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Teen Scene
October 18, 2003
Star Profile: David Anders
by Jessica Su
Audiences worldwide hate him and love him. As Mr. Sark, he’s CIA agent Sydney Bristow’s (Jennifer Garner) foil on ABC’s action-drama, Alias. Not even blackmail or torture are above this mysterious British spy, but he never loses his cool. Plus, he wears designer duds, which is reason alone to love him.
The mental disconnect of liking a villain, though, is nothing compared to knowing who Sark really is. “I’m 22 years old…aite?” says David Anders, who plays Sark. “And I'm not British…I'm an American. Believe me when I say I'm from Oregon.”
Yes, this Oregonian landed the infamous role two and a half years after graduating from high school. “I thought I totally bombed the audition and then I found out I got the part from one of the wardrobe girls,” says Anders. “She called me and said, ‘Uh David, I need your sizes for tomorrow.’”
Before his dark turn, Anders defied convention in high school, juggling tennis, basketball and football with musicals, such as Jesus Christ Superstar and My Fair Lady. “He didn’t let high school social status dictate what he wanted to do,” says brother Jason Holt, 33. (Anders adopted a stage name after he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting.) “He established himself in high school athletics long before he decided to go into acting. Once he did acting, he didn’t want to give up sports, because he loves it.”
Although Sark was supposed to appear in just three episodes, Anders became a series regular last season. The mention of Sark’s personal life and the introduction of his girlfriend last season also hinted at his growing role. Now, the full-blown Sarkage is official: Holt says that Anders will appear in all 22 episodes this season, starting September 28.
Rebekah Dorris, Acting President of Anders’s unofficial fan club at http://www.andersfans.com, believes that Sark’s appeal comes from his mysteriousness. “He’s interesting. You can’t figure him out. The other characters have a history, but you don’t know that much about Sark. He has no first name on the show,” says the 15-year-old.
Holt, on the other hand, credits Anders’s acting. “David plays Sark with this toughness to him, but there’s a vulnerability in his facial expressions. He demands attention while he’s on screen. I think people are like, ‘Who is this guy?’” he says.
Anders, of course, relishes the expansion of his role. After all, he says he kept waiting for Sark’s death scene when he first joined Alias. “There’s a positive response to the Sarkster and his killing ways,” says Anders. “It’s completely in the writers’ plan to make Sark a three-dimensional character…I’m going to take a swim in Lake Me this year.”
Don’t let Anders’s confidence and charisma fool you though. He’s still teased about being the youngest member on the show. “I'm the baby,” he says. “Hoojee boojee. Ron [Rifkin, my co-star] says, ‘What the f--k do you know? You’re only 20 years old.’ I’m 21, Ron. Now I’m 22. But I keep growing.”
© Teen Scene Magazine 2003
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