Thursday, January 16, 2014

'Jack is BACK!' Kiefer Sutherland returns with new series of 24

Jack Bauer may have nerves of steel but Kiefer Sutherland, who played the iconic CIA agent in Fox's 24 for nine years until 2010, certainly hasn't.

The 47-year-old British Canadian star is due to return to the role in the rebooted 24: Live Another Day, but admitted to he's more than a little anxious about the project.

'I'm terrified,' he told reporters at the Television Critics Association's meeting at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California, where he was promoting the upcoming new season on Monday.

'I won't lie to you. Until we start shooting, I'm about as anxious and wound up as I've been in a long time.'

24 ran for eight seasons before it ended in 2010, and Kiefer admitted that he suffered from 'terrifying' nerves in between each series.

He said: 'I'm very nervous. Without patting ourselves on the back too hard, we made eight very strong years. We always would look back every season and wish something had been better, but I was very proud.

'So to make 12 more episodes and not make them the best 12 we've ever made, I'm terrified.'
Shooting is set to start on the hour-long episodes in the UK in London in a couple of weeks with a special two-hour helping due to launch the drama on Fox on May 5. It will air on Sky1 in the UK.

At least the city of London is familiar to Kiefer, who was born there.

'I've spent big chunks of my life there, but I'm anxious,' Kiefer said. 'We plan to be shooting outside. I'm sure we'll be hated by a large portion of London for snarling up their traffic, and for that I apologize in advance.'

The action starts four years after the drama’s final season and will play out, as usual, in real time. However, unlike previous seasons, there will only be 12 episodes, instead of 24.

After the end of the last series, Kiefer's Jack Bauer remains a fugitive and CIA agent Kate Morgan, played by Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski, is after him.

'In the minds of the CIA, he’s not quite Osama bin Laden but he’s a fugitive of a high order,' executive producer Evan Katz said.

'We will learn he has a mission. Whether it’s good or dark we don’t know, but the CIA is determined to catch him.'

Fan favourites Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brian), Kim Raver (Audrey Raines) and William Devane (James Heller) will be returning for the new series, while newcomers including Giles Matthey, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Michael Wincott and Judy Davis will be joining the cast.

Mary Lynn added of the returning series: 'I have a lot of people who refuse to call me anyone but Chloe. I never thought 24 would come back and in this format.'

And fans of the show can rest assured that the new series won't derail the plans for a 24 movie, as Kiefer admitted it was only the fact that showrunner Howard Gordon came up with the concept for the new mini-series first that caused the film to be delayed.

He said: 'If this ends up rebooting the show or causing a film to be made, so be it. The film is sort of an ongoing situation.'

By Mail Online

No comments:

Post a Comment

.