There are a few different types of people who would call themselves Yvonne Strahovski fans. There are those who first started crushing on her as secret agent Sarah Walker on Chuck, or those who love to hate her as Serena Waterford on The Handmaid’s Tale, or those who love to prevent alien invasions with her as Miranda Lawson in the second and third Mass Effect video games.
However, those are just a few of the more notable characters she has played in her career, none of which are a reflection of her true self. In fact, how can you truly call yourself a fan of the actress if you can only identify her by the fictional people she has portrayed?
Fortunately, there is need to worry as we have you covered with just enough that you need to properly earn your Yvonne Strahovski fan card. The following are six trivial facts about the actress, who will next be seen in the upcoming sci-fi action flick The Tomorrow War, that you may not have known about her before.
Australian-born Yvonne Strahovski’s First Language Was Polish
It may catch some people off guard to hear Yvonne Strahovski speaking in an Australian accent during interview appearances due to how well the actress, who was born in Marouba, Sydney, is able to hide it in most of her onscreen performances. It is even more surprising to learn that English was not even her first language, just as it was to Carson Daly when he asked her if she could speak Polish on his late night show Last Call.
She originally spent much of her childhood speaking the native tongue her parents, who immigrated to Australia from Poland, while growing up and was able to show off her bilingualism as a skill she also shares with her character Sarah Walker when the writers of Chuck added it into series later on.
Yvonne Strahovski Was Cast In Chuck Just Days After Coming To America
Speaking of the cult action comedy series, Chuck was Yvonne Strahovski's American acting debut: a goal that actually took a shorter time to achieve than it typically does for most actors born in the U.S. The actress explained to Sam Rubin on KTLA how she sent NBC clips of her work in Australia, including her acting debut in comedy fantasy series Double the Fist and major role on soap opera Headland, prior to her Los Angeles move. They had apparently already viewed her portfolio by then because, just three days after her arrival, she scored the part of tough-as-nails CIA operative, and love interest of the threatened title character (played by Zachary Levi), Sarah Walker.
Yvonne Strahovski Was Suggested She Change Her Name To “Yvonne Stryker”
In addition to being, arguably, her best known role to date, Sarah Walker may also be the name that Yvonne Strahovski is most often associated with because her fans are not sure how to say her real name. The actress actually revealed in an interview with GQ that the true spelling of her Polish last name is "Strzechowski," but she changed it from the "mouthful of letters" it is to phonetically match its correct pronunciation. She certainly prefers that to the alternative alias someone had suggested to her when she first came to Hollywood: "Yvonne Stryker," which Strahovski told Paul F. Tompkins on web-based talk show Speakeasy sounded similar to a porn star with the same last name.
Motherhood Inspired Yvonne Strahovski’s Performance In Season 3 Of The Handmaid’s Tale
A self-proclaimed tomboy, Yvonne Strahovski probably identifies more with Sarah Walker than her Emmy and Golden-Globe nominated role as Serena Waterford in The Handmaid's Tale. Ironically, during her second season of playing the infertile wife, she became pregnant with her first child and initially attempted to separate that from her performance, until it became the perfect inspiration for her character's arc in Season 3.
Strahovski recalled to Variety how she drew parallels from her own motherly instincts to Serena's covetous relationship with June Osborne's (Elisabeth Moss) biological daughter, Nichole, adding, "When you’re so emotionally invested in a child, and you really believe it is your child as Serena does, you will do anything."
Yvonne Strahovski Did Not Expect To Survive Season 8 Of Dexter
Another Yvonne Strahovski character with experience in adoptive motherhood, and more empathetic than Serena, is Hannah McKay, despite the fact that she, like her boyfriend Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), is a serial murderer.
The actress appeared on the killer, Emmy-winning drama Dexter in Season 7 and became a series regular for its following final run of episodes, which was a most surprising turn of events for her. Strahovski revealed to Digital Spy that surviving her guest spot was flattering enough, but she never expected to play such a crucial part in the series known for killing off so many characters, assuming she would have become of a victim herself at some point.
Evidence Of Yvonne Strahovski’s Former Nose Ring Is Still Visible
Based on all that we have learned about Yvonne Strahvoski thus far, it is safe to assume that she has little to no trouble with being candid about herself to the public. Perhaps this is because she accepts that, sometimes, there will be secrets you just cannot keep hidden, such as facial piercings. When TV Guide asked the actress if she had ever gotten a tattoo before, she had this to say:
No tattoos, but I had a nose ring for five years — and from close-up you can see the hole in my nose still!
Well, looks like there's a new game that fans can play next time they watch Yvonne Strahvoski onscreen. Let us know if you ever spot the nose hole!
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