If you were paying attention to television in the early 2000s, then you absolutely knew about Alias. The action-packed espionage drama made a star out of lead Jennifer Garner, who played the smart, heroic, and tough (but still somehow very relatable) double agent, Sydney Bristow, to much acclaim. While working on series like what we’ll see on the 2026 TV schedule is already notoriously difficult, Garner just got real about the “insane time” she had filming the hit show.
What Did Jennifer Garner Say About The Insanity Of Working On Alias?
Alias definitely ranks as one of Jennifer Garner’s best movies and shows, in a career that’s spanned nearly 30 years. As opposed to an on-screen spy like James Bond, Garner’s Sydney was frequently in disguise and constantly using different accents and languages to make sure she could hide in plain sight as she went about her various worldwide missions, meaning that this role that helped launch a young actor’s career was a ton of work.
When speaking with Marie Claire recently, the 13 Going on 30 actress opened up about the wild ride she had while making the series, which required a lot more of her than just putting on some new wigs every week. As she explained while discussing why the show resonated so well with viewers:
I think it was the beginning of a lot of people’s careers that have nothing to do with me. All I know is that it was an insane time. I’d work overnight every Friday. Then on Saturdays, I’d get up, work out, and the doorbell would ring: here’s your Russian tutor, here’s your French tutor, here’s the fight team coming to teach you this week’s fights…
Normally, days on a TV show set can be pretty long, but when you have to learn multiple rounds of fight choreography weekly, and do things like be able to speak some lines in Russian well enough that it’s plausible it’s your character’s native tongue (when it definitely isn’t yours), the days go much longer. As she added:
It was really, really intense, but it worked out.
Saying “it worked out” is actually kind of an understatement, but OK Jen! It sounds like the burgeoning star maybe had one official day off work, but considering how good she was at every aspect of playing one of the coolest characters in TV history (to the point where she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama for the very first season) I’m guessing she probably spent a lot of that working any kinks out of her languages/accents/confusing Rambaldi plots/fight scenes. I mean, just look at how good she was:
Man, if nothing else this really makes me miss Alias, shows where you can see badass women leading the charge and, yes, Jennifer Garner on TV on a yearly basis.
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