Alias' David Anders Details His Adventure Into the Blue
David Anders with Marsha Thomason, Into the Blue 2
In Into the Blue 2: The Reef, a made-for-unrated-DVD sequel streeting this week, Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) and Chris Carmack (The O.C.) pick up where Jessica Alba and Paul Walker left off, playing young lovers whose diving business gets them into trouble as deep as the water. Alias alum David Anders, who plays a cash-flashing client with an ulterior motive, gave us a peek at the pretty-to-look-at drama.
TVGuide.com: Working alongside a bikini-clad Laura Vandervoort, Marsha Thomason and Audrina Patridge (The Hills).... How did you do it, man? Was there hazard pay?
David Anders: Yeah, it wasn't a bad deal at all! To get paid to get certified for scuba-diving, and work with all those great people... .
TVGuide.com: Then again, you did have to film this in some idyllic locale.
Anders: On Hawaii, the main island. When the offer came across last spring, I figured, "Hey, what else do I have to do in May?" [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Were there any skills you had to learn for the shoot? Any fears you had to overcome out there in the water?
Anders: Shooting underwater can pose a certain set of challenges, to be sure. There's no hearing "Action" or "Cut," so essentially it's just us and the cameramen floating around down there, calling our own shots. Having to reset and do a take two or three times in a row is a special kind of torture, but it was fun.
TVGuide.com: What's the biggest, baddest creature you saw down there?
Anders: That would be Chris Carmack! No sharks or anything, just some sea turtles and eels.... Fairly harmless.
TVGuide.com: How was Marsha Thomason as a partner in crime?
Anders: She was a real blast. I've liked her work on Lost and Las Vegas. I was nervous, though, playing an Englishman against an actual one.
TVGuide.com: Yeah, a lot of people assume you're British in real life. Why do you think you're repeatedly asked to work that accent?
Anders: I think it all stems from Alias, which was many people's introduction to me. When I met with [the producers of Into the Blue 2], I was excited to play a different kind of guy: "I can play it German for you, or I can play Russian, Swahili...." They were like, "Yeah, why don't we just stick with the Englishman."
TVGuide.com: I still get emails from readers asking if Heroes' Adam Monroe might live to see another day. Are you hearing anything?
Anders: By the way, that's me sending you those emails. No, I have no idea. It's kinda hard to come back from a pile of ash! Still, there's 400 years of my character's history that they can always time-travel back to. But that was a trip, playing a drunken Samurai warrior. And Masi [Oka] was a joy to work with.
TVGuide.com: You mentioned watching Marsha on Lost. Do you keep tabs on that show because, like Alias, it's a J.J. Abrams creation?
Anders: I started watching because of the J.J. pedigree, yes, but it's just a good show, and they're doing very interesting things this season.
TVGuide.com: Do you think J.J. would ever toy around with an Alias movie?
Anders: I f--king hope so! That would be awesome. Sloan is buried alive somewhere, but the rest of us are around.
TVGuide.com: Do people still flag you down on the street as Sark?
Anders: I still get that, but I fly under the radar most of the time because once hear me talk like Johnny American, they're like, "Nah, not him."
TVGuide.com: What else is coming up for you?
Anders: I did a Children of the Corn remake for Sci Fi Channel. I play the Peter Horton role from the original, and Candace McClure from Battlestar Galactica is my Linda Hamilton. It's truer to [Stephen] King's novella in that the original [movie] had a happy ending, but this one definitely does not.
