TV Guide’s special “Spring Preview” issue has Jack Bauer on the cover and includes a writeup on 24: Live Another Day. Check it out below.
The clock never stops. 24 was dead. Now it’s not. In 2010, after eight seasons chasing suitcase nukes and dirty bombs, Kiefer Sutherland said goodbye to counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer. But a new spy world has apparently proven enough to draw him out of retirement.
“Jack wasn’t quite done saving the world,” Sutherland says with a half smile. “Jack’s a guy with a strong moral compass, and that compass pointed him back to the center of the fray.”
24: Live Another Day opens four years after Jack slipped away on a New York street while operations analyst Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) watched tearfully on her Counter Terrorist Unit screen. Much has changed, even as key players return. The action is set (and filmed) in London. The drama is compressed into 12 episodes instead of 24. Jack is leaner, meaner and a bit crinklier at the eyes. And he and Chloe – now a hardened goth type – are on opposite sides. She’s joined forces with a Julian Assange-style secrets bearer (Michael Wincott). “At least that’s where things begin,” says executive producer Jon Cassar.
Naturally, it’s a global threat that brings everyone back. President James Heller (William Devane) is in the U.K. to broker a treaty with Parliament. When national-security leaks fall into the wrong hands, Jack comes out of hiding, pointing his gun first and asking questions later. “Jack’s in a more aggressive mode,” Cassar says. He’s not answering to anyone.”
Sutherland admits he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the new season. “We had such an incredible run and an enormous fan base. You don’t want to mess with that,” he says. And yet it’s the audience that’s driving the return. “For so many people, 24 never really ended,” Cassar says. “People around the world still watch it on DVD or stream it, so these characters are still alive in a big way.”
Case in point: Kim Raver – who hasn’t been seen since Season 6 – returns as Audrey Raines, and she’s now married to White House chief of staff Mark Boudreau (Tate Donovan). The major thorn in Jack’s side is Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski), a CIA agent whose ruthless tactics in pursuing him might best be described as Bauer-esque.
As the only actor to have appeared in all 192 episodes of 24, Sutherland can anticipate Jack’s moves. He jokes, “The No. 1 secret after all these years? If you can’t remember what to do in a scene, just duck.”