Have the writers given you any indication that we might be seeing more screen time for Jeff in future episodes?
Yeah, there's the likelihood that the Nerd Herd is going to be further explored. They've kind of told us ideas and that they have the seasons sort of outlined. But, of course with the strike, we're all sort of in a holding pattern right now.

What is it like finding yourself in that holding pattern? Are you trying to find other things to fill your time?
Well, there's not a whole lot of work going on right now. I do stand-up comedy, so I'm kind of keeping busy, focusing on just being out there, performing and writing. But there's not, as far as acting, there's not a lot going on.

But, of course, as an actor I'm in total support of the writers because we're going to be facing the same battle that they're facing right now. So I want the writers to get everything that they want.

Why do you think the two sides have been unable to work out a deal?
The whole business model is changing. People are going to be watching TV, everything is going to be delivered though your computer. Even if you watch it through your TV, it's going to be coming through your computer. It's the future at stake.

If Chuck's playing 20 years from now, as you watch Nickelodeon or TV Land and you see shows like The Brady Bunch, and whole new audiences are discovering them and people want to be able to get paid for their work down the road and even now, in the present, but definitely down the road. It will be so easy to access any kind of entertainment from any era in 15 – 20 years, or even farther after that. They just want to make sure that they're compensated for it.

You mentioned that you also do stand-up comedy. Which do you think is the harder medium?
They're so different. I guess stand-up is a little scarier. They are both sort of challenging in their own way, but I guess there is such an immediacy to stand-up that you're right there with a live audience and they're hanging by your every word and of course they want to laugh and be entertained. I try not to look at things as scaring me as much as I'm excited by the challenge and I try not to feel like I'm nervous, but it's more of like an anxious energy.

Have you had any rough stand-up experiences with hecklers or anything like that?
Definitely I've had some hecklers. My comedy's a little more on the dry, observational side, so it's not like an angry ranting kind of comedy, so I guess I don't provoke that kind of heckling as much as other comics might. It's definitely uncomfortable. But I feel like the comic seems to always win because he's on stage, so even if it's just with silence, the comedian always seems to win and the heckler looks like an idiot.

People aren't there to hear the heckler, which is another advantage for the comedian.
The heckler is ruining the show for everyone else. People are there to listen to the comedian and if someone keeps heckling, then it ruins the flow of the show. The best thing is just to tell a heckler to come on stage and if he gets on stage, then he'll really embarrass himself usually.

Though there is that one chance in a million that he could get on stage and do a killer set.
I haven't seen it yet.

According to your bio, you interned and briefly worked for CNN. What exactly did that job entail and what did you learn during your time there?
In college, I was a journalism major. I worked there during the time when the Berlin Wall was coming down, so it was really exciting. I worked for their show called The Capital Gang, a show that is was similar to in format was The McLaughlin Group. It was really exciting to be working there and I kind of helped the producer producing the show and researching whatever was in the news that day, reading all the papers. And I got to meet a lot of senators and Washington elite. I used to have to go down to the main lobby and escort them up.

And I also got to go with reporters to the Capital, to the White House, and help them write stories, which is sort of how you would learn. They would let you take a crack at a story and then they'd kind of proof it. So it was really exciting being a part of that whole live TV experience. And also, with everything that was going on with the Berlin Wall in Europe. It was really an exciting time because there was so much news breaking all the time. It kind of reminded me of the movie Broadcast News.

What made you decide to leave CNN?
That was during that period that I had taken classes in college in acting and it had always sort of been a dream in the back of my mind to pursue it and during college and after college, I was just at that point where I decided – I realized I was in a job where, if I stayed there, I could do really well and this would be my life, but at the same time, it just kept coming back to me – what do I really, really want to do? And I thought, "If I don't go do it now, then I'll just keep getting more settled in to where I'm at right now and I might not really ever go pursue those dreams." So I decided to go pack up the car and I drove out west.

It was a little scary at the time, but at the same time it was exciting. Plus, I'd always loved California and watching all the TV shows as a kid, so many shows were set in California and Los Angeles. And I liked the warm weather. I just had this thing in me and I was just like let's go for it.

What goals do you have set for yourself? Where would you like to see your career go?
I hope that I'll be working on Chuck for the next few years. I'd love to start working on some bigger feature films. Some of my dream people to work with would be like Woody Allen, Wes Anderson or Christopher Guest. I'm a big fan of all three of them. So I would love hopefully with the success of Chuck, to sort of be able to have those opportunities come up.

What do you do to unwind when you are not working?
I paint and I do yoga. I like to cook.

What would you do for a living if you never got into acting? Would you have stuck with the journalism?
I think if I hadn't pursued acting, what I actually would have done is become a chef. Even when I was out here having some tough times and I had already kind of explored the journalism a little bit, I loved to cook. There was a period for six months I went to a small little culinary school and started taking up a baking program for pastries and baking.

And right when I finished that, I started working a little bit part-time for some chefs, sort of assisting them in catering and some different jobs that they had. It was kind of interesting because right at about that time is when I started getting a lot more acting work. But I probably would have, if I didn't act and if I sort of lost my drive for it, that's the only thing I would probably want to do.

What is the best dish you can make?
I think I can make a mean chocolate cake. I'm a chocaholic.

Tell us something most people don't know about you.
In contrast to all of the roles I have played, like a homeless guy I've played a few times, I'm actually a very neat person. I'm kind of a neat freak.

Interviewed by Joel Murphy, December 2007. For more information on Scott Krinsky, visit his MySpace profile.