Rossellini's Alias Return

Though Alias aficionados would adore it, Lena Olin's return as Jennifer Garner's malevolent mama seems highly unlikely. Fortunately, those who can't get enough of superspy Sydney Bristow's freaky family tree may still have something to look forward to. Remember Isabella Rossellini, who guest-starred last year as Syd's not-so-nice auntie, Katya Derevko? Well, she's just itchin' to kick some more butt.

"They called me the other day to see if I was available," Rossellini says excitedly, "so I hope they'll make me kill someone else."

So Katya's definitely coming back? "I did say that I was available," the 52-year-old actress hedges with a smile. "But their schedule changes. They film an hour [episode] every 10 days, so they have to have all the scripts and to make sure other people are available. It is an incredible job of organization and scheduling. So I am available, hopefully."

That teasing response sounds straight out of creator J.J. Abrams' "How to Keep Alias Secrets" textbook. "Alias is great, it is a lot of fun," Rossellini says. "I've done some dark ladies, but never really much violence. [In one episode,] I had to take my chopsticks and put them in somebody's hand. It was special effect and not hurting the person, but even just doing it, I flinched a little bit. The director said to me, 'You are the actress. If you get the violence, you can be governor, so go for it.' They are a great bunch of people.

"My character is very mysterious and we are all very devious," she continues gleefully. "The moment you think you've got your character [figured out] — 'I'm bad at this but good at this' — uh-uh. The next script arrives, and you are betraying [someone]. We are meaner than the public can even imagine." And that's just how we like it.