Here’s a new “Ask Katee” where Katee Sackhoff reveals that she didn’t know Dana Walsh was a mole when taking the role (although she knew Dana was bad). The 24 question is the first one.
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Katee Sackhoff
The 2010 Teen Choice Award nominees were announced and 24 is up for 4 awards.
24 was nominated for “Choice TV Show: Action” (with Burn Notice, Chuck, Human Target, and NCIS: Los Angeles). Kiefer Sutherland was nominated for “Choice TV Actor: Action” (alongside Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice, Zachary Levi of Chuck, LL Cool J of NCIS: Los Angeles, and Mark Valley of Human Target).
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Showrunner Howard Gordon was interviewed on Dana Walsh’s death, her character, and what this means for Jack for the remaining episodes. There’s some interesting info in here on how they decided to make her a mole.
TVGuide.com: Jack didn’t have to kill Dana. Why did he?
Howard Gordon: That’s exactly the point. In this episode, everybody is taken to a place that they’ve never been. We struggled with writing it; the actors struggled with acting it. It goes to the core of what Jack is experiencing right now: He’s the judge and jury and executioner. He’s taking what he perceives to be justice in his own hands. Dana has culpability in what’s happened on this day. It defines the level of darkness he’s descended to.TVGuide.com: Why would you say this episode is important?
Gordon: To me, this is the episode where Jack’s trajectory really gets defined and comes into focus, what we’re going to see for the balance of the season. This is a very crystallizing moment. When Jack kills Dana unarmed, that’s the first execution in his train of justice — or vengeance, depending on how you look at it.TVGuide.com: Do you think Dana’s death carries any sort of redemption for the character?
Gordon: Whatever redemption there is for the character is in that very sad moment where you realize that she actually did love Cole. For the first time, the onion is peeled down to the nub and you see her vulnerable for the first moment. It’s pathetic because she’s obviously a sociopath, but she meant to reverse the position she put herself in.TVGuide.com: You’ve had to do your share of defending Dana to the fans.
Gordon: She became an early target for certain people. People love to hate her, and they didn’t quite know why. Very early on, this story became this crazy improvisation. We always knew she was someone with a past; we didn’t quite know how deep that past went. [Executive producer Alex Gansa] had an idea: What if she’s a mole?TVGuide.com: Because that never happens on 24!
Gordon: That’s one of the hazards of the show. We were all so scared to say it. We don’t even allow ourselves to use some of the more obvious tools in the arsenal, but once Alex said it, it clarified the character for us. So we were able to back-trace it so she’d have a double-secret identity. It all came to the fore in Monday’s episode. You realize that this woman fell in love with Cole. That was real. She tried to get herself out of the situation she got herself in. It really explains the improbable nature of how a juvenile delinquent from Rock Springs was able to manufacture an identity and insert herself into this top-secret organization. As improbable as it is, in true 24 fashion, it made its own kind of crazy sense.TVGuide.com: Do you think the fans were too hard on her?
Gordon: I think the fans were a little too hard on her. We all have Starbuck [Sackhoff's character on Battlestar Galactica] in our mind. She’s played these strong roles, and here she was playing this demure, almost prim, goody-goody analyst in direct counterpoint to Chloe. There was something that was too good to be true about her. We had this hidden card that nobody knew we were playing. People were judging her prematurely.TVGuide.com: What about the parole officer stuck in the wall? Is he just going to rot there?
Gordon: We made various attempts to reintegrate the fact that there’s the body in the wall, but we justified it by saying the body wouldn’t start to smell for another couple of hours. Right around, say, hour 25.So is this Jack’s lowest point? Or does it get worse?
Gordon: Jack is as about as emotionally damaged as he’s been now. He’s descending right now. The finale is a complex ending. It’s not as tragic as it could have been. It’s not entirely unhappy. But he doesn’t walk off into the sunset.
Source: TVGuide.com
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Dana just got killed. Reaction?
KATEE SACKHOFF: That’s so sad. Poor Dana.Do you genuinely feel sympathy for her?
