Name: Victor Garber Age: 58 Occupation: Actor; singer; classy bad-ass Experience: Dozens of TV movies and guest shots; one action series; four Tony nominations Jennifer Garner gave the impression that she was the star of Alias, because her Sydney Bristow wore the wigs and beat people up; her role in the show (not to mention in the tabloids) was more...showy. You didn't readily notice that Sydney was just reactive, neutralizing the short-term target. Her father Jack, on the other hand -- (under)played by Victor Garber -- was a veteran of the CIA and an ex-double agent, an expert in game theory, and the smartest person in any room full of smart people. And Jack had secrets! He was owed favours by all kinds of shady people, and had access to several warehouses and all manner of spy gear. Jack may not always have been on the side of good, but we sensed that he sometimes did the wrong thing for the right reason. Or at least a reason that screwed over someone in his way. Jack could dispatch a pack of assassins and then have dinner at a four-star restaurant, all without mussing his suit. Bad-ass. Pre-Alias, Garber had less in common with James Bond. Like, Bond seldom breaks into song (unfortunately), whereas Garber is a veteran of musical theatre (originating roles in several Stephen Sondheim shows on Broadway) who played no less an icon than Jesus Himself in the film version of Godspell. He's also hooked up with TV producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, appearing in Disney specials from Annie (as saintly billionaire Daddy Warbucks) to a moist Judy Garland biopic (as saintly husband Sid Luft). If you've never seen him either outmaneuver an adversary or belt out a show tune, then you may remember him as the designer of the Titanic in James Cameron's film, nobly going down with the ship and providing more pathos to the story than any scene in which anyone screams "Jack!" or "Rose!" at each other. If only it had been Jack Bristow on that ship as it sank. He would have figured out a way to right it and recommended the perfect wine to go with the celebratory dinner. But he wasn't on that ship -- and because Jack Bristow is such a signature role for Garber (and we don't say that lightly; the man has played Liberace and Ernest Hemingway, for God's sake), everything he's done since has been kind of disappointing. Granted, he hasn't done much, at least not in film or TV -- narrated an episode of PBS's American Masters here, taken a guest role on Ugly Betty there -- and the series he anchored after Alias, FOX's courtroom drama Justice, didn't last the entire season. And for good reason; over-produced and under-plotted, the show sort of sucked, and we should know -- we watched every episode, and we were watching for Garber, whose Ron Trott was the only thing that kept us interested most of the time.
We don't know what the future holds for Eli Stone; we're as bullish as we always are on show-runner Greg Berlanti, but neither Garber nor eponymous star Jonny Lee Miller has had much luck with their most recent series (Miller's last run at American TV was last season's quickly-yanked Ray Liotta vehicle Smith), so we hope they've gambled right this time. But no matter what happens with Eli Stone, we'll watch whatever Garber does ...and hope that it involves MacGyver-ing a Turkish-prison escape using a pencil and some watch parts. Assets:
- Showcases a versatile blend of the ruthless and the debonair
- History of portraying cultural giants (Jesus, the devil, John Wilkes Booth) gives him valuable perspective
- Apparently got an internet wedding license so that he could officiate at Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's wedding, which is awesome
- May have started to age out of the really sweet acting roles
- Not the most discriminating when it comes to TV-movie scripts (see: Call Me Claus)
- Has kind of a blocky, cube-like head
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