'Chuck': Meet Mekenna Melvin, aka Casey's daughter

Most actor-audition stories are pretty similar: You go in, you read for the role several times, you maybe test with other actors, you get the part.

That wasn't quite how it worked for Mekenna Melvin, who returns to "Chuck" Monday (Oct. 11) as Casey's (Adam Baldwin) daughter, Alex.

"When I first got the audition, the title was '20-year-old girl.' It was one line, one scene. It wasn't even one line, it was one word, which was 'Mom,'" Melvin tells Zap2it. "I basically had no information going into the audition; I just knew I had to say 'Mom.'"

She got the part, and then her manager called to say her character now had a name: Alex. Oh, and by the way, she was Casey's long-lost daughter. "I was like, 'What?!? This is so awesome!"

A while after her first appearance, "Chuck" decided to bring Alex back -- and Melvin basically had to audition again. That worked out too, and on Monday she'll make her fifth appearance on the show as Alex. Her dad might not be quite as proud of her this time around, since she's become close -- possibly a little too close -- with Morgan (Joshua Gomez).

"They've been having a conversation for a while," Melvin says of Alex and Morgan, who has hinted a couple times this season that he's involved with Alex. "Morgan was the liaison in a sense between her and Casey. So they've definitely been talking consistently. We'll find out how it all plays out on Monday."

We're assuming, though, that Casey's not exactly thrilled to learn that? "I think you're probably right on," Melvin says with a laugh.

Being on "Chuck" has also meant coming into the show's rabid fans, but Melvin says the interactions she's had with fans have been great so far. "Even the first time I was on, which was just a little flash ... they kind of found me on Twitter. And they've just been really positive and encouraging and awesome. It's so great to hear they really like the character. 'Chuck's' fans, as you know, are amazing, and they're on the web and they fight for this show because they love it. I've felt only positive things from them."

Melvin also guests on an episode of ABC's "Detroit 1-8-7" later this month. She's shot three "Chuck" episodes so far this season and is hoping for more.

"My contracts are episode by episode," she says, "so every time I fast-forward to the end of the script and check: Did she die in a fiery plane crash? No? OK, there's a chance she can come back."

"Chuck" airs at 8 p.m. ET Monday on NBC.

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Photo credit: Polly Cole