Carlos Bernard brings Tony back to '24'
Posted by Lorrie Lynch
The Fox series 24 is back Sunday and Monday night after nearly 20 months off the air and our TV editor T.J. Walter, who has previewed the first four episodes, warns that you will get hooked quickly. Of course, if you watched November's 24 TV movie, Redemption, you already know that. And, if you didn't see the movie — well, T.J. says catch it before Sunday's fresh start. (You can watch the whole episode here for free.)
Even those of us not paying close attention know that all the action revolves around Jack Bauer — played by the increasingly handsome Kiefer Sutherland, at left. But this year there's a female U.S. president (read a separate post on Cherry Jones) and an old favorite, Tony Almeida, played by Carlos Bernard, rises from the dead. My readers always loved Bernard. I got tons of questions on him before they killed him off. Here's a short interview we did in 2005. And you can click on read more below to read T.J.'s interview done just yesterday, as well as to view a trailer.
Photos courtesy of Fox
So how does it feel to be back?
To be honest it was a little odd the first day. Then after the second or third day I felt like I was never away. We are all great friends so it wasn’t too hard to get back into character.
When were you first approached about returning?
The way everything happened in Season Five, I had a sneaky suspicion that Tony wasn’t really dead. Not that I thought I was coming back right away but I wasn’t exactly shocked when they finally did call me. The initial idea had me coming back near the end of Season Six but the idea was a little gimmicky and I think we all wanted to make sure the