Stephen Fry to play British Prime Minister in 24: Live Another Day

British actor Stephen Fry
British actor Stephen Fry

Huge casting for 24 producers – Deadline reveals that Stephen Fry will be playing the British Prime Minister.

EXCLUSIVE: The UK’s resident renaissance man, popular British actor/comedian/writer/game show host Stephen Fry has been tapped for a high-profile recurring role in Fox‘s event series 24: Live Another Day, which will premiere May 5. The next chapter in the 24 franchise, from 20th TV, Imagine TV and Teakwood Lane, picks up the story four years after the series finale, which left Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) as a fugitive from justice, this time in London.

Fry will play Prime Minister Trevor Davies, a strong and charismatic leader whose friendship with President Heller (William Devane), and the Anglo-American alliance itself, come under tremendous pressure because of personal and political crises. Fry, repped by ICM Partners and UK’s Hamilton Hodell, has a relationship with Fox and 20th after doing an arc on their drama series Bones. Next month, he will make his ninth turn hosting the BAFTA film awards.

Filming for the miniseries begins tomorrow.

Source Deadline

19 Comments

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A very good actor !! EP always know how to find the best for the show !!

Oh wow – now that’s a good casting call.

For those of you that don’t know him – he is very big, famous and popular in the UK.

I like him in an old movie “Peter’s friends”

He’s not really an actor, because he’s only capable of playing the stereotypical bumbling English twit… i.e. himself.

Big fat meh for the casting so far.

You are an absolute piece of human shit and Stephen Fry is fucking incredible.

Incredible at what exactly?

People that say meh need to me stomped in The face. Hard…shut up.

It must ail you sir, knowing there’s fuck all you can do about it.

WouldntYouLikeToKnow
January 25, 2014 at 2:39 pm
It must ail you, sir, knowing there’s nothing you can do about Stephen Fry appearing on 24.

Well… he is amazing on stage in Shakespearean 12th Night, he made a great Oscar Wilde, his Jeeves was outstanding and his Charles Prentiss in Absolute Power was the most charming douchebag. Good in comedy, good in drama. By the way, people who know about acting more than you, like the creator of TV show Bones, are in awe of him. You don’t like him, okay, your business.:)

things keep getting better and better am having goosebumbs now

Michael Wincott, Judy Davis, Benjamin Bratt, and now Stephen Fry (of all people!)… anyone who doubts this is the single best cast of any ’24’ season to date is frankly certifiable!

All we need is carlos bernard back!

THis is the first casting call I’m disappointed by. Stephen Fry, at heart, is a comedian. A good one, but a comedian. His presence alone can easily clash with the series’ tone. I’ll give him he benefit of the doubt, but…

The same was true for Jean Smart around 2006 too.

I agree with that especially.

For those viewers in the UK, they may not take the show as realistically. The same thing happens to me whenever big movies cast big named actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt etc.

Although they are good actors, their widespread ‘fanbase’ or ‘popularity’ kind of takes away from the story for me. It makes it push the point even further that you’re watching a TV show and it isn’t real life – whereas with relatively unknown actors such as Carlos Bernard & Mary Lynn Rajskub, you don’t see them on TV (much) so it kind of makes it seem more real.

Yeah, uk fans of James Bond had the same problem during the Brosnan era, in that a series that used to provide you such immense escapism, takes you right out of it by casting people you saw on uk tv every fucking day on gray, miserable kitchen sink dramas! i.e. Robbie Coltrane, Sean Bean, Robert Carlisle.

It’s worse with Stephen Fry because unlike those 3 names he’s not actually a good actor and he’s absolutely bloody everywhere, whether presenting something, being on one of those witty panel shows, or playing the same character in everything he’s in.

one word: ratings