Trivia / Alias

• The Cast Showoff: Kevin Weisman is a talented drummer, and demonstrated it in Marshall's proposal to Carrie.
• Creator Backlash: Lena Olin wasn't happy with Irina being reduced to a simplistic villain in the final episode after so much work had gone into building up her complexities, and doesn't bother trying to hide her disdain onscreen.
• Creator's Oddball: Most of Quentin Tarantino's acting roles have him starring in his own films or in movies made by his close friends (particularly Robert Rodriguez), usually being horrifically killed midway through. Him showing up in an ABC Spy Fiction show as a reoccuring guest star who works for one of the big organizations the protagonist faces very much outside his wheelhouse.
• The Danza: Michael Vaughn (played by Michael Vartan) and Rachel Gibson (Rachel Nichols).
• Directed by Cast Member: Jennifer Garner called the shots on "In Dreams...".
• Divorced Installment: The show was born from an idea that Abrams had for a Plot Twist on Felicity in which it turned out that that show's title character was a CIA agent all along, as he felt that Felicity was in a creative rut and was wondering where to take it next. He decided to flesh out that idea into a TV pilot of its own.
• Fake Mixed Race: Gina Torres, who plays half-Russian, half-Spanish Anna Espinosa, is neither Russian nor Spanish. She's half Cuban, half African-American.
• Fake Nationality: Julian Sark is initially believed to be British because of his accent, although Marshal deduces that his accent is actually Irish-influenced British. It's eventually discovered that Sark is Russian-born, but was educated in the UK and spent a lot of time in Ireland. His real nationality is never confirmed, but other characters assume he's British on several occasions. The actor playing him is American and in one episode, when Sark fakes being American, the actor gets to use his real, very broad, American accent.
• Fake Russian: None of the actresses playing the Derevko sisters are Russian: Lena Olin (Irina) is Swedish, Isabella Rossellini (Katya) is Italian, and Sônia Braga (Elena) is Brazilian.
• Friendship on the Set: Jennifer Garner and Victor Garber became very close friends on-set and have remained so to the present day, long after the series wrapped.
• Gay Panic: The original plan was to end the relationship between Francie and Charlie by having Charlie reveal that he's realized he's gay. This was changed to him having a heterosexual affair with little warning. In the last season, it certainly seems from Rachel's pointed statement that Tom isn't her type that she was intended to be gay, but quickly hooks up with Sark.
• Out of Order: The airdates of the season two episodes "Phase One" and "Double Agent" were swapped. "Phase One", which completely retools the show, was given "Double Agent"'s post-Super Bowl timeslot to attract new viewers (it didn't work — it was the lowest post-Super Bowl ratings since 1975) and "Double Agent" had some new scenes shot to fit the revised continuity. Additionally, the ending of "Double Agent" where Francine is murdered by her double was tacked on to the end of "Phase One" instead, explaining some of the inconsistencies like why Francie jumps Will and starts making out with him apropos of nothing in the episode proper.
• Romance on the Set: Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan dated from 2003-2004, but have remained good friends to this day.
• Star-Making Role: For Jennifer Garner.
• Stunt Double: In addition to playing Kelly Peyton, Zoë Bell doubled for Amy Acker.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Jenna Fischer auditioned to play Sydney.
  • Roger Moore's role as Edward Poole was originally planned to be recurring, but Moore and the producers couldn't agree on his salary so the character was killed offscreen a couple episodes after his first appearance.
  • Charlie was intended to be cheating on Francie with a man, but in those days when TV shows were leery of any kind of gay content, it became with a woman.
• Written-In Infirmity: Jennifer Garner's pregnancy in the final season was incorporated into the show.

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