Toronto Sun
Monday, December 10, 2001
Warrior
babe
By Bill Brioux
Jennifer Garner stars in Alias, a new Sunday night action hour that
is part of the hottest trend in TV. No, not spy shows (although there
are four new ones this season, including the acclaimed 24, The Agency
and UC Undercover), but Babes Kicking Butt on TV.Garner plays Sydney
Bristow, a brainy and mild-mannered grad student by day, kick-ass spy
girl by night. When she slaps on the red fright wig and squeezes into
the black cat suit, bad guys beware.
The genre got a shot in the arm last season with the debut of Dark
Angel starring raven-haired beauty Jessica Alba. Buffy The Vampire
Slayer has been taking on all comers for years, as well as Nikita,
the Toronto-produced hour starring Peta Wilson.
Add reruns of Xena into the mix, as well as recent big-screen vixens
such as Tomb Raider's Lara Croft, and you've got a bevy of warrior
babes. What's a new girl to do to stand out?
For Garner, you get yourself to a gym. "I wanted the role so badly
and was so determined to do anything I could to help me get the
part," she told TV critics last July in Pasadena, Calif., at the
annual network press tour.
"While I was auditioning, I actually looked into the Yellow Pages and
found somebody who taught tae kwon do and I went every day for a
month. Luckily, I was a ballet dancer as a kid so I had pretty good
aim with my kicks. But I trained from the minute I was auditioning
and then once I got the role it just kind of intensified."
Victor Garber (Titanic) is all business as Sydney's estranged, double
agent dad. Michael Vartan (The Mists Of Avalon), Carl Lumbly (Cagney
& Lacey) and Ron Rifkin (L.A. Confidential) also star.
Garner first came to the attention of executive producer J.J. Abrams
after she was cast as Noel's (Scott Foley) girlfriend on his other
series, Felicity. Garner, who also was featured in Jennifer Love
Hewitt's short-lived series Time Of Your Life, was so convincing in
Felicity that she and Foley got married in real life.
"My wife and I went to their wedding," said Abrams, who at the time
was still looking for the lead in his new series. Garner came to mind
(after a ton of prompting from Foley), but Abrams wasn't sure she
could tackle the tough parts.
That's when Garner hit the gym. She showed off her muscle last June
in Toronto at CTV's press launch for the series. At that point, she
had only shot the pilot, but since then she has maintained a strict
regimen of two-hour-per-day workouts. That left her more than ready
for the action scenes.
"Shooting the fight scene in the garage (in the pilot) was the best
day of my life, beyond a shadow of a doubt," she said. "It was the
most fun I've ever had."
Abrams says that the idea for Alias grew out of a writing session
last year on Felicity. "And I said, 'You know what would just rock?
If Felicity was recruited by the CIA because then she'd have to go on
these missions internationally, and be in these incredibly high-
stakes, life-and-death situations. She couldn't tell Ben. She
couldn't tell Noel.' " He immediately went off and wrote the idea
down.
He admits that the premise for the show is a bit ludicrous, inspired
by the independent movie Run, Lola Run, which features another
renegade spy girl who also has a thing for bright red wigs. Abrams
was also a fan of the original La Femme Nikita film that inspired
that series.
While there are some dark and intense scenes, Alias shouldn't be
confused with the by-the-book reality of The Agency. "Our show is
hyper-reality," he says, allowing for as many comic book flights of
fancy as his writers can muster.
©
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