The cast members of addictive thriller 24 were out in force over the weekend, celebrating the imminent US start of the hugely popular series' fifth season.
Central character Kiefer Sutherland, who recently received his fourth consecutive Golden Globe nod in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series category, was at the heart of the celebrations, joining his co-stars on the red carpet at the LA bash.
And the Phone Booth star's return to US screens as federal tough guy Jack on January 15 is just the beginning of what looks set to be a high-profile year for the 39-year-old actor.
On January 24 he's back on the big screen in the epic period drama River Queen. The movie, which debuted at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival last September, has its world premiere in New Zealand, where it will first go on general release.
Then in April, he hits US screens in the political suspense thriller The Sentinel, based on a novel by a former secret service agent, in which he shares the screen with Michael Douglas, Eva Longoria and Kim Basinger. Also premiering that month is Disney flick The Wild, to which Kiefer lends his voice.
With Kiefer's character's provocative walk into the sunrise at the end of the last series, producers were hard pushed to maintain the impact in the upcoming shows. "It was impossible," says executive producer Howard Gordon. "We've covered so much ground that we have to work twice as hard for half as much."
That doesn't mean that fans should be expecting any let up in the tension, however. The opening minutes of the first episode are apparently so shocking that "Fans are going to be really stressed out — even more so than before," says Mary Lynn Rajskub, who plays systems analyst Chloe.
Adds Howard: "Whereas in the past we've had this slow-mounting tension, this year starts out with a bang and doesn't let up. Just when Jack thought he'd lost everything, he finds out there's something more to lose."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
