ABC Kevin Weisman plays Marshall in the
new ABC show "Alias."
By Emily Pauker
Daily Bruin Contributor
Imagine how coincidental it would be if two freshmen friends at
UCLA ended up working on the same sitcom years after
graduation.
This is the scenario with 1993 alumni Kevin Weisman and Merrin
Dungey, who each have major roles on ABC’s newest action
drama, “Alias.”
“Alias” airs on Sunday from 9 to 10 p.m. on ABC by
creator J.J. Abrams (“Felicity”). The pilot episode
will be shown again tonight from 9:30 to 11:30.
“Alias” is a high-action kick-butt drama about
Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner), a double agent for the CIA and an
evil organization called SD6. The show follows Sydney’s
double life as a secret agent and her seemingly normal college life
with her friends in which she must try to conceal her other
identity.
While most of the filming is done at Disney studios, some of the
filming for the show is done in Royce quad.
“It’s a great show about girls kicking ass and
people always love that,” Dungey said. “It’s a
fun cartoon based in reality.”
Kevin Weisman plays Marshall, a CIA agent who is a wizard with
gadgets but who lacks social skills. Merrin Dungey plays Francie,
Sydney’s best friend and confidant who is wrapped up in her
boyfriend problems, and totally oblivious to Sydney’s secret
life. Performing on separate parts of the show Weisman and Dungey
do not have any scenes together.
Both actors took very different paths before meeting up on
“Alias.”
Weisman has had an extensive theater career including
“Sophistry” in New York and the main role in the play
“Joy Ride.” Most recently he played the lead in
“Anatol.”
Prior to his graduation he helped start a theater company called
“Buffalo Knights.” The group of all UCLA graduates
performs in Santa Monica. Weisman has had cameos on shows such as
“Buffy,” “Felicity,” and
“ER.”
 ABC 1993 UCLA alumnus Merrin Dungey in
stars "Alias" on ABC. Dungey began performing as a child and won
the American Theater Award as a freshman, the youngest person to
ever win the award.
“I’ve been performing since I was a kid,”
Dungey said. “I’ve constantly been in plays and
I’m excited and grateful to be in them. … doing a sitcom is
like putting on a play every week. It’s broken down into bits
and pieces like a play is broken down into scenes.”
After winning the prestigious award Dungey went on change her
major from English to theater. Dungey also has extensive theater
and television credits, but most recently played a hammed up role
on “Malcolm in the Middle” which she describes as a
live action “Simpsons.”
“Francie is different than other roles I’ve played
because it’s so real true, and honest,” Dungey said.
“It take more focus ““ you have to slow down. When I do
Malcolm I ham it up. When I’m in “˜Alias’
it’s just these simple honest scenes with
Jennifer.”
Both Weisman and Dungey lived in Sproul Hall as freshman, and
graduated from the School of Theatre, Film and Television. They
also both have very fond memories of their UCLA experience.
Weisman’s favorite professors while at UCLA included Tom
Orf and the late Shakespeare professor Robert Reed.
Weisman also starred in a small television program while
attending college.
“When I was at UCLA I was on a TV show called “˜Good
News Bad News’ about a college newspaper,” Weisman
said. “We rehearsed like a real sitcom and we hit marks and
worked on sound and lighting.”
Dungey remembers her favorite class being a young adult
literature class where they read books like “A Wrinkle in
Time” and “Pigman” from an adult perspective. She
also remembers noon miracles, small plays put on by the theater
department.
“Noon miracles were some of the best things I ever saw,
they were every Friday at 12 and they were always creative and
exciting,” Dungey said.
Dungey and Weisman agree on the importance of going to
college.
“The things I learned while at UCLA have helped me to
become a more well rounded person and artist,” Weisman said.
“I live life so I can draw on those things and make my life
real and interesting. The more you take interest in school, the
more good things will come.”