Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), better known by the stage name Yvonne Strahovski (/strəˈhÉ'v.ski/), is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying CIA Agent Sarah Walker in the NBC television series Chuck (2007â€"2012), Hannah McKay in the Showtime series Dexter (2012â€"2013), for her role in the 2014 fantasy action film I, Frankenstein and also as Peg Mooring in the action/adventure movie Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers (2010). She is also the voice and model of Miranda Lawson in the Mass Effect video game series and appeared as CIA agent Kate Morgan in 24: Live Another Day.
Early life
Strahovski was born in Werrington Downs, New South Wales, the daughter of Bożena and Piotr Strzechowski. Her parents had emigrated from Tomaszów Mazowiecki in Poland. Her father is an electronic engineer and her mother is a lab technician. She began acting lessons at age 12 and spent her high school years attending Santa Sabina College, Strathfield. She graduated from University of Western Sydney's Theatre Nepean in 2003 and co-founded a small theater company.
Career
Strahovski started acting when she played Viola in a school production of Twelfth Night. She appeared in film and television roles in Australia, including a turn on satirical show Double the Fist and a part as Freya Lewis in the Australian drama series headLand. She has also appeared in Channel Nine's Sea Patrol.
She sent in her audition tape for the show Chuck while in the United States auditioning for roles in other shows, namely NBC's 2007 series Bionic Woman. She sent in an audition tape while waiting to hear from the other two jobs. She was contacted by the producers of Chuck the next day to come in and run lines with Zachary Levi. The producers called her back a week later letting her know she had been cast as Sarah Walker. Six months later, she moved to the United States. She adopted the more phonetic spelling of Strahovski as her stage name at this time, which was at producer Josh Schwartz's behest for the sake of easier pronunciation.
Strahovski speaks fluent Polish and employed it in a brief exchange with a colleague in the Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the Wookiee" and again in the episodes "Chuck Versus the Three Words" and "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners". Although she portrays an American in the series, she briefly spoke in a "Hollywood" Australian accent in the episode "Chuck Versus the Ex".
Strahovski appears in Mass Effect Galaxy, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 as the voice of Miranda Lawson. Strahovski had her face scanned and animated so she could portray Lawson in Mass Effect 2. Strahovski voices Aya Brea in the English version of the Parasite Eve spinoff, The 3rd Birthday, which was released on March 2011 for the PlayStation Portable. She also appeared in a CollegeHumor sketch in April 2011, parodying the music styles of Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.
Strahovski appeared in the 2011 film Killer Elite, alongside Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert De Niro. She also appeared in the 2012 comedy The Guilt Trip, opposite Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand.
In 2010, Strahovski received the Teen Choice Award for Choice Action TV Actress for Chuck, as well as a nomination for Spike Video Game Awards for Best Performance by a Human Female for Mass Effect 2. In 2011, Strahovski was nominated again for the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Action TV Actress. In 2011, Cosmopolitan Magazine (Australia) awarded Strahovski the Fun Fearless Female of the Year along with Favorite TV Actress.
In November 2011, she was cast as the female lead in I, Frankenstein (2014). In March 2012, she was featured in a new SoBe Life commercial. And in May 2012, Strahovski ranked #35 in Maxim Hot 100 2012. In June 2012 Showtime announced Strahovski had joined the cast for the seventh season of Dexter in which she plays the role of Hannah McKay, a woman involved with an investigation following the death of her former lover, a spree killer whom she accompanied. She reprised her role as Hannah McKay in the eighth season of Dexter. In December 2012, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy for which she won a Theatre World Award. Strahovski was honored along with Liam Hemsworth for their work in international roles with the 2012 Australians in Film Breakthrough Award.
In 2014, Strahovski joined FOX's TV series 24: Live Another Day cast as Kate Morgan, CIA agent. Later that year, she was cast as Rene Carpenter on ABC's Astronaut Wives Club.
She has been in Maxim's Hot 100 from 2009 to 2013.
Charity work
Strahovski is a supporter of PETA and appeared in an ad for their "Adopt, Don't Buy" campaign.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
- Yvonne Strahovski at the Internet Movie Database
- Yvonne Strahovski on Twitter
- Yvonne Strahovski at AllMovie
- Yvonne Strahovski at TVGuide.com
- Bio at the official NBC site for Chuck
- TVGuide.com interview
