By Wanda
SPOILERS!
Picture this: The entire Alias cast in one room at the same time, answering the questions we've been dying to know.
Either that really happened the other night, or I'm in some sort of Jack-Bristow induced haze and will end up in a crack house.
The event (hallucination?) went down at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences on Monday, and it was so deliriously delicious I'm putting all other gossip on hold this week to give you the highlights, including some behind-the-scenes scoop you'd never have guessed.
Like that Ron Rifkin (Sloane) originally wanted to play Jack, Kevin Weisman (Marshall) first met Merrin Dungey (Francie) when he tried to shag her roomie and that Victor Garber (Jack Bristow) is the funniest man alive.
During one-on-ones and a Q&A panel session, I also wrangled answers to some of the questions you Alias-aholics sent in during Monday's chat. And because the cast is so incredibly endearing and witty, I'm going to sit back and let them do the talking. Yeah, didn't think you'd mind.
That said, here are the top things you don't know about Alias:
Victor Garber Nearly Walked Out on His Audition: I met JJ [Abrams] when I was in New York and he was in L.A., and we did it over satellite. I remember that I loved the script. So I went after the part.Ê I sent him a check, and I got the role. It was totally weird! (laughs) But first, I had to meet JJ over satellite and it was raining in LA and he was late. And I was in New York going, 'What is going on?! I am not waiting!' And finally they say, 'He's here.' And he comes on the television screen and says, 'Hey, Victor? Hi. How ya doing?' And I literally thought, I love him. I just love him." And then I auditioned, and I got it, and it really was the happiest experience of my life."
Spy Daddy Is Just Plain Silly: No one could be further from his character than Garber, who told so many side-splitting stories during the Q&A session that some of his castmates found it hard to breathe. Among them, Jennifer Garner, who at one point turned to him and commented, "I'd just like to say, one glass of merlot and Spy Daddy is doing stand-up."
Francie's Restaurant Has a Secret Name: And Merrin Dungey (who still knows how to get a party started) gave us the inside word. "Trivia! I'll give your readers a tip: There's a secret name of my restaurant, and viewers should look for it. It's on the wall on the window. You're not supposed to know what the name of the restaurant is. It's a little secret between me and the set designer." Shhhhh...
Sydney and Spy Mommy Really Are Dead Ringers: "You know what kills me?" Garner said when asked about her new costar Lena Olin. "I have these huge hands. Huge. And whenever we need a hand double to do an insert or something, we can never find somebody with hands that look like mine. Lena's hands look like mine. So, I'm always obsessed with watching her hands, and I always think, Are my hands that big?!"
Ron Rifkin Almost Played Two Daddies: "Because of a clerical error," JJ Abrams said of his first (almost) run-in with Rifkin years before he cast him, "I was cast in a film, Six Degrees of Separation. And they told me Ron was going to play my father. I was thrilled, because I was a fan. And then he just ditched it. But we almost got to do father and son." And as Ron explained, he almost played Jennifer's dad, too: "I thought the pilot was the best script I'd ever read for television. I said to JJ, 'You know, I really love Sloane, but maybe I should read for the father also.' Anyway, I love being Sloane. I really do."
The Scariest Stunts Are Yet to Come: When I asked which scenes have been the most terrifying to shoot, Garner said, "The next episode, I spend a lot of time under the ice. We shot for 16 hours with me underwater, which is very intense, because you're under there and you're so panicked you think, I could take a deep breath right now, and by accident, totally fill my lungs with water. Other than that, I did this ratchet thing other day. I was on the ground, and then I was on a wall, like, 40 feet high. It was the scariest thing I've ever done. I'm just standing there, and then all of a sudden I'm flying through the air. I stop myself on this guardrail. When you see it, you won't even think it's real. But believe me, I did it--many times. I even broke a rail."
Kevin Gave It the Old College Try: Kevin (Marshall) and Merrin (Francie) first met when they went to UCLA and lived in the same dorm, and he had a crush on her roommate. "She wasn't down with me then," Kevin teased, "But I bet now she's down with me." He also offered up this nugget on upcoming episodes, "I'm going on a mission. I'm not supposed to tell anybody, but I go on a mission in episode 10."
We Aren't the Only Ones Dying for Info: The writers really do keep the cast members in the dark. And although Michael Vartan and Garber said they'd prefer it that way, Rifkin and Garner sang a different tune. "I would like to know everything before it happens," she said. "That is why I sneaked into the writers' room last season. I also kind of hover around JJ and the other writers when they're in a moment of inspiration and hope they'll be so excited when they come up with something they cannot help but divulge."
Now on to a few answers to your burning Alias Q's:
From Margo: What is the secret? What did Jack do to Sydney?
JJ: The little tease I can tell you is it involves why Irina [Olin] was sent to the United States to begin with.
From Larrypigtails: I can't believe Alias isn't doing better in the ratings. Do the producers worry about the numbers?
JJ: The fact is we're up against The Sopranos, which is beating network TV. It's a phenomenon. We're up against the Law & Order franchise, which is mega, and Angel. We haven't even been up against Malcolm in the Middle yet, which is going to be huge. Truly, I don't know what I would watch. What's important is I think we're doing some good work, and the show is creatively more fun for us to make than it was all of last year. I love where we're going with our audience. And I'm just so grateful for the audience that watches.
From Gail Jones: Please tell us more about Vaughn's upcoming illness. I adore the character and don't want him to go away.
Michael: I can't tell you much because I really don't know. But I do get really, really sick. And Sydney has to save me, which is weird. I flatline and everything--it's my best work ever.
From Garrett: This is for several of you: What do you want to happen to your character?
David Anders (Mr. Sark): Maybe get a first name?
Jennifer: I'd love to see some romance in Sydney's life. She could use some levity and to chill out. I know who I think it should be and who I think is a really good friend. But I don't know what's going to happen.
Bradley: I would love to go on missions. I was like every other kid, who played cowboys and Indians and loved to pretend to get shot.
Merrin: I would like for Francie to find out. Or have a conversation where everyone isn't lying to her.
Victor: I honestly don't know. I just want to become an action figure.
© E! Online 2002
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