The Safe House - Expositions

On Alias Fight Scenes: "I did go overboard. We shot the scene where I was in the shower, and I was so bruised we had to cover my bruises with tattoo paint--they were just huge."

Sydney Bristow, grad student and secret agent on ABC's new series Alias, may remind you of another TV schoolgirl with a secret. But instead of staking bloodsuckers, Sydney sidekicks villains who want to take over the world--and still turns in those term papers on time.

Though her character is weighed down by a double life, actress Jennifer Garner is all smiles. And why not? She has, as she puts it, the role of a lifetime; she recently married Scott Foley (Felicity's Noel); and she's having a blast kicking stuntman butt. And it's all because of a guest spot on Felicity for exec producer J.J. Abrams. Well, sort of.

After doing Felicity for J.J., were you a shoo-in for Alias, his newest show?
J.J. mentioned he was writing a new thing he thought I would be right for, but I was never approached, like, "We're doing this. Would you do it?" I went through the audition process for a month. It was grueling.

This role's very physical. Are you having fun with that?
I worked for so long on learning and perfecting the fights that to actually do them--at full speed, full out, full contact--was so exhilarating and freeing. I never realized I had that much aggression or that I was even capable of acting that way, being that feisty and pissed off.

How'd you train?
When I was auditioning, I looked in the Yellow Pages and found Master Yu, and I went every day for an hour and wore the white outfit. It was a very aggressive form of tae kwon do. Now I'm working with somebody just to get my kicks back, to get flexible again, because I took the summer off.

Are you actually fighting, or is it all smoke and mirrors?
It depends on the kick, but for the most part, you just tap someone, or you don't connect. Most of it is me, but some of the really beautiful kicks are definitely the stuntwoman's. I did them--she just did them like a gold medalist. She actually is a gold medalist from the Seoul Olympics in martial arts. Her name is Dana Hee.

How does hubby Scott feel about your success?
You know, it's the sweetest thing in the world. He watched the pilot literally 20 times, and he will stop anyone on the street and ask, "Have you seen my wife's show?" He's so proud of it, and it means so much to me. I can't even describe it.

You played Hannah, Noel's ex on Felicity. Was there a backlash, since you kept him away from Felicity?
I'm hated. I'm hated on the Internet; I'm hated on the streets. People constantly come up to me and say, "I hate Hannah." And I say, "Well, I married him, so I don't know what else to tell you." At first I took it personally. Then I was like, Jennifer, get over yourself.

And now that you've got your own romantic lead, is Scott jealous?
Eventually, maybe. But he likes Michael [Vartan]. Michael beat him at Ping-Pong the other day, which Scott'll kill me for saying publicly, but nobody beats him at Ping-Pong, so he really respects Michael for that. He's really being good about it all. But you know, for some reason, it's harder for guys to deal with it. I'm just not jealous, and I like [Scott's Felicity costar] Keri [Russell] so much that it's never really bothered me.

Do you think Scott will make a guest appearance?
No, he'll be busy with his own show, and I think that would not be our way of doing it. But, oh, don't I wish. I'd love to fight him.

Thanks to vaughnetc.!

Š E! Online 2001

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