, creates the Lester Patels of the world, quite frankly," he scolded before letting me off the hook and answering--or not answering--questions about the new season and what's in store for Lester, his pal Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and their band, Jeffster.

Plan on seeing more of Jeffster in the new season of "Chuck."

Sorry I'm late man. Ultra major big announcement from Oprah this morning, and I had to do something on that.
You and Oprah are the only people that I think are out there that I care about.

How's it going?
It's pretty damn good, man.

Are you happy about all this awesome "Chuck" news?
Yeah. I think it's kind of perfect coming back early, you know? I guess there was always the worry that the March airing was, after everything that happened with the fans that the enthusiasm would slowly dissipate over the months. We're cutting that by coming back early, which is great. And then, the absence might create even more anticipation and make the heart grow, what's that word? Fonder. So maybe a perfect combination.

You're also getting six more episodes, which was also a great big bonus.
Incredible. Yeah, totally incredible.

Which means, either NBC is happy or it's desperate to find a show that brings viewers.
I'm choosing to take it as a vote of confidence, if that's all right with you, Curt.

I believe that, too, but you never know.
Yeah, well, obviously the network is struggling to find its perfect balance with things.

Right. And "Chuck" is getting a big two-hour Sunday night premiere, followed by a regular ep on Monday. That's great.
Yeah, that's amazing ... I think the first two episodes of the season were kind of written as one massive reintro into the story.

And what's going to happen in those. Give me a blow-by-blow please.
Well, blow-by-blow, Chuck turns out to be an inverse Lester. No. Obviously they would shoot me. I think they have snipers out there right now to make sure that I'm muted.

I know that you can't tell me specifics, but what's in store for Lester this season?
I can't tell you a whole there. Literally at the beginning of every script they have this thing where they talk about confidentiality.

Do they really?
Oh, yeah. If I had a script in front of me I would read it to you. It's like, "We expect the upmost confidentiality."

So even like telling your friends and stuff?
Yeah, I don't tell anybody anything just in case. Yeah. I mean, plus nobody--you don't really want to know.

Well, I kinda do.
Yeah, you do. You and Oprah.

Can you give me a little sort of overview, in general terms?
Well I don't know. There's a little more in Lester's world, there's a little more swaggering and potentially a little more crooning.

Crooning? OK. I talked to Ryan McPartlin a few weeks ago and he not only told me about probably coming back in January, but that there will be more Jeffster this season.
Yeah, that guy needs a muzzle.

So since the Jeffster is outta the bag ...
Well ... there is going to be a little more Jeffster, yeah.

There just has to be. I can't imagine not. I think fans would be so sad not to see you sing.
That's very sweet of you to say. A sweet moment from Curt.

So speaking of that, how were nervous were you before your performance at Comic-Con?
Oh man. I mean, you can imagine, right? Just blind. Utterly like, literally blinded with nerves. And you know, it was, I'd never been there. I had no idea what it was, what to expect. We'd done little panels before and I asked Zac, "So is this going to be like one of those panels?" And he was like, "Ha, ha, ha! No."

And when we stepped out on stage, I hadn't even seen the stage. Like I didn't know what we were walking into. It was one of the most outlandish, outstanding experiences I've ever been through in my life.

Everybody there was on their feet. It's probably got to be totally intimidating being on that stage.
Yeah it is. I just need to do my old school pretentious, precious, methody thing and get into character and then jump off the cliff. Because if I have any moment of self-consciousness up there, I'm done. It's over. So right before I went on I literally just closed my eyes, took a deep breath, became Lester, and dove in. There was almost a part of me that wasn't, even though I was playing and playing to them, I wasn't fully aware of what was going on in the audience

So when you do performances like that is Lester also putting on a character himself?
Well yeah. What I try to do with Lester and Jeffster is get him to be better and better at it. You know, from "Africa" to "Mr. Roboto" to a "Fat Bottom Girl" just to be developing this "The Rock Star," that he thinks he is more and more. And more and more insanely. So I think that he's maybe, yeah, putting on a performance, but I think he's also unleashing a part of himself that is coming from of all of that pent-up anger and humiliation that is his life.

Has Lester ever done anything that you, Vik Sahay, cringe at?
Vik Sahay, who is that? I think that the parts that I cringe at the most are when he betrays even Jeff. When he turns on Jeff, or he will sell Jeff out in a moment, there's a part of me that feels horrible about that because Jeff has been nothing but a cushion, a benevolent, sweet support of Lester's, and he needs that from Jeff, because obviously he doesn't find it anywhere else.

And yet Lester's so scared and needy and desperate that he'll even turn on Jeff. And when that happens I go, "Ugh. That's sad and horrible."

Is anybody he lusts after ever going to turn on him and say, "Yeah, let's do it?"
"Let's do this?" Well, he had that moment with Sarah Walker the first season.

You know it's this thing I feel about Lester is that he's this guy who thinks of himself as a God, as a rock star, as a superstar, and he just does not have the nervous system to back it up. So whenever it's turned on him where they, "Yes, you can be assistant manager or Sarah does that thing where she goes, 'OK let's do this,'" he panics. He urinates himself and runs off, tail between his legs.

I think if I could have one wish for Lester it would be for him to find somebody--I want him to find love, basically. I think that would be the dimension that would be both kind of horrific to see, but also amazing to journey through.

A love besides Jeff?
Yes. OK, Curt? Besides Jeff.

Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) interview potential employees via a Buy More "casting couch." NBC photos

OK, OK. I asked about the casting couch scene in the towels at Comic-Con. Will there be more scenes with Jeff and Lester hanging out in towels?
I don't understand what this obsession is of yours. Hanging out in towels? For the love of... Let's just say again, not on screen.

OK, since you can't tell me plot details or Lester spoilers, can you tell me about a typical work day in the life of Vik Sahay? How does that all work out? People are dying to know.
They are?

Yes, and then I'd like you to tell me about a typical Vik Sahay play day.
Well, they're the same. What do I do? Let's see. The alarm rings, you know, horribly early in the morning. And what do I do? There is a bit of a ritual that I will not disclose, of getting into Lester's mindset. I'm just one of those utterly ridiculous actors that, you know, need to get in character. The kind of mind set of where he's at--his heart, his soul, his hurt, his anger. So I kind of get into that. I go over the scenes of the day and where they take place in his world and in the script's world. And I jump in the shower and I drive off to set.

And then set is nothing but a horror show of attacks on me. No. It's a struggle to keep a straight face and to stay in character, because everybody's so sweet and kind and funny. And that day could last up to 14, 15 hours.

And then I go home and try to wind down and start all over again.

How do you wind down? Glass of wine? Glass of beer?
Yeah, a whole hell of a lot of Bud.

Vices!
Yeah. Vodka. Heroin, meth, hookers, and of course Scott Krinsky. I don't even know what that means. I don't know how I wind down. A lot of pacing, a lot of brooding, a lot of like berating myself for not doing better, and then I cry myself to sleep. And then the alarm goes off.

You do your ritual to get into character. Do you have do anything to get out of character?
No, it's just the drive home. It's windows rolled down. It's a few breaths of fresh air and I go back to kind of the things that I really like. I'm a big tennis fan, a fight fan. I read things about that, or I go back to my novels and I calm down. But if I'm shooting days in row, sometimes I'll just stay close it.

So free time, what novels are you reading?
Well I'm a huge Philip Roth fan. So I think I've read "American Pastoral" like six times. I just finished a pretty brilliant autobiography by Andre Agassi called "Open." It just came out. It's kind of stunning and beautiful. So I read that.

The acting geek in me has read this book called "Year of the King"--I read it for the first time 10 years ago, and I read it like five times. It's a journal of a guy playing Richard III at the Royal Shakespeare Company, a year-long journal like in the '80's or something like that. So that makes me the biggest geek of all. But for me it's a real source of inspiration I guess. That kind of thing.

Cool. What kind of music you listen to?
Only Jeffster's stuff. [Laughs.] No, I don't know. That's a tougher question to narrow down. It's a pretty wide, eclectic range from anything in the hip-hop world to some good rock, to the Wainwrights. Yeah, that's a tougher one to nail down. I'll listen often to stuff that'll get me close to a character that I'm playing.

Vik Sahay off duty. Stewart Marcano Photography

What did you do on your summer vacation?
[Laughs.] There was a lot going on work-wise on my summer vacation. I did spend some time in New York and I saw some theater, which is always good, and some family. And it was a lot of just relaxation. There were some projects that were going to happen, but because I wasn't sure when we were going to start shooting again, they got pushed. And actually because of this added six episodes a couple of projects couldn't happen. But it was a lot of chilling out. It was a lot working out. That's a kind of good place for me to go to neutralize. I spent a little time in New York City, which was just, I love that city.

Are there any other TV shows that you watch?
Many. What am I watching right now? I think I'm kind of entranced with "Dexter." You watch that? ... [I'll spray you guys the super TV geek discussion we had about "Dexter," it's cast and "Mad Men" and it's finale, but Vik loves both shows.]

Someone on Twitter wanted to know if during the scene when Zac kicked you in the face you got hurt. She says it's her favorite scene from the series.
Oh that's very sweet. Zac is a very talented man, but incredibly uncoordinated. [Laughs.] No, everything is meticulously choreographed, so it hurt my feelings that was happening at all more than anything physical.

You can't tell me plot details, but will everybody be back?
I shouldn't say that ... Yeah, I shouldn't go into that territory. I mean, there have been budget cuts. And the way the show, the way each character's playing each episode is altered a little bit. And I actually, personally think it's only good because it's kind of made it a leaner, meaner season. It's kind of streamlined it in a really, I think, powerful, potent way.

And it's full of surprises this season?
It's full of, it's going to into places that hopefully like "Dexter" and "Mad Men," you and Jeff do not see coming.

OK. Thanks for the time. Sorry I was late.
Yeah, whatever, you don't care about me.