Her bruising role as a CIA double agent in spy series Alias has won Jennifer Garner awards and movie offers galore. We meet the actress who's kicking her way to the top and bring you the low-down on the show.
Jennifer Garner is looking very pleased with herself. But her proud smile has nothing to the with the brisk business her films 'Catch me if you can' with Leonardo DiCaprio and 'Dardevil' with Ben Affleck are doing at cinemas right now. Not is the thought of the Golden Globe award and Emmy nominations she has won for her pulsating role as student-turned-double-agent Sidney Bristow in slick spy-fi series Alias, which returns for a second season on Sky One this month. Instead, Jennifer, 30, is beaming as she shows off a grisly-looking scar on her shoulder, sustained in a stunt on the set of the show that made her a star.
"It happened during the last episode of the first series." She giggles. "I flipped over a guy's back and did a double kick. It was the middle of the night in a narrow hallway and I slammed my shoulder into the wall and slid down. The wound was big, it was gross. But at least now I have some proof that I'm on 'Alias'."
If she wants more proof, Houston-born Jennifer need only check her answerphone. Her eye-catching screen presence and her heart-melting beauty has directors such as Steven Spielberg clamouring to hire her. It's also secured an army of fans hooked on Alias's weekly dose of gadgets, grit and gore. If you missed the first series turn to page 14 for our guide of the show, which will bring you fully up to speed with it's intriguing twists and turns.
Helped by a hip techno soundtrack and gadgetry worthy of James Bond, the first season lured stars including Quentin Tarantino and Roger Moore to play cameo roles as villains, cementing the show's smart image and increasing the spotlight on Jennifer.
"All the casting directors who didn't pick her up before 'Alias' are probably kicking themselves now," laughs co-star Michael Vartan, who plays CIA operative Micheal Vaugh. "She's amazing, you just cannot stop watching her. I can see her being the next Julia Roberts, I can see her winning an Oscar. But I can also see her three years from now saying 'I quit' and moving to a farm somewhere and having a family, because ultimately that's the kind of person she is."
Until recently, Jennifer's movie credits didn't extend far beyond modest rules in 'Pearl Harbour' and 'Dude, where's my car?' But someone had bigger plans for her, 'Alias' creator JJ Abrams produced the US TV drama series 'Felicity,' in which Jennifer appeared with Scott Foley (now her husband) and had her in mind for the role of Sidney all along. Her co-star Victor Garber (who plays her father and fellow CIA agent Jack Bristow) reckons it was only a matter of time before bigger offers arrived:" I'm sure she'll be a huge movie star, " he says. "Monsters aren't created in this industry, they're just there all along. Steven Spielberg described her to me as a 'character actress', which is a huge compliment."
Amid the attention, Jennifer is keeping her feet on the ground as she limbers up for another scene in the new series of 'Alias'. "The camera guys were giving me a hard time this morning because some poll came out that said something nice about me, " she coyly on being ranked 20 in a '50 sexiest TV stars of all time' list in America's TV guide magazine.
"They were all saying, 'Oh Jen, you think you're all hot now!' And I was like 'No!' I don't really get away with a whole lot, I can promise you." But it's clear her fame has not escaped attention of her 'Alias' co-stars.
"She's kissing Leonardo DiCaprio, she's kissing Ben Affleck, she's doing all right," Teases Michael Vartan. "I just think what a letdown it's going to be for her if she has to kiss me. If she calls me Ben in our kissing scene, I'm going to flip."
Is this a hint that the Mulder and Scully-like unrequited love between Sydney and Vaugh is going to be taken further in this new series? Scripts are kept under tight wraps so even the stars don't know what's coming until very late, but Jennifer is playing it down: "Sydney's relied on Vaugh for her life, so it's natural that intimacy would be a year stronger. And, of course, she's totally in love with him and he's in love with her - but that the end of the story."
Micheal, meanwhile, admits, he's hoping the kiss is coming: "I'd be lying if I said I didn't hope that my character got the girl. You feel like shouting. 'Come on you two. Are you kidding? Are you never going to try even once?'"
Between the gripping stories and Jennifer's rocketing profile, season two of 'Alias' has stirred plenty of interest in the US. The show even snared ABC's coveted post-Super Bowl slot in January, and with Jennifer set to take a full-on lead in '13 going on 30'for which she's earning a reported $3milion, she's fast becoming a household name and running out of time to spend at home. "Yeah, there's more stuff to do," she says modestly of her success.
But in the meantime she's happy to return to the subject of her 'Alias' stunts. "I'm getting better, I'm getting much better" she says excitedly. "I really love that part of the job. But I don't like to fight actors that I know, I like to fight stunt people, because then I'm not so nervous if I tap'em, and I can trust them to keep their eye out for me, I don't like firing up that much anger at someone that I like so much."
Jennifer's sure be more fired up than ever in what promises to be a phenomenal 2003, but even if she takes a few knocks along the way, you can rest assured she'll still be happy to show of those bruises.
