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The Charleston Gazette
May 2, 2003
Say, wasn’t that ... ‘Alias’ star enjoys rare visit home
by Rusty Marks
Actress Jennifer Garner doesn't get home much. When she does, the
George Washington High School graduate mostly wants to relax.
"The reason I've been avoiding the press is that I'm home," said
Garner, who is in Charleston this week visiting friends and
relatives. Garner, star of the hit television series "Alias" and the
recent action film "Daredevil," said there ought to be somewhere she
can go and just be herself.
"I'm tired," Garner said. "I just want to be able to come home and be
with my mom and be with my friends."
Garner grew up in Charleston, performing in local ballet productions
and shows by the Charleston Light Opera Guild, where director Nina
Denton Pasinetti was an early mentor. The 1990 George Washington
graduate moved to New York after college. She had some early work in
front of the camera as a recurring guest star on The WB's "Felicity,"
and had supporting roles in the films "Dude, Where's My Car?"
and "Pearl Harbor," but it was her 2001 spy series — in which Garner
plays a college graduate recruited by the CIA — that propelled her
into the public eye.
Garner is getting used to public recognition, though she said fame
isn't her goal.
"We'll figure it out as we go along," she said. "I didn't get into
this to be famous. I wanted to be Miss Denton. I wanted to be in
musicals on Broadway."
Garner has spent much of this week relaxing at home and catching up
with friends. On Thursday, she visited George Washington High School,
but left when television crews showed up.
"I didn't want anybody to know about it," she said. "I just wanted to
be there for the kids and to see my school.
"I don't think it's a big deal to say hello to me, but if it's a big
deal to them, I am of that school, and I'm proud to be from here. I
did it from my heart — it wasn't a publicity stunt."
Fortunately, she said, most people in Charleston respect her privacy.
On Wednesday, Garner got to enjoy a rare treat — an undisturbed lunch
with her father and younger sister.
"People knew in the restaurant we were there, and they left us
alone," she said.
Garner is accustomed to facing a media frenzy in Los Angeles, but
less so in her own hometown. "I get embarrassed that there are so
many interviews," she said. "I'm a normal Garner girl. I'm the middle
of three sisters.
"I may be famous to the rest of the world, but I'm not to myself, and
I'm not to my mom and to my friends."
© The Charleston Gazette 2003
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