“Nostalgically, the first season will always feel special to me. We were really flying by the seat of our pants,” says Sutherland, who spent 10 years and eight seasons in his first TV series.
“And I have a real affection for Season 8” and its depiction of a battered Jack’s relationship with agent Renee Walker (Annie Wersching), which he calls “one of the most grounded story lines … and, as an actor, one of the most satisfying to play.” But “watching clips from Season 1 to 8, all I see is, ‘Man, we got old!’ ”
The show’s real-time conceit, each season representing a single day, was both radical and daunting. “Trying to do something in the thriller genre for eight years, trying to do a story that’s suspenseful and earnest, is an unbelievable challenge,” he says.
And now a 24 movie update:
Though the series has ended, a feature film is still in development at Fox, and Tony Scott (Unstoppable) has been in discussions to direct. Sutherland is hopeful the movie will be released in 2012, though Fox has not yet committed to the project.