10 Incredible TV Actors Who Seem To Have Totally Disappeared

7. Lena Olin

Alias tends to get overlooked in JJ Abrams' repertoire of shows. For me, this is his best. The first two seasons are some of the most riveting television every produced, featuring great action sequences, plenty of jaw-dropping plot twists, fantastic villains and tortured love. Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow was a great series lead, and Ron Rifki's Sloan and David Ander's Sark were terrific villains. But there was always one character that stood out the most €“ Lena Olin as Sidney's quasi-evil mother, Irina Derevko. Introduced at the start of season two, Lena Olin's performance accelerated the show to a whole new level. The interplay between Sydney and her mother, uncovering secrets one by one, her mysterious connection to Sloan, her (literally) love-hate relationship with Jack Bristow €“ everything clicked, and she was excellent. I know Lena Olin is predominantly a theatre actress and Alias was her one big foray into television, but she was so good I want to see her in more shows. In fact, she has only one a single guest spot in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since then. Let's hope that changes some day and we get more of the caliber of performance that Lena Olin brought to her star turn in Alias.