Scott Bakula was announced to be playing the role of Stephen Bartowski in January, 2009 as part of an extended arc to close out the season.Cast Update: January 16, 2009, Zap2It.com In addition to his resemblance to Zachary Levi, Bakula was cast as Stephen Bartowski because Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak consider themselves huge Quantum Leap fans, and found Bakula's ability to jump from comedy to drama to action reminiscent of Zachary Levi's.Development Update: January 26, 2009: From Inside the Box Chris Fedak has stated that Stephen Bartowski being Orion was part of the show's background mythology from the conception of the series, describing Chuck as Luke Skywalker and born into his role, rather than Peter Parker, who stumbled into it.Interview: April 7, 2009: What's Alan Watching
