'Angel's' Acker Dons an 'Alias'
By Kate O'Hare
 LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The "Angel/Alias" connection continued on Thursday, Oct. 13, with the debut of former "Angel" regular Amy Acker on ABC's "Alias," playing Kelly Preston, a member of a rogue spy organization headed by the nefarious Gordon Dean (Tyrees Allen).
Acker now finds herself working for co-executive producer Jeffrey Bell, who took over as show-runner on "Angel" after the departure of Tim Minear, who went to work on "Firefly" with "Angel" co-creator Joss Whedon. Also on hand is "Alias" producer Drew Goddard, who previously worked on "Lost" (the other show from "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams) and Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which gave birth to "Angel."
Also, Acker is working with Rachel Nichols, who plays Preston's former colleague -- and now foe -- Rachel Gibson, who has discovered she's not working for the good guys after all. Nichols came to "Alias" after a stint on FOX's short-lived crime drama "The Inside," created by Tim Minear.
"I saw Tim at the 'Serenity' premiere," Acker says ("Serenity" is the feature film based on "Firefly"). "I said, 'I'm working with your girl.' The whole crew of 'Angel' was on 'The Inside,' so we keep finding people we know in common."
Although it took a while to come to fruition, Acker first auditioned for "Alias" back when she was on "Angel." At the time, her character, science geek Fred, had transformed into a blue-skinned demon called Illyria. Acker was trying for the role of Nadia, sister of super-agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), a part eventually taken by Mia Maestro.
"I actually had to go to the audition right from 'Angel,'" Acker says. "We had a break, and I was in the blue makeup. I had to drive across town in the blue makeup and go in.
"That was the first time that I met all those guys, but we kept in touch since that. So I was just happy they asked me to do it."
Because she was working long hours on "Angel," Acker didn't get a chance to see much of "Alias," but she caught up quickly.
"I borrowed the DVDs from my friends and made my husband" -- actor James Carpinello -- "watch five episodes of 'Alias' every day, so we're caught up. It's great."
Acker soon learned that attention must be paid if a viewer has any hope of following the convoluted "Alias" storylines. "James missed a couple in the middle, and I said, 'I can't explain it. Just go with it.'"
In the great "Alias" tradition, Acker is doing fight scenes, something she already got to do on "Angel," and something she's trained for.
"In college," she says, "I did three years of fight training. We did rapier and dagger, broadsword, quarterstaff and an animal kung fu style. I thought it was fun.
"I've had a little experience. I've been trying to figure out how to become more believable as a fighter, but not picking fights in bars or anything."
Acker also got to participate in the show's signature pyrotechnics.
"I blew something up," she says. "I didn't get to actually see the explosion, but I did get to cause an explosion. It's nice, very powerful. You never know what they're going to do. It's like with Joss, you can feel like you're getting to play so many different parts, but you only have to audition for one job."
Right now, Acker is scheduled for 7 to 9 episodes, but she's game for more, saying, "I'm having a great time. I'll stay on it for as long as they'll keep me."
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