Bradley Cooper Couldn’t Believe Jennifer Garner Was Going to Be the Star of ‘Alias’ After She Baked Him Cookies
Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper first collaborated with each other on the set of Alias. But the actor was a bit taken back by Garner’s personality, which was different than what he expected from the show’s lead.
How Bradley Cooper reacted when he first met Jennifer Garner
Garner starred as double CIA agent Sydney Bristow on the hit show Alias. The series was created by Star Trek director J.J. Abrams, who knew Garner would be perfect for the role. Others didn’t share his opinion, however, feeling that Garner didn’t have the right physical stats to play Bristow. Abrams believed she proved them wrong immediately.
“My wife was always saying, ‘Oh, my God, she’s going to be a star. You better do a show for her.’ And when I came up with Alias, she was pretty much the only person I had in my head,” Abrams once told W Magazine. “Before we cast her, there were people who questioned: ‘Is she tough enough? Is she sexy enough?’ Two minutes later she was on the cover of every magazine, and no one was saying those things anymore.”
Cooper would also be cast in the series as reporter Will Tippin, playing Garner’s best friend over the course of three seasons. But when Cooper first met Garner, he couldn’t believe the wholesome Garner was who’d be playing the hardened CIA agent.
“She wanted to take care of me, make sure I was okay all the time,” Cooper said. “The first time I saw her, I was in the production office when we were shooting the pilot, and this girl comes in, glowing. She had just baked cookies, which she was offering to me, and I was like, ‘That is who’s playing Sydney Bristow?’”
Jennifer Garner would drag Bradley Cooper back to a potential ‘Alias’ reboot if she had to
Alias wrapped up its series after a pretty successful five season run. Abrams once stated that he was satisfied with the show’s conclusion, but teased the very small possibility of its continuation.
“My instinct is that Alias has a beginning, a middle, and an end — and I’m pretty happy with the ending. But you never know,” Abrams once told Entertainment Weekly.
Since its finale, rumors have been circulating for years about a potential Alias reboot. Although Garner has moved on to bigger things in her career after the television series, she’d be happy to return to the cult hit. She’d even make sure to bring Cooper along with her.
“[I’ll] grab Bradley by the scruff of his neck,” she joked to The Hollywood Reporter.
The reason why she might’ve had to drag Cooper back to the show is due to how much the actor disliked his time on Alias. So much so he personally asked Abrams to be written off the program.
“I would only work three days a week. And then for the second season, I got even more sidelined. I was like, ‘Ugh.’ And then next thing you know, I was like, ‘I want to f***ing kill myself,’” Cooper recalled to GQ.
Jennifer Garner once shared what it would take to bring ‘Alias’ back
Cooper hasn’t been the only Alias cast member Garner has kept in touch with. Even after so many years, the actor asserted she was in close contact with most of her co-stars.
“First of all, it is insane how close I am to that cast still,” she once told Series Fest (via Us Weekly). “I’ve texted Kevin Weisman and Merrin Dungey in the last week! I’ve spoken to Victor Garber in the last week. Ron Rifkin. I mean I just love those people still.”
Because of this, Garner felt it would be pretty easy to get the band back together for another Alias. But she reminded that developing an actual reboot for the series was up to Abrams and the fans.
“The thing is you’ve got to talk to your buddy [J.J. Abrams and you’ve got to talk to your buddies at Netflix. They would have to want to do it,” she said. “You better just speed it up a little bit if you want me back! I don’t necessarily do 5 [AM[ anymore, but yes I can still do those fight scenes if I have to.”
