Julia Ling at the NBC Universal Summer All-Star Party held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on July 20, 2008.

After landing her first role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ling went on to guest star on such popular TV series as Alias, House, The O.C., Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, E.R. and Grey’s Anatomy. Now, she can be seen on NBC’s hit Chuck, as the spunky Anna Wu. Ling spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about working on such a fun, quirky show.          

MediaBlvd Magazine> How did you get interested in acting? Did you always know that you wanted to be a performer?

Julia Ling> I’ve always loved to perform, since I was a little girl. When I was three years old, my parents took me to dance classes, and I always stood out as a solo dancer, so I performed a lot. I took singing classes and I played the piano. I did a lot of painting, sketching and drawing, growing up, and I won so many awards, as an artist. Performing and being creative was just a side of me that I’d always loved, but I never knew I could actually make a career out of it. Back in high school, there was a fashion show that one of my girlfriends wanted to be a part of and she asked me to go with her because she didn’t want to go alone, so I got dragged into this fashion show thing. At the end of the fashion show, there were three agents in the audience that just fell in love with me. They called me and I signed with one of the guys, who has been my agent ever since. At the time, I was still pursuing medicine and engineering, but I just kept going out on auditions and booking things. Ultimately, I just decided, “I love this! I can’t be successful in both, if I spread myself so thin. So, I’m going to give acting a shot and, if it works out, then great!” So, I came to Hollywood about four years ago and have just been loving it, ever since.

MediaBlvd> How difficult was it to make the decision to give up something that would have been a much more stable career, in favor of a career in the arts? How supportive was your family of that decision?

Julia> It was really difficult because I’d actually been extremely passionate about becoming a neurosurgeon. I’d pursued medicine, most of my life. Even going into college, when there was no pre-med program, I ended up majoring in chemical biomedical engineering because it taught me stuff that I loved, which was the science, but it also satisfied pre-requisites for med school. I was so torn. To this day, it’s extremely hard. It’s always going to be that dream. It was not an easy decision at all. My parents knew that. They were not really supportive, at first, because it’s a scary industry to get into and it’s really risky. But, when they really saw how passionate I was about becoming an actress, they really started to support me, which was awesome.

MediaBlvd> How did you originally get involved with Chuck?

Julia> I had been auditioning and going to castings for a few years, and then Patrick Rush and Todd Sherry were casting for Chuck, and they called me in when they were casting for the pilot. I read for one of the roles and, ultimately, they offered me Anna Wu.

MediaBlvd> For those who might not have seen the show yet, who is Anna Wu and how does she fit into the world of Chuck?

Julia> Anna Wu is a computer geek. She’s a techie who can fix computers. She knows all the tech language. And, she likes to dress differently. She’s really into punk rock, and a little bit of goth. She’s a strong leader. She loves martial arts and weapons. She takes leadership at the Buy More, where we all work. She’s also kind of indifferent. A lot of things don’t bother her. She really doesn’t care about a lot of stuff.

MediaBlvd> What was it about this role that interested you in the project? How were you able to relate to your character?

Julia> I fell in love with this character when I first read her because she was so different. What really attracted me to this character was thinking that she was an anime character. The years just before I worked on Chuck, I was obsessed with Japanese animation cartoons, and the girls in those cartoons have this really cool, funky hair and they’re really hyper and cute and all over the place, and they have this crazy make-up. I always thought it was really fun and cute. So, when they said that Anna Wu is kind of goth, but with this anime thing to her, I just fell in love with that. I’ve never seen a character like that before, in TV or film. I thought that maybe I could bring a little bit of that anime culture into this character. And then, of course, I loved the fact that she was this nerd. She loves playing games and she loves computers. I was like, “That’s like me. That’s pretty cool.” She’s definitely a lot of fun. Anna is fearless, sometimes. It’s great!

MediaBlvd> How much were you told about your character, in the beginning, and how much have you helped develop?

Julia> Everyone in the cast has seen their character developing, over time. As we brought stuff to the table, the writers brought things too. So, every character on the show is constantly evolving.

MediaBlvd> Even though viewers don’t get to learn about Anna’s home life, did you develop your own backstory for her, so that you knew where she was coming from?

Julia> Yeah. I definitely understood the computer background. And, I went through a short, month-long goth stage in high school, so I had personal experiences to bring to that. And then, from watching all the Japanese animation, there was a spunky, animated side to her. As a dancer, I’ve trained in martial arts, so I brought that to her character as well. Anna has a huge blend of me. She’s got the nerd in there, she’s got the computer geek, and she loves role playing and gaming. There are other sides that are not like me, but I try to draw those influences from watching other people, and understanding where the writers are taking Anna. A collaboration with the writers helps develop this character, over time.

MediaBlvd> What has it been like to work with this talented ensemble of actors?

Julia> Everyone’s great. It’s like family, to me. The entire cast are all good friends. Zachary Levi is the leader. He’s really outgoing. He sets the tone for everyone. He’ll step in and say, “This would be done better this way.” He really takes leadership. It’s a lot of fun, on the set. We all sing and dance together, and we joke around all the time.

MediaBlvd> Did you do any research into what it’s like to work at an electronics store, like the Buy More?

Julia> I did. I went into a Best Buy because they have the Geek Squad there. I was like, “I wonder what your job is like. Can you walk me around?” And, they told me about what they do. One of the guys was like, “You know what? You look so much like this actress on this show, called Chuck. You look exactly like her.” On the show, my make-up is so heavy and I look so different than I do in real life, so I was like, “Yeah, you know, I get that a lot.” But, it was a lot of fun. I certainly learned a lot. The writers do a great job of matching the set for the Nerd Herd tech support.

MediaBlvd> What’s been the most enjoyable thing about doing the show, and has anything been particularly difficult?

Julia> The most enjoyable thing is definitely working with the people. If you don’t work with people that you like, then it’s miserable, but I love everyone on set. It’s the best set that I’ve ever been on, in terms of the chemistry between everybody. It’s a lot of fun. It’s great! Honestly, I can’t think of anything difficult about the show. It is my first time being a series regular, but I wasn’t signed for as many episodes in Season 2, so it really hasn’t been too intense, commitment wise.

MediaBlvd> Do you do a lot of improv on the show, and was that something you had done before?

Julia> Coming off of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I was really used to Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant screenplays, where every single word had a reason. You can’t say “the” because you have to say “that.” You’d have these huge monologues and have to say everything, verbatim. But, on Chuck, we have more freedom to improvise, and that was something that I was not used to, in Season 1. I learned, toward the middle of the season, that the writers were totally cool with it and the actors really bring a lot to it. That was a surprise for me, and I love it.

MediaBlvd> Is there anything that you’d like to see Anna do or go through, before the show is done?

Julia> I would love to see Anna do more butt-kicking. I would like her to stand up and be a stronger character. In the beginning of the season, she was really strong. She took leadership at the Buy More and she stood up for her guy, and then there was a hostage situation and Anna didn’t really do anything. I certainly understand, from Anna’s perspective, why she didn’t. She was expecting her man to do it. But, I am more a fan of a woman who is independent and can really stand up for her guy when he needs her. That’s really important to me. If anything, I’d like to see Anna become a stronger girl who stands up for her guy, rather than expecting him to be the man.

MediaBlvd> If you had your choice, are there types of roles or specific genres that you’d like to do, that you haven’t gotten the chance to do yet?

Julia> I would love to do a lot more action. I love the Joss Whedon type of stuff. I want to do more sci-fi/fantasy. And, I also love romantic comedies. I’d love to do anything that could really challenge me, not just emotionally, but also physically. I love good, challenging roles.