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The Star Online
November 4, 2003
Role to relish
by Mumtaj Begum
Victor Garber talks about his double agent role and his co-stars in the highly entertaining series Alias. MUMTAJ BEGUM has the story.
THE appeal of Alias is not so much about the spy theme or the athletic actions performed by the heroine. As cool as the action sequences are, it is the complicated relationships – built on lies – that is the driving force behind Alias. The unusually tense tie between Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) and his daughter, Sydney (Jennifer Garner), is the most interesting. Their animosity (and affection) towards each other would whet any psychologist’s curiosity.
“My feeling about Jack is that he’s not very good at parenting but he’s getting better,” says Garber via a conference call from Los Angeles recently. “People say, ‘you’re such a bad father. Why are you so mean? Why are so difficult?’
“But I think everything he does is an attempt to protect his daughter. Sometimes his methods are questionable, and even his morals are questionable, but his intention is always to protect Sydney. So in that way I think he’s a good parent.”
Alias made its debut in 2001 in the United States and has made Garner and Michael Vartan into stars.
It revolves around Sydney who finds out after her fiance is murdered that her employer, SD-6, is part of a terrorist group and not part of the CIA, as she was led to believe. So she becomes a double agent to snuff out the establishment and to avenge her fiance’s death.
As it turns out, she’s not alone. Her estranged father who works for SD-6 is also a double agent for CIA and is now her only ally. Together, they fight for justice, each driven by personal loss, but they don’t always agree with each other.
According to Garber, the biggest draw of the show is Garner. “I’ve been very impressed with how she has taken the role to the next level.”
Another pull, he feels, is that Alias is very intelligent entertainment. “It makes demands on audiences that a lot of shows don’t. You have to pay attention and know what happened before, which makes it hard to follow for some people. But that’s what makes it interesting.”
Actually, that is one of the biggest turn-offs if you are not hooked on Alias. Each episode is not a stand-alone and it ends with a cliff-hanger, with the conclusion revealed in the first five minutes of the next episode. It is a series that seeks viewers’ commitment. Then there is all that unspoken words between Sydney and the people around her like her father, her CIA go-between (Vartan) and her close friends, which can drive the viewer up the wall if you haven’t been following the series.
Although on paper, Alias’ blueprint is like a soap opera, there is no denying this production has a bunch of good writers creating unpredictable plotline in every episode. Not surprisingly, it was the writing that impressed veteran actor Garber to sign up.
“When I first read the script a few years ago I thought it was one of the best written scripts I had ever read. The first thing I read was of my character on the phone talking to Sydney’s fiance. Though short, it was so beautifully written, and it made me laugh. I thought if I wanted to play a character, this would be it.”
Then there are all those other good stuff – Sydney’s close shaves with death, famous names (Quentin Tarantino, Christian Slater, Roger Moore and Peter Berg) making guest appearances, tight editing that refuses to follow the proper timeline and of course the funky outfits Garner wears when on assignments.
Of late, Garber also gets to wear something other than suits. “I like the fact that Jack is always wearing a tie except when he’s on a mission. I do like it when I get out there and dress up, or dress down, a little bit. We’re in our third season and recently I spent three days in sort of a jumpsuit. That was a nice change.”
In the second and third seasons, Garber gets to do more action scenes. He jokingly says he prefers to “torture and kill” than to sit in the office and talk about missions. “Those are difficult scenes to act.”
Although he doesn’t do any training for the action scenes, there were more of such scenes in the latter seasons.
“I kept saying that I cannot do any of it. Then I did one fight scene, and they said it looked good. Because I did it well enough, they’ve given me more. That’s my downfall,” laughs Garber.
There’s no denying that it is thanks to Garber that Jack has become a very complex character. “The most sinister aspect of Jack is his detachment, his ability to distance himself from his feelings,” analyses the actor.
Garber, 54, comes off as a warm and charming person who compliments his co-stars generously. “Jennifer (Garner) is the most generous, kind and thoughtful person. I feel very, very fortunate. She’s quite an extraordinary person.”
On why he became an actor: “I think from a very young age I always have this desire to perform. I am a singer and I did musicals when I was younger. And frankly I am not good at anything else. I’m really not.”
On the challenges of his work: “I find that everything I do is demanding, like Jack Bristow is a complicated man and I do a lot of explaining in the show, it takes a lot of energy and concentration. I have to be prepared and I have to work very hard.”
On directing one day: “I have no interest in directing. I’ve no talent for it. I don’t know how directors do it. They must have so much going on in their head all the time. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen to me.”
Unlike the tight-lipped Bristow, Garber knows how to laugh at himself and make witty remarks. “I’ll leave that (taking off clothes) to Ron Rifkin,” he responds quickly when told that fans want to see Garber in shower scenes.
About the only thing he shares with his Alias character, he says, is the passion they have for their work.
Born in Canada, Garber has been a leading Broadway actor for some 20 years. He began acting at the age of 10 in children’s productions back in his hometown, London, Ontario. At the age of 16, he moved to Toronto to join a singing group, The Sugar Shoppe.
His appearances on films and TV shows may be brief, but his characters are always memorable.
His role choices have been diverse too and on different platforms – theatre, film and TV.
He received an Emmy nomination for Alias last year and this year. He also received Golden Satellite Award and Saturn Award this year for best supporting actor in a Television Series for Alias.
In 2001, he received Emmy nominations for his guest appearance in Frasier and for his performance in the TV movie, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
Tucked under his belt are also four Tony nominations for his work on stage – Damn Yankees, Lend Me a Tenor, Deathtrap and Little Me. Some of the newer films featuring Garber include Titanic, Sleepless in Seattle and Legally Blonde.
Garber is not bothered about being typecast after Alias as he can always go back to theatre if choices become too limited in the future. But for now, he enjoys going to the set of Alias every week.
“If you were to come to the set of Alias, you’d know how silly we all are. And I mean, silly.
“The hardest thing for me is not to keep laughing. Jennifer particularly is like a clown. One day, we were doing a serious scene and fast talking like we do and we could not stop laughing and the director had to stop the production. We had to go to our trailer and calm down and do it all again.
“We’re like a family. The crew loves working on the show although we work long hours and very hard. Nobody on the show is difficult.”
Although his character hardly smiles, Garber reveals Bristow has a sense of humour. “I think there are little hints of that every now and then and hopefully there’ll be more. He’s a pretty serious guy, but I think he has a sense of humour because otherwise I couldn’t play him,” chuckles Garber.
His fondness for the show is apparent when the question about a musical episode of Alias was raised. He immediately replies: “I hope not. Because that would mean the end of the series.
“We joke about it all the time,” Garber continues: “J.J. Abrams (Alias creator) says his dream is to have Jack and Sydney stuck in a cabaret and the only way they can get out is by singing a song. Jennifer is a fantastic singer and David Anders, who plays Sark, well, he has a beautiful voice. So we could work on it.
“You never know. Nothing would surprise me on the show.”
AXN (Astro Channel 17) is showing the second season of Alias every Tuesday at 9pm. Repeats are on Wednesdays (1am, noon and 11pm), Thursdays (3am) and Sundays (10am and 7pm).
© Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd 2003
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