From Oregonlive.com-
Sinister Sark on 'Alias' an Oregon 'dude' David Anders plays an evil spy on the ABC thriller, which thrills the Grants Pass native
05/03/03
KRISTI TURNQUIST
Fans of the Sunday night ABC cult favorite "Alias" know the show is a deliciously tangled web of secrets, schemes and spy skulduggery where nothing is what it seems. Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) and her father, Jack (Victor Garber), are double agents working for the CIA to infiltrate the evil empire of the nefarious Sloane (Ron Rifkin). Irina Derevko (Lena Olin), Sydney's mother, married Jack while working undercover as a murderous KGB agent.
And then there's Mr. Sark (David Anders), Derevko's ally and now Sloane's partner in evildoing. He's dangerous. He's devious. He's . . . from Grants Pass?
Truly, a mystery worth uncovering. Seems the man behind the sinister Sark was born David Anders Holt, but shortened his name when he found that another member of the Screen Actors Guild was named David Holt. With the two-hour second-season finale of "Alias" looming on Sunday night, we tracked down this shadowy figure at his home base in the Los Angeles area.
How can this be? The worldly, vaguely Eurotrashy Sark is really David Anders, a 22-year-old who grew up in Grants Pass?
People come up to me and wait for the British accent, and they say, "Where are you from?" I say, "I'm from Oregon, dude, born and raised."
Sark seems a lot older than 22.
A lot of people think I'm so much older. That was the bane of my existence when I moved to L.A. I always read old. I came here and I couldn't even get high school parts. Finally, it worked to my advantage.
That accent is so convincingly Brit-European. Where is Sark supposed to be from?
He's a Brit. It's fun creating the character, 'cause I've never even been to England. It was written to be Eastern European, so in the audition process I came in with a Russian accent. They said, "We love ya, come back with an accent that's anything but Russian. Make it more continental." I came in with a pseudo-German-British hybrid that got me the part. Then on my first day of work the script says, "He speaks with a British accent." Why didn't you tell me that from the get-go?
This season on "Alias," viewers have seen all sorts of changes -- the overthrow of Sloane's SD-6 spy empire, the romance between Sydney and Agent Vaughn (Michael Vartan), Derevko turning good, then seemingly evil again. What's on tap for the season finale? Is there a surprise twist involving Sark?
There are going to be big changes, big changes. But I can't say. The whole show is shrouded in secrecy.
We have theories about who Sark really is. Is he Sydney's brother?
If that is the case, and if they had planned on telling that by this season's end, they decided it was too big of a thing to let go, so why not save it for season three? But I'm not even saying there's any truth to that. Once I got on the show, my dad said the same thing: "Make Sark Sydney's brother; why don't you pass that on to the writers?" It's still up in the air. It would be very Luke and Leia, wouldn't it?
We don't even know Sark's first name. Is it true Victor Garber calls you Steve?
Yes, he said, "I think Steve Sark is good." A lot of people in the office want it to be like Nigel or Ian or something like that. I don't know. I'm just Sark.
What's up with all these tabloid reports about dishy Jennifer Garner and scrumptious Michael Vartan being an item offscreen?
Oh, those are tabloid stories. I'm friends with Michael, we go out together. Jennifer's never been with him when we go out. After the announcement (about Garner's split from husband Scott Foley) was made, the set became very tight because she didn't need any added aggravation. She's a trouper and she doesn't let it show. She's a lovely woman, the hardest-working woman in Hollywood. She always smiles, she's always jovial.
"Alias" has such a terrific cast. And everybody is so sexy.
That's due to the great makeup and hair people. We have a great director of photography, who loves lighting. He was taking a really long time to light Ron Rifkin, so I asked him, "Why don't I get that much attention?" And he said, " 'Cause you're a 21-year-old punk from Oregon!"
Sinister Sark on 'Alias' an Oregon 'dude' David Anders plays an evil spy on the ABC thriller, which thrills the Grants Pass native
05/03/03
KRISTI TURNQUIST
Fans of the Sunday night ABC cult favorite "Alias" know the show is a deliciously tangled web of secrets, schemes and spy skulduggery where nothing is what it seems. Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) and her father, Jack (Victor Garber), are double agents working for the CIA to infiltrate the evil empire of the nefarious Sloane (Ron Rifkin). Irina Derevko (Lena Olin), Sydney's mother, married Jack while working undercover as a murderous KGB agent.
And then there's Mr. Sark (David Anders), Derevko's ally and now Sloane's partner in evildoing. He's dangerous. He's devious. He's . . . from Grants Pass?
Truly, a mystery worth uncovering. Seems the man behind the sinister Sark was born David Anders Holt, but shortened his name when he found that another member of the Screen Actors Guild was named David Holt. With the two-hour second-season finale of "Alias" looming on Sunday night, we tracked down this shadowy figure at his home base in the Los Angeles area.
How can this be? The worldly, vaguely Eurotrashy Sark is really David Anders, a 22-year-old who grew up in Grants Pass?
People come up to me and wait for the British accent, and they say, "Where are you from?" I say, "I'm from Oregon, dude, born and raised."
Sark seems a lot older than 22.
A lot of people think I'm so much older. That was the bane of my existence when I moved to L.A. I always read old. I came here and I couldn't even get high school parts. Finally, it worked to my advantage.
That accent is so convincingly Brit-European. Where is Sark supposed to be from?
He's a Brit. It's fun creating the character, 'cause I've never even been to England. It was written to be Eastern European, so in the audition process I came in with a Russian accent. They said, "We love ya, come back with an accent that's anything but Russian. Make it more continental." I came in with a pseudo-German-British hybrid that got me the part. Then on my first day of work the script says, "He speaks with a British accent." Why didn't you tell me that from the get-go?
This season on "Alias," viewers have seen all sorts of changes -- the overthrow of Sloane's SD-6 spy empire, the romance between Sydney and Agent Vaughn (Michael Vartan), Derevko turning good, then seemingly evil again. What's on tap for the season finale? Is there a surprise twist involving Sark?
There are going to be big changes, big changes. But I can't say. The whole show is shrouded in secrecy.
We have theories about who Sark really is. Is he Sydney's brother?
If that is the case, and if they had planned on telling that by this season's end, they decided it was too big of a thing to let go, so why not save it for season three? But I'm not even saying there's any truth to that. Once I got on the show, my dad said the same thing: "Make Sark Sydney's brother; why don't you pass that on to the writers?" It's still up in the air. It would be very Luke and Leia, wouldn't it?
We don't even know Sark's first name. Is it true Victor Garber calls you Steve?
Yes, he said, "I think Steve Sark is good." A lot of people in the office want it to be like Nigel or Ian or something like that. I don't know. I'm just Sark.
What's up with all these tabloid reports about dishy Jennifer Garner and scrumptious Michael Vartan being an item offscreen?
Oh, those are tabloid stories. I'm friends with Michael, we go out together. Jennifer's never been with him when we go out. After the announcement (about Garner's split from husband Scott Foley) was made, the set became very tight because she didn't need any added aggravation. She's a trouper and she doesn't let it show. She's a lovely woman, the hardest-working woman in Hollywood. She always smiles, she's always jovial.
"Alias" has such a terrific cast. And everybody is so sexy.
That's due to the great makeup and hair people. We have a great director of photography, who loves lighting. He was taking a really long time to light Ron Rifkin, so I asked him, "Why don't I get that much attention?" And he said, " 'Cause you're a 21-year-old punk from Oregon!"
