Jennifer Garner, who plays spy Sydney Bristow in the ABC television series “Alias,” has turned her talents to recruiting real-life spies to work for the CIA in a video on the agency’s employment Web site.
“Although the show ’Alias’ is fictional, the character Jennifer Garner plays embodies the integrity, patriotism and intelligence the CIA looks for in its officers,” the CIA said on its Web site www.cia.gov.
On ABC’s espionage action show, Garner’s character chases terrorists, wears disguises and dodges danger in hot spots around the world. She even disappeared for two years, and occasionally finds time for romance.
Garner was not paid for the recruiting video, a CIA spokesman said. “She did this out of a sense of patriotism.”
On the video, Garner says the CIA needs people with wide-ranging talents, diverse backgrounds, integrity, common sense, patriotism and courage who want to make a difference in the world.
“Right now, the CIA has important, exciting jobs for U.S. citizens, especially those with foreign language skills. Today, the collection of foreign intelligence has never been more vital for national security,” Garner says on the video.
The CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies have been focused on recruiting people with language skills. The agencies were criticized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for not having enough spies who spoke Arabic and Asian languages that would help Washington fight what it calls its war on terrorism.