In real life, Levi and Gomez don’t stray too far from their very likeable, nerdy alter-egos. Levi is probably the nicest guy you’d ever meet, and the guys were all about giving me some scoop for the next season, especially about the many guest stars in store for fans. The OC vet Rachel Bilson was one of the headliners from last year, but they’re ramping up the starpower for season two. The very large Michael Clarke Duncan shows up in the season premiere, and John Larroquette joins another OCer, Melinda Clarke, in the second episode. In subsequent weeks, expect appearances from Steve Valentine of Crossing Jordan, Nicole Richie (playing a high school foil of Chuck’s love interest/handler, Sarah), Ben Savage (Fred’s bro from Boy Meets World) and Tony Hale from Arrested Development. The biggest get of the season, though, could be Jordana Brewster, who’s coming on for a multi-episode arc to play Chuck’s old flame from college, Jill, who was talked about all last season and is now back in his life — and possibly love life, too.

The twosome had a lot more to talk about in our chat:

Brian Truitt: The Chuck/Morgan relationship — and Chuck not being able to tell his pal about being a spy — was one of the best things about the first season. How will that change in season two?
Levi: It's pretty much in the same world. Morgan's the man at the Buy More now. Chuck's torn between the two worlds and constantly being pulled out of it going and doing the espionage stuff. It's tough for Morgan: "Where'd my best friend go?"
Gomez: There's definitely that. He doesn't have the benefit that the audience does to know that Chuck's out there trying to save the world. He can come off like he's throwing sometimes these mundane problems at Chuck and go, "Hey, where've you been, dude?" It's like, "Not now, Morgan!" And everybody's like, "Not now, Morgan!" He doesn't know there's a bomb ticking away! Morgan's just like, “Dude, you were supposed to play Call of Duty 4' last night!" So it still has that dynamic.

BT: Are you more recognized out in the real world now than you were a year ago?
Levi: There’ll be people who yell, "Hey, Chuck!" or whatever but I don't feel like Suri Cruise by any means. I don't feel like I have to be hiding in a Michael Jackson mask. It's certainly cool. If anything, it's nice to know the show has enough of an effect where people go, "Hey, I know that guy,” or “I know that show." It's not a mob scene.

BT: Right before the writer’s strike ended the season early, there was a subplot started where it looked like Chuck may be “taken out” by the government. Are you continuing that at the start of the season?
Levi: We are. We pick up where we left off with that and basically the new Intersect is being built, the government wants it back in their control and their hand and not in one random dude's head. Once the Intersect is built, then I become a liability because there's another Intersect out there that could fall into enemy hands: my body. My body IS a wonderland. So the government can't have that and will take the necessary steps to prevent anyone else from being able to get a hold of me, which could result in me being knocked off.

BT: Does Morgan have a lot more adventures this time around? I feel that character really got fleshed out, probably more than any other, over the course of the season.
Levi: Thanks, Brian. I appreciate that. [laughs]
Gomez: Thanks for noticing! I think that has less to do with the writing and just purely my growth as an actor. [laughs] No, I think he did. He started off primarily as a little dog nipping at the heels, a little comic relief here and there to come in and do something silly, but then slowly started growing into his own likeable character that has some dimension and has the girl and has to struggle to figure that out. That continues on in a bigger way. When we're at the Buy More now, Morgan takes center stage and has to keep all the rest of them at bay when Chuck's away. There's some fun stuff and some cool adventures that happen at the Buy More — fun, B-story stuff.
Levi: Michael Strahan guest stars in one episode, and there's a great storyline between the two of them.
Gomez: He's like this guy who works at a sports chalet called Mighty Jocks and he comes over with these giant sports guys and they use our home theater and play our Madden and I have to go in there and confront them and get them out of there.

BT: With your role, Zach, you have action, romance and geekness — pretty much everything you'd ever want.
Levi: Oh, it's so great. From an acting standpoint, you want to be able to have a role where you're not pigeonholed and you're not just doing one thing over and over again.
Gomez: I'll say.
Levi: [laughs] So it's really nice to wear so many different hats and you're in an action scene, then you're in a romantic scene and then you're in a comedic scene. My whole life is Chuck, all day and every day. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I constantly sit and reflect on, "Man, this is a great show." I love going to work. It's like my family.

And without further ado, if you can’t wait till Monday for the season premiere, here it is: