Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Sarah Walker on NBC’s Chuck, is a bit of a mystery. Sarah Walker as a character is also a bit of a mystery. The similarities between the two however, stop there. Yvonne’s character is girly, wearing dresses and heels, often distrustful and coming from a troubled and sad childhood. Yvonne herself has only had one manicure in her entire life, gushes about her friends and grew up in, (as she tells it) a wonderful family. But perhaps we should start at the beginning.

Yvonne was born Yvonne Strzechowski in Australia to a Polish family. Yes, she is definitely unique. Her current spelling of her last name (Strahovski) is the proper pronunciation of the real thing. The simplified version has been easier to deal with in Hollywood. Her family moved from Poland to Australia just a few years before Yvonne was born. As a result, she speaks fluent Polish. (You may have heard her use Polish as Sarah a number of times on Chuck. In fact, both episodes involving Karina, the impulsive DEA agent, have Karina speaking Swedish-her native tongue-and Sarah responding in Polish). At the age of 5, Yvonne enrolled in dance classes, which she continued taking until age 18.

Yvonne Strahovski

Unlike many Hollywood stars, Yvonne doesn’t come from an acting background. While her parents both have a creative side, her mother’s career was in science and her dad is an engineer. But Yvonne always had a love and hunger for the stage. Besides dance, she participated in all her school drama and musical productions. In on einterview, Yvonne told about home videos she would make with friends. “In my free time, I would have my friends come over and we’d get the camera out and we’d film. Make up our own tv shows, make up our own documentaries. Or like, film tv commercials that we’d made up or that we’re mocking. We used to make fun of the morning shows were they would advertise, you know, all the home shopping and exercise stuff.” Not only did Yvonne and her friends mock the “tummy trimmer” and other silly exercise products, they imitated a comedy sketch show called “Full Frontal” as well.

Yvonne in The Canyon.

All that filming just increased Yvonne’s love of acting. When she graduated from high school, she immediately went into drama school. After three years of drama school and three years working in the Australian film industry, Yvonne began contemplating her move to Hollywood. Yvonne was shooting a series in Australia during pilot season in Hollywood and wasn’t able to fly out for auditions. So, as she says, the audition process became more creative. “Whenever my manager would send over scripts, I would hire a studio in Sydney, put down my audition, and we would email it in a Quick Time format. I filmed the Chuck audition and was in Los Angeles within a few days meeting with Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak (the creators of Chuck).” Clearly they saw the same greatness in Yvonne the rest of us do.

Yvonne as Sarah Walker on Chuck.

Yvonne quickly fell in love with her role as Sarah Walker. “ I love delving into the characters’ histories and finding out more about where we came from and how Sarah became a CIA agent,” she said in one interview. While those episodes have definitely carried some heartbreak, Yvonne prefers these episodes with more emotion, knowing the audience loves them as well. She still loves the action though. Those fight scenes, thanks to a background in dance and an adventuresome personality, take her about five minutes to learn. One of her favorites was against Nicole Richie in season 2. “Nicole was excellent and didn’t miss a beat at all. I was pleasantly surprised, as was the rest of the cast and crew, at how well she picked up the fight scene. Often we have guest stars who have never done a fight scene and have different ‘ranges of skill’. But she was on top of her game.” Michael Clarke Duncan was another favorite opponent of Yvonne’s.

Yvonne wins her fight against Nicole Richie.

On screen Yvonne may be a tough chick but off screen she is a self described cut up. With an overload of boys on Chuck, one might think she would keep the boys in line but Yvonne is more a member of the boys club than its keeper. “I often use Adam (Baldwin who plays NSA agent John Casey) as my punching bag. He provides for a good punching bag. And Zac and I are usually just disgusting on set.” Yvonne has said too, that like many boys, she can be pretty gross when hanging out with the guys. She prefers it this way though. “I would much rather go play soccer with the boys then have a pedicure with the girls.”

Yvonne with Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin.

That love of outdoor activity and exercise has always been there for Yvonne. She grew up hiking and camping in Australian forests and keeps up that same outdoor spirit in Los Angeles. “I am very active. I train, I do kung fu, I rock climb, I hike all the time. I love mountain climbing and I love adventurous things.” Watching Yvonne navigate the mysteries of Sarah has certainly been an adventure for her fans, one we’re happy to continue on.

Actually, I take back my original statement. Obviously the similarities between Yvonne and Sarah are few and far between. But I think there’s one other common thread here. Both Yvonne and Sarah captivate their audience.

What You Didn’t Know About Yvonne Strahovski

-She knows kung fu
-Her guilty pleasure shows are America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway.
-She has a new movie coming out, “I Love You Too.”
-She started a theater company with a friend and adapted, produced, and acted in several plays, translating them from Finnish to English.
-She had a nose ring for 5 years.
=She is one of the most searched for names on Google.