Amy Acker

Amy Acker told SCI FI Wire that she’ll be made a regular cast member of ABC’s spy series Alias when the show returns with new episodes in March. Acker, a former regular cast member on The WB’s Angel, has made a strong impression as a guest star this season, playing the villainous assassin Kelly Peyton in several episodes.

"They just made me a regular, so I should be there for the rest [of the season’s episodes]," Acker said in an interview at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif., over the weekend. "I mean, we’ll see. Unless it benefits them to kill me, which I could understand, because I’m very evil."

Acker will return to the show’s set on Jan. 30, when the production resumes after a hiatus to accommodate star Jennifer Garner’s maternity leave. "We haven’t even filmed the next episode that’s going to air," Acker said.

Acker, who previously played the demon Illyria on Angel, said that her new role as a cold-blooded killer has even her parents spooked. "I’m just pure evil," she said. "I was saying, my parents called before Christmas and said they were afraid for me to come home. That they didn’t want me to come home anymore. I was, ’ahh.’ [But] it’s great. I mean, it makes me laugh. Every time I read an episode, and I’m like, ’OK, I’m killing five people this week. Awesome!’"

Acker added that she expects to do at least one scene with returning guest star Lena Olin, who plays Irina Derevko. "I think I will be doing scenes with her soon, and I’m sure that will be very cool," Acker said.

And what is she doing to prepare for her return to Alias? "I’m psyching myself up," she said. "I should be going to the gym or something probably, but I’ve been going to the dessert table [laughs]." Alias ends its five-year run with a series finale this spring.