Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Guest Stars in Our Eyes

We love our original cast! The show wouldn’t be the same without Marshall or Weiss, Dixon or Vaughn, but over the course of the last 5 seasons, Alias has housed some of the most stellar guest stars in the biz. From Quentin Tarantino (McKenas Cole) to Vivica A. Fox (Toni Cummings) to Sonia Braga (Sophia Vargas/Elena Derevko), these actors come in for an episode or two and add a little extra flavor, a little flare. Who is your favorite guest star from Alias? Why? Which character did they play and in what episode(s) did they appear?

My fav: Ricky Gervais appeared as Daniel Ryan, an international terrorist bomber looking to sell his latest weapon to the Covenant. He appears in episode 3.15 “Façade.” His character is so confident and flippant. He knows something is up, but he can’t prove it. Once he discovers the CIA deceived him and Sydney was the Covenant agent that killed his brother, he turns the table on the team. Excellent acting, seeing as Gervais is a comedian, internationally known for his hilarious role on the original British version of The Office.

PS. If you haven't yet, watch 3.15 "Facade" with the audio commentary. Greg Grunberg aka Weiss, talks about what it was like working with Gervais. I guess the set experienced some side-splitting laughter!! Gervais also made the season 3 bloopers. Jennifer accidentally spills water on Gervais during a scene in which Sydney is suppose to give his character something to drink.

PPS. My girls on the basketball team are currently #1 in the league! YAHOO!! We have a big game to night, wish us all luck!

16 comments:

amy said...

i agree with girl scout - and the footage of him on the blooper reel is really funny too! he is definitely my favorite guest star....unless you count bradley cooper coming back on (: (:

Tammy said...

One of my favorite guest stars was Joel Grey as the Sloane Clone. I thought it was great they were able to get Joel to take on the role. Rifkin and Grey look enough similar that it worked. I also thought it fun that both Rifkin and Grey had played the role of the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret. Grey originated the role and won a Tony in 1966 (he also won the Oscar for his role in the film version!) Then Rifkin played it in the revival and won a Tony in 1998 for the role! Pretty cool in my book!

SKlaft said...

Without a doubt, hands down, and lacking any ambivolence, Quentin Tarantino as McKenas Cole is my favorite guest-star. The episdoes in which he appears are my favorite of all five seasons to date. He is so over-the-top cocky, and hair-trigger psycho that every scene with him fills with uncertainty. The fact of his release from U.S. custody having never been explained adds to his mystery.
Plus, he appears to be one bad dude, being able to handle Sydney's best moves with relative ease.
McKenas Cole! Bring him back!
-R.

bristow_24 said...

I enjoyed Christian Sleighter's role in season 2, where he played Neil Caplin. My favorites, though, would be Isabella Rosellini as Kayta Derevko, and Joel Grey as Sloane Clone.

SRM said...

Great topic GS, Alias has done an awesome job getting great guest stars throughout the seasons. While Ricky Gervais comes in a close second (Facade is one of my all time favorite eppys), I'm going to agree w/ Robby that Quentin has been my favorite so far. He plays his cocky character so perfectly, and there is a lot of mystery surrounding Cole that always makes him interesting to watch. He also has some of the best dialogue w/ the characters...I love it when he's threatening Sloane and Arvin says "I can't be the first person to have a hard time taking you seriously", it always cracks me up. Also when he confronts Sark in s3 (After Six) and says something like "your hair...that's cooool!"

I honestly can't remember guest start that I didn't like, they've all played their characters so well. Christian Slater did a great job as did Ethan Hawk, Vivica, Isabella, all of them!! I have a (not-so-secret) dream to guest star on an eppy...since this is the last season and I have yet to become a Hollywood A-list celebrity I guess it's not gonna happen...sigh...

Girlscout said...

Ohhh Ethan Hawk and Olivia A'do were both good!! That was a great eppy. And Christian Slater! Oh oh, I loved the guy who played the dude that killed Danny. What is his name, with the Irish accent?

Tammy said...

Oh! I forgot about the guy who killed Danny - Martin Shepherd. He was played by John Hannah - probably most well known for Four Weddings and a Funeral. I loved him in Alias - I thought he was wonderfully cast for that heart wrenching role!

Girlscout said...

Yes, good job Tammy. I love that guy. I suppose Suit and Glasses would also be a guest star, sorta, he is always good. I love the guy who played Kassinau and the guy who played Bomani- I love him!

SRM said...

Ohhh yeeaahhh, I knew I was forgetting someone, I loved John Hannah as Martin Shephard! I know some Alias fans don't like that episode (Colorblind) but it's one of my favs because it's so emotionally gripping. The acting in that episode is incredible, both John and JG were so great. Her response when she finds out he killed Danny feels so real and true, you just feel SOOOO bad for her but also for him because his character was vicitimized by The Alliance in such a horrible way. Good call GS! :)

SRM said...

Peggy Lipton was great too. I know I recognize her but I can't think of anything else I've seen her in, can you name anything jenn? Good luck w/ your game tonight GS!! :)

SKlaft said...

Oh yeah... I forgot about Djimon Hounsou as the evil Bomani!
He may not be one of the greatest actors to have ever been on ALIAS (that is a high bar, indeed), but I have always liked him in the Spielburg movie "Amistad"

If you haven't seen it, go rent it. It's probably in the cheep section by now. I am nearly brought to tears every time I watch it.
-R.

SKlaft said...

In the interest of accuracy:

It was Sloane that set up Faye Dunaway's character (whose name is on the tip of my tongue...). Sloane knew Jack was betraying him wit hthe CIA and knew he could find the info linking her to the embezzelled money and that fella whose name I know but couldn't begin to spell. (Jon Breulle?)

amy said...

ok i think it is a consensus that alias guest stars are all awesome. i LOVED quentin...and i LOVED martin shepard, just watched that episode and the acting is awesome

Tammy said...

Jean Briault - the one Sloane killed because Edward Poole (of the Alliance) set him up to think it was Briault betraying them, when in reality it was Poole... (Just watched this episode! I use captioning quite often when watching Alias - helps with names, locations, etc... I've caught stuff that way that I wouldn't have otherwise)

SRM said...

I know amy, that episode almost always makes me blubber. :) When Syd finds out he killed Danny and goes running out of the safehouse hysterically crying I always just want to give her a big hug!!

Girlscout said...

Oh yeah!! I love that eppy! Vaughn as a priest! I heart Kelly too! She was in Neverland. She played Peter Pan in the play. She was also in Elizabeth with Cate Blanchet.