Alias Cast: Where Are They Now? (2023)

Before getting cast as the lead in Alias, Jennifer Garner had a small role on J.J. Abrams first series, Felicity, and she played a nurse in the big-budget film Pearl Harbor, alongside future husband Ben Affleck. In the lead on this show, she played Sydney Bristow, the undercover CIA agent turned into a double agent against SD-6 once the shadowy SD-6 murdered her fiancé. Bristow had espionage in her blood, both her father and mother were in the spy game, and Sydney also fell hard for her handsome handler Michael Vaughn. But despite all the obstacles she faced, she was just generally one of the most bad-ass women on TV. She could definitely hold her own against the likes of Buffy or Xena.

Alias was the first high-profile acting gig for David Anders, and despite being American his very convincing British accent only helped make his character seem more devious. He played Julian Sark (think Draco Malfoy in spy form), a rival to Sydney Bristow who was out only for himself. His work on Alias helped him land a plum gig as Adam on Heroes, playing another Brit.

Anders has been working steadily for the past decade and a half. You might have seen him in a recurring role on The Vampire Diaries as John Gilbert or as Dr. Whale/Dr. Victor Frankenstein on Once Upon a Time. Most recently he co-starred as Blaine, the drug and brain dealing zombie, on the CW series iZombie.

Veteran actor Terry O'Quinn was famed for his work as a creepy serial killer in the '80s movie The Stepfather, and as a friend of X-Files creator Chris Carter, he played multiple roles on that show and had a recurring part on Carter's other show Millennium. On Alias, O'Quinn played FBI Director Kendall, who had an antagonistic relationship with Sydney and was extremely interested in anything related to the mythical Milo Rambaldi, an inventor and philosopher (like Leonardo Da Vinci) who had extreme ideas on how to purge the world of evil.

For those of us of a certain age, Carl Lumbly will always be Detective Marcus Petrie from the awesome '80s cop drama Cagney & Lacey. But his role as SD-6 agent Marcus Dixon on Alias runs a close second. This loyal company man was Sydney's trusted spy partner who had her back on missions, but he was none to pleased when he found out about the shady doings at SD-6. But Dixon remained loyal to Sydney throughout the series, and worked with her again at the CIA's black ops division APO.

Lumbly was recently on the show Supergirl as villain M’yrnn J’onzz, and in the 2019 movie Doctor Sleep, the creepy horror follow-up to The Shining. You’ll also spot the veteran actor occasionally in the CBS comedy God Friended Me.

Garber and his co-star Garner have remained good friends since this series ended, he even officiated her wedding to Ben Affleck. On screen, the actor has been on a host of the super hero shows, as Dr. Martin Stein/Firestorm, including The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. He was also Admiral Halsey on the TV series The Orville and was in the charming Tales of the City reboot (seriously, go watch this mini-series on Netflix now). Garber also had a recurring role on Power and is in the upcoming legal drama Family Law.

Prior to her stint on Alias, Merrin Dungey was best known as Carrie's BFF on the long-running CBS sitcom The King of Queens. Once she joined this spy drama, she got to play not one, but TWO amazing characters. She was Sydney's most loyal and sweet best friend Francie, but Dungey also played lookalike Allison Doren, who steals Francie's identity and face. That's as confusing as it sounds, but Dungey played the dark and twisty side so well.

Dungey has gone on to star on Big Little Lies as Detective Adrienne Quinlan and also had a recurring role as Terry Jeffords wife on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Dungey headed under the sea to play Ursula in the ABC drama Once Upon a Time, and was recently spotted on the Fox medical drama The Resident.

So many of us fell for Michael Vartan when he played Drew Barrymore's hot teacher in the big-screen rom-com Never Been Kissed. The French-born star also cameo'd as Richard Burke's son on Friends, and starred alongside Robin Williams in the psychological thriller One Hour Photo. But Vartan is definitely best known for his role on this spy show as Michael Vaughn. Vaughn is Sydney's handler for the CIA, but he's also her love interest, and the sparks fly between the two in their clandestine romance. And every time he was presumed dead, it was a little bit heartbreaking. But the on-screen chemistry between Vartan and co-star Garner was off the charts, and the two dated in real life for a while.

While one might have predicted his career would skyrocket the same way it did for co-stars Jennifer Garner or Bradley Cooper, it didn't. Still, Vartan has remained working and starred in the ABC drama Big Shots and alongside Jada Pinkett-Smith on Hawthorne and played George on the horror series Bates Motel. Most recently he starred on the E! series The Arrangement.

Like Garner, Weisman also appeared on J.J. Abrams's earlier series Felicity before joining Alias as the lovable nerd Marshall Flinkman. He was the Q to Bristow's Bond, creating a host of awesome cool gadgets and spy gear for missions. You'll also spot him on some other cult faves, he played Dreg (one of Glory's minions) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and he found a genie and turned invisible on a memorable episode of The X-Files.

Weisman starred on the show CBS drama Scorpion, a show about geniuses solving crimes, and had a recurring part on the Amazon series Goliath. Most recently Weisman played time traveler Dale on Marvel's Runaways.

Fans that shipped the romance between Sydney and Vaughn were not thrilled when Melissa George showed up as Vaughn's wife Lauren Reed. The Australian actress had a recurring role on Charmed , appeared in the film Dark City, and played a minor role in the film Mulholland Drive before joining the spy game. Only on the show for the third season, George's character put a major wedge between Vaughn and Sydney.

George left Alias for the big screen, starring in the remake of The Amityville Horror. In 2008, George had a memorable turn on Grey’s Anatomy as Sadie Harris, the wild intern who let her fellow residents operate on her for fun. She also earned a supporting actress Golden Globe nod for her work on the HBO series In Treatment. She starred on the short-lived series Heartbeat as a heart surgeon in 2016 and was in the Hulu space drama The First alongside Sean Penn.

The longtime actor has a list of credits a mile long, from award-winning turns on and off Broadway (he scored a Tony for his work in the Cabaret revival), to movies like L.A. Confidential, JFK and Boiler Room. When Rifkin joined the cast, he put his commanding stage presence to good use to embody the super creepy Arvin Sloane. The director of the nefarious SD-6, Sloane was out to uncover the secrets of mastermind Milo Rambaldi at all costs.

After Alias, Rifkin had audiences hooked as his character Saul Holden struggled to come to terms with his sexuality on ABC series Brothers and Sisters. Currently, you can spot Rifkin on the medical drama New Amsterdam as Dean Fulton.