SACKHOFF: None whatsoever. [Laughs]. She doesn’t have one redeeming quality. I tried desperately to give her a redeeming quality. I really tried. The only thing I could come up with was that she didn’t crack when she was tortured.What was it like playing someone like that?
SACKHOFF: It was weird. I kind of figured if I couldn’t give her a redeeming quality, I was just going to be the most ridiculously unsympathetic villain ever. I was going to try and make everyone hate her. That was my goal, and I think I succeeded.Were you looking to play a one-note baddie when you signed on?
SACKHOFF: [Before 24] I always had to give tons of thought to my characters. They had so many layers and they were exhausting to play. By the time [Battlestar] was over I was so tired. I was like, “Can I please play a character that’s just cut and dry?” [Laughs] With Dana, I just kind of went to work and played what was on the page. It was a much easier process.The Dana plot was not well-received. Were you aware that it wasn’t going over well?
SACKHOFF: I didn’t realize that. [Pause] I don’t care. I played a character [Starbuck] who was hated from the very beginning just because she was a woman, so I learned a long time ago not to read [the feedback]. It’s counterproductive to doing your job… I respect the fans and I respect their opinions but it’s sad that they’re not happy when it’s the last season.Was there anything Dana did that made you go, “WTF?”?
SACKHOFF: I think when I had a gun and [onscreen hubby] Freddie [Prince Jr.] shot it for me. I was like, “Wow, I’m completely playing a new character here.” For the first five or six episodes I was like, “Guys, you’ve got to give me a gun. I don’t do the whole stand here and look pretty thing very well.” And then they finally give me a gun and the man standing next to me shot it for me.Did you object?
SACKHOFF: Of course I did. But then I was told I was a Russian spy and I was like, “Okay, I get it.”I thought you were going to say hiding Bill Prady’s dead body in the wall at CTU was the craziest thing Dana did.
SACKHOFF: [Mock contempt] Where else was she going to put it?! Was she going to drag it down the hallway? She had to figure out something really quick, and the grate in the wall seemed like a perfect place. The only thing we were joking about was can you imagine when they start turning the heat on in the winter? Six months later everyone’s like, “What is that smell?!” And they’re like, “Damn that Dana!” [Laughs]How was the whole 24 experience?
SACKHOFF: It was fantastic. Because of the way they shoot 24 you feel like you’re never there. I kind of felt like I could go hang out at Coffee Bean with all the unemployed actors. Every time I’d get a paycheck I was like, “Oh, that’s right. I have a job!” It was pretty easy compared to what I was used to. I’ve been so spoiled. I moved to L.A. when I was 17 and I constantly worked on television, so I’ve always been able to have, in a sense, a normal job where you go to work every day. And after Battlestar ended and [my NBC] pilot [Lost & Found] wasn’t picked up I got completely disillusioned by the business. I had never done a pilot that hadn’t been picked up, so I was like, “What?!” So I wanted to go back to something that felt safe and exciting and well-received, and 24 was a perfect fit. It’s what I needed to get my footing and go tackle another pilot season.Why did you have so much time off? It’s not like Dana disappeared for long stretches. Did you shoot all your scenes in one day?
SACKHOFF: Yeah, that’s what they do. And it’s not just one episode, it’s two episodes. I would shoot all my stuff for episodes 5 and 6, which would normally take 18 days, in one day. So I’d have off for three weeks. I think I had the whole month of November off.Was that frustrating at all? Because it’s not like you can go off and commit to another gig.
SACKHOFF: It was frustrating. I felt unemployed. I had all my chores done by 9 a.m. and I’m like, “What do I do now?” I’d call up my ex-boyfriend at work and go, “It’s 9 a.m. and I’m done. Is it too early to start drinking at noon?”For more from Sackhoff, including scoop on one of Dana’s most buzzed about quirks, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly (on sale Thursday).
Source: EW.com
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The 18th Scenemakers of 24 Season 8 with director Michael Klick and actress Katee Sackhoff. “Director Michael Klick takes us behind the scenes of Dana’s death.”
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