TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
The Cast and Crew of '24' Take It One Day at a Time
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Dec. 15 -- "Boop. Beep. Boop. Beep. The following takes place between ..."
Those sounds and words signal to millions of TV viewers that something horrible is about to happen in America and superagent Jack Bauer is going to make it all better. The Emmy-award winning show returns for its sixth season with a two-hour premiere Sun., Jan. 14, 8PM ET on Fox. The fifth season is out now on DVD and includes a season six prequel, interviews, commentaries, deleted scenes and more.
In interviews with AOL Television editor Sean Doorly, the '24' cast and crew chatted about their favorite moments from the show, the upcoming big screen movie and what's in store for next year.
What makes the show work?
Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer): I have no idea. You'd have to ask the audiences that have watched. [But over five seasons], they've taken everything that's worked in season one and tried to implement that in season two, and taken everything that didn't work and gotten rid of it. The writers have not been complacent from season to season, they really are aggressively [making] the show better and the audience has really responded to that.
What can you tell us about the '24' movie?
Sutherland: One of the difficult things about setting up the film is that it's hard ... to pull any of the writers off to work on the movie script. We did hand in a script, we're certainly moving towards trying to make the movie happen in the hiatus. We're just concerned about the time we have for prep, but it's something we're certainly shooting for. And trust me, if we get the opportunity to do it, rest would be the last thing on my mind.
How many more worst days can there be in Jack's life?
Sutherland: However many they'll let me have. I think an audience will really let you know when they can't take that leap of faith anymore. The nature of the show and the format of the show is strong enough to go on, and I will die some miserable death.
How are you feeling as 40 approaches?
Sutherland: I feel unusually healthy. It almost seems unfair.
What can you tell us about season six?
Jon Cassar (Director): We can look forward to a little difference in the storytelling. It is more about something big that has already happened, how we are dealing with it and what is coming next. We are weeks into a major crisis.
Howard Gordon (Writer): Well, in season six, we've really become like Madrid, Tel Aviv, London -- we're in the midst of a wave of terror attacks. The President is now Wayne Palmer, the younger brother of David Palmer, so he's very much the RFK to Palmer's JFK, and he's dealing with a crisis that no president has ever had to deal with before. What happens when it really comes here? We're always about stopping it before it really gets ugly; well, it's gotten ugly before we even start.
Any surprises to top last season?
Cassar: Every year is a surprise for us. We just have the most creative writers -- they're unbelievably good -- and they keep coming up with the next twist. They're real news hounds. They really know what's happening out there in the world and incorporate it into our show. And the other thing that keeps us alive is that we're constantly switching our cast over, almost 100 percent sometimes. There's going to be a few faces you recognize, but it's a pretty new cast overall.
Jean Smart (Martha Logan): My very first scene has to be one the favorite scenes I've ever got to do in anything. It's the best introduction of a character that I've ever had, when she looks in the mirror and doesn't like what she sees.
Cassar: Out of all six years? Man, that's a mean question! To just pick one, that's so hard for me. The opening episodes and the finales are my favorites because you're starting something or finishing it, which is rare on our show because usually you're just doing the middle. From a director's point of view, those are the important times. This year's opener is pretty exciting.
Gordon: My favorite moment from last season was when Gregory Itzin (President Logan) contemplates doing himself in. Another one of my favorite moments was David Palmer's death, only because it was one of the most difficult moments to write, to conceive and to ask Dennis [Haysbert] to do.
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