Alias is reportedly returning to TV, but the original Sydney Bristow who fans got to know won’t be a part of it.
More than a decade after Alias went off the air in 2006, Jennifer Garner confirmed the rumors of a reboot for the drama in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she also said she didn’t know much more about it.
“I've heard that there's an Alias reboot happening, but no one's talked to me about it. I mean it would be totally different,” she told THR.
Garner has said the revival is up to creator J.J. Abrams, but she has some ground rules if the show does return. “If they didn't have me on as a guest, I would be very, very angry,” she said. “But I can't imagine it being that serious yet because I haven't heard anything about it at all.”
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If Garner does make it back, there also no way to know if she’d reprise her role — although it would be fascinating to check in with Sydney so many years later. The character is iconic for a reason, as Alias’s legacy as a feminist show has reshaped modern-day sci-fi. Sydney was a trailblazer for strong female protagonists in television, especially considering the TV landscape has historically lacked representation for women kicking ass in their own stories.
While she’s mostly focused on film since Alias ended its five-season run, Garner is returning to the small screen this weekend with the premiere of her new HBO show, Camping, from Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner of Girls fame. She says switching between formats isn’t totally unnatural.
“I've never thought of returning to TV as some huge thing, so it wasn't a barrier to me that I had to get over," Garner told THR. "It was a job. And it was shot in L.A., and the words were genius, and Jenni Konner and Lena Dunham were a pair that anyone would be so lucky to work with. And once I was in the process of saying yes, it just kept getting better and better.”