|
Guide (The Philippines)
September 2003
The Spy Who Loved Me
by Pia Chikiamco
Thanks to Jaycee at Vartypants Vigilantes for the scans! :)
Michael Vartan wants to make a fool out of himself.
On camera that is.
The star of the hit action series, Alias, who plays the straight-
laced and somber CIA Agent Michael Vaughn, would love to do more
comedic roles.
And he'd probably do it well.
This is despite the fact that the character he plays is always
serious. After all, Vaughn is thinking about national security. But
Vartan definitely has more of a sense of humor than his alter-ego,
often cracking jokes and even mimicking his mother. When asked if he
wakes up in the morning, looks into the mirror and thinks "God, I'm
hot!" he replies that he does only when it's summer and his
airconditioner is broken. But in the winter? "No, I never do." A
Hollywood heartthrob who's modest? Someone better call the people at
Ripley's.
But believe it or not, Vartan is the real deal, exuding kindness and
charisma even over the telephone. He's definitely not a diva, even
when asked to wait a couple of minutes for a reporter, and taking on
the blame for the delay. When his dog pees on the carpet in the
middle of the interview, he cleans it up himself while still
answering the reporters' questions. It's no wonder that he's
considered to be one of the most eligible bachelors in Hollywood.
Born in France, where he lived until the age of 18 before moving to
the United States, he got his first big break in the Gwyneth Paltrow
film The Pallbearer, where he first met Alias honcho JJ Abrams, who
was a producer. However, it was until he landed the role of Drew
Barrymore's teacher-cum-love interest in the movie Never Been Kissed
that he really registered on Hollywood's radar. After a guest-
starring role on Ally McBeal, and a part as Lancelot in the
miniseries The Mists of Avalon, he landed the role of Michael Vaughn,
Sydney Bristow's CIA handler, on Alias.
As a sort on in-joke and homage to his actors, Abrams gave the Alias
characters the same background as his actors. Both Vartan and his
alter-ego were born in the same French village and their mothers have
the same maiden name. Actually, the actor says that aside form the
fact that Vaughn is a CIA agent, among all his acting roles, his
character on Alias is the one that is most like him in real
life. "[Vaughn's] a pretty simple character. What you see is what you
get. He tries to do the right thing. He's a pretty decent fellow and
there's no sort of strange things that are lurking in his psyche that
might make him snap. And that's kind of how I see myself as well."
Even Vaughn's sense of style appeals to him. One of his favorite
things about the show is the fact that he gets to wear slick suits
everyday at work. He doesn't envy the many crazy outfits that
Jennifer Garner has to wear to play Sydney and he has no intentions
of trying to change his character's wardrobe. "I'm not gonna mess
with it if I don't have to."
Vartan considers himself very lucky to be part of such a phenomenal
television series, and early on he knew that the show would be a
hit. "Alias has been the most fun job I've ever had and the most fun
role I've ever had. I mean, I get to play a spy, get to wear a nice
Hugo Boss suit and wear a gun and play with gadgets and I get to work
with these wonderful actors. It's really a dream come true."
As an actor, the many dramatic shifts in the show also appeal to him.
While on the surface Alias may seem to be all about action, it
actually extends far beyond kicking butt. "We're telling a story
about relationships between a father and a daughter, relationships
between lovers and friends and how all these relationships are
affected by extreme and very intense situations. The fact that it
takes place in the world of espionage and spies just makes it more
appealing to the eye and a litte bit more fun."
Vartan is also thankful that he doesn't have to undergo special
training to play Vaughn. Although in the first year of the show, they
did have a retired CIA agent as a consultant. With the way the
character is written "it's not that hard to grasp what they're trying
to achieve so I don't have to do much homework. Thank God." And
unlike Garner, he doesn't have to do a lot of stunts or engage in
martial arts training. "The first year [Vaughn's] been in the office
mostly, so I got a couple of paper cuts and I broke a couple of
pencils," he says with a laugh.
While he's happy with his role on Alias, like any other actor, he's
on the lookout for other opportunities, but only the right ones. His
last movie was the Robin Williams vehicle One Hour Photo in which he
played a philandering husband. "The thing about film is that you kind
of have to get very lucky and you have to get hired by the right
people. I think one of my qualities as an actor is that I'm very
patient. If it's meant to be, it will happen, if not, I'm very happy
doing other things."
Those "other things" refer not only to acting roles, but also to
sports, which he says would probably be what he'd be doing if he
wasn't acting. Music is also another possibility, but "luckily, I
don't have to worry about that." He loves hockey and plays a lot of
it, and also loves tennis and golf. Once upon a time he even
considered becoming a professional pool player until he realized he
could make a lot more money as an actor. He admits he's not much of a
TV person, although he does watch a lot of CNN, preferring to unwind
by reading a book or playing the guitar.
Vartan's also a big eBay addict where he surfs for sports
memorabilia, but he's never had the courage to send more than $100 to
an eBay trader. "Nothing too expensive because who knows what that
other person on the end of the Internet may be?" However, he was
surprised when his mother called him told him there was a clock being
auctioned off that had his face on it. "It was the most horrifying
thing ever." He acknowledges that things like the clock, and women
trying to pick him up (a "rare occurrence," he says), come with the
territory of being a television star, but he says that "I can't
imagine what someone like Tom Cruise must have on eBay so I think I'm
getting off easy with just a clock."
Right now, despite those pesky rumors that declare he's involved with
his Alias leading lady, he says he's enjoying the single life. He
admits that the last time he did something crazy was at a friend's
bachelor party in Las Vegas. But beyond that, he won't
elaborate. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," he teases. Plus,
he's very dedicated to his job, which not only involves filming in
the show, but promoting it doing press junkets and interviews (like
this one we had on a Sunday) during weekends.
Vartan remains very tight-lipped about the developments in the third
season, which he was in the midst of filming until eight in the
morning when the interview took place. As for season two, which is
premiering on AXN this month, he jokes that "you'll discover that
Weiss is actually a woman," referring to the character played by Greg
Grunberg. He also enjoyed working with season two guest star Ethan
Hawke. "He's one of the great young actors that we have and he's such
a nice guy."
Vartan's optimistic about the long-term prospects of the show,
despite the lackluster ratings in the US, which he doesn't believe
reflect just how popular the show really is. "The amount of people
that stop me on the street on a daily basis to tell me how much they
love our show is ridiculous." (The show, however, is popular in
Asia.) But he probably doesn't need to worry about being unemployed
anytime soon. Not only did Alias just reap 11 Emmy nominations,
including nods for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor for Victor
Garber, and Best Supporting Actress for Lena Olin (Irina), but
Jennifer Garner just renewed her contract through to the 2007-2008
season, which would be the show's 7th year on air.
While he wasn't nominated himself, Vartan is very proud of what the
show has achieved and gracious enough to give credit to the rest of
the cast and crew for the show's success. And for the successful
Hollywood actor who's humble enough to clean up after his dog and is
wary of getting conned eBay, the best part of being an actor is not
the adulation of fans and free gift baskets at awards shows,
it's "relationships that last a lifetime."
© Guide (The Philippines)
 Back To Exclusively Michael 2003
|
