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ARTICLES - "A Bit Damp Around the Edges"

A Bit Damp Around the Edges by Kate O'Hare
Zap2it.com, Aug 16, 2002

The last time viewers saw CIA agent Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) of ABC's espionage drama "Alias," he had just failed in his attempt to outrun a charging wall of water. A door slammed shut, and he was pressed by the flood against a glass window, apparently trapped and doomed.

Sexy double agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) -- whom Vaughn has been shepherding in her covert attempts to bring down evil organization SD-6 -- desperately tried to break the glass with a fire extinguisher, but to no avail. For all intents and purposes, it looked as if Vaughn had gone to that big Agency headquarters in the sky.

According to rumor, there is a funeral scene in the season opener, which airs Sunday, Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. ET.

Fear not, actor Vartan is alive and healthy, or at least he was doing a good imitation of it during the party culminating ABC's presentation at the semiannual Television Critics Association press tour in July.

Seated to one side of a rosebush-encircled gazebo at the mansion that serves as the headquarters for the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, Calif., Vartan -- looking tanned and rested after a summer of doing, as he says, "not a damn thing" -- offers assurances to worried fans.

"So far, so good," he says. "Modern medicine does wonders. I loved the ending, honestly. Cliffhangers are always fun, especially when they involve you. [Producer J.J. Abrams] told me I was coming back." Vartan admits he thought, "What if he changes his mind after the summer, and it's 'Hey, all of a sudden, let's make Vaughn dead?'"

As to the filming of the final not-quite-drowning scene, Vartan says, "It was very easy. It was a pool in Burbank next to the lot. There were certified divers everywhere, so it was very easy."

One wonders, how will this apparent near-death experience affect Vaughn? "Yeah," says Vartan, "he will survive -- Gloria Gaynor, once again -- but there are interesting storylines that I've heard about that will make that question you ask very apropos, if you will."

"I think he has a lot of issues that are being brought back up to the surface because of what Sydney's going through with her family, so it's a fun, parallel thing to play as an actor."

No doubt, a lot of these issues are connected to revelations over the course of the season that Sydney's mother is not a dead professor, as she thought, but a very alive KGB agent (played by Lena Olin) who killed many CIA officers, including Vaughn's father.

This may be the least of Vaughn's worries as he struggles to keep his relationship with Sydney professional -- especially concerning her curious -- and so far, platonic -- journalist friend, Will (Bradley Cooper).

As of yet, Vaughn and Will have not met, but Vartan says, "I believe that I've seen pictures of him, being the thorough investigative officer that I am. I know exactly who he is, where he's from, what he does, especially the fact that Sydney has no romantic involvement with him whatsoever -- even though there was one kiss. I know everything about the man."

This makes Vaughn sound a bit like a stalker. "A little bit," says Vartan. "She's my girl -- take care of my girl."

Although Vaughn reportedly had a girlfriend at the beginning of the season, his love life lately has been nonexistent. Asked if that will change in the second season, Vartan says, "Believe me, nobody's been lobbying for it more than me. It doesn't have to be Jennifer either; just get Vaughn a girlfriend, something."

"Work, work, work -- but I hope he does get one, just for his sanity. He's got to get some. This is the year he's going to get some. He's got to be able to make Sydney jealous a little bit. She made him jealous with that guy (ex-lover Noah Hicks, played by Peter Berg), that horrible person. Now it's my time to make her jealous."

As for real stalkers, Vartan has begun to see the flip side of fame. "Probably around the People's Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, that's when people started hearing about 'Alias,' therefore watching it, therefore recognizing some of the cast members a little more. You get the freaks, then you get the really nice ones."

"The bad experiences are people coming up out of nowhere and grabbing you, literally touching you. I'm like, 'Dude, get your hands off of me. I don't know you.' It has nothing to do with celebrity; it has to do with basic rules of human engagement. I would never go up and grab a clerk or a racecar driver or a doctor, so what makes people think they can go up and grab an actor?"

"That really freaks me out, because I don't have an actor's mentality. So that's weird. But most of the people are really nice."

In its first season, "Alias" managed to earn 11 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Garner; Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Abrams; and Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Victor Garber, who plays Sydney's double-agent father, Jack Bristow.

However, just because Garber, a former song-and-dance man, received an Emmy nomination doesn't mean he gets more respect from his co-workers. "We have his Christmas CD," Vartan says, "so we make fun of him."

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