Higher Learning

Sydney-as-an-ordinary-graduate-student outside images were shot on the UCLA campus. In the pilot, Danny (Edward Atterton) proposes to her in Dickson Court, and Will has first seen running laps with Sydney and looks dreadfully disappointed when she tells him she's engaged in Marshall Field.

The Ideal Cover-Up

Garner stated she hadn't even put on a two-piece swimming suit before the performance, so Sydney's hotter costumes took some getting used to.

"I've never worn a bikini in my life," the West Virginia native said, according to USA Today. "My father disliked them... So, therefore, when [costume designer Laura Goldsmith] initially approached me with the rubber dress or the lace dress with only the bra underneath, my immediate instinct was, 'Absolutely not.' But she calmly explains to me how she's going to do this and conceal that, and before I know it, I'm in a bikini."

Artists Who Can Change Their Styles Frequently

Yes, working on Alias' costumes, hair, and makeup was as much fun (and exhausting) as it appeared.

Laura Goldsmith, a two-time Emmy nominee, did not work on the pilot but joined the cast shortly after and was remembered to TV Line in 2016 at a fitting "'I adore this dress!' she exclaimed as she put it on. 'I adore it.' 'That's good,' I think. But, you know, you're wearing it backwards.'"

"She never professed to know everything about clothing, and I'm going to pair this with that and that with that," Goldsmith said. "She was very endearing in that way."

Michael Reitz, a well-known head hairdresser who received five Emmy nominations for those eye-catching 'dos, "It was virtually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity since it was all about the hair, clothing, cosmetics, and stunts, you know? We were Jen's core crew, and we were all extremely close. We both worked 80-hour weeks."

Sole Friends

Goldsmith zhuzhed up sneakers and nude character shoes (low-heeled, benign shoes intended expressly not to detract from an outfit) to appear menacing so Garner and her stunt double could run, leap, and fight more comfortably.

Keeping Fit

Garner obviously maintained a strict program to keep in fighting form over her five years on Alias, thanks to celeb trainer Valerie Waters, who also prepared her for 2005's Elektra, which Garner shot during a break from the show. She'd get up at 4 a.m. for a 60-minute full-body exercise, warm-up to cool-down since she needed to be in hair and makeup by 5:30 a.m.

"Do you think she really wants to wake up at 4:00 a.m.? No way, "In 2005, Waters told the Los Angeles Times. "It's just as difficult for her to get out of bed after a few hours of sleep as it is for everyone else... You still can't have the cookies, and you can't have that glass of wine."

Garner, on the other hand, was realistic about fitness from the start, telling E! News in December 2001 of the rigors of playing in Sydney, "I enjoy it because it encourages me to take physical care of myself. And typically, working hours like this would cause you to neglect it. Not that I'm excellent at it, but I'm in the middle of a battle right now, so I woke up at 4 a.m. to go for a half-hour run. It basically keeps you honest about it because you have to be warmed up and in excellent form or you'll get harmed."

Sydney's smooth, confident stride required practice, with Waters assisting her in straightening her walk while strengthening nearly every muscle in her body. "She's been working on me," Garner told USA Today in 2002. "In real life, I walk with a ducky gait. That's simply me trying to be as badass as this girl deserves."

She also trained with taekwondo maestro Byong Yu and has always been a lover of kickboxing workouts.

"Her work ethic is absolutely phenomenal," Waters, Garner's go-to trainer for the past two decades, told InStyle in 2014.

How Does the Magic Really Work?

Garner worked tirelessly, but stunt double Shauna Duggins was on hand to make the action appear effortless—and in 2005, she was promoted to stunt coordinator for the whole production, winning an Emmy nomination in the process. Duggins remembers pulling off the perilous lifting of a complete Jaguar in the season five episode "Reprisal" in the book Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, with Garner at the wheel and Rachel Nichols climbing out of the trunk.

As the car falls to the ground, Sydney hooks a magnet to the crane and they flee via the sunroof. "That's the aesthetic they were going for," Duggins stated. "A brand-new Jaguar crashes 200 feet to the ground, leaving the females dangling from cables."

Duggins intended to do so by removing the car's roof in order to assure the actresses' safety. However, she stated that the director requested a shot from the top of the car with Sydney and hacker Rachel Gibson coming through the sunroof. As a result, "We ratcheted them off the roof of the car and tilted the camera for the image with the females hanging from the cable," Duggins explained.

The automobile appeared to have fallen away from the actors, who were dangling approximately 50 feet on a stage in front of a green screen for close-ups. After that, they were hung against a backdrop of shipping cranes in post-production."
Meanwhile, Stacey Carino, Duggins, and Nichols' duplicate spent some time dangling 200 feet in the air for the long shots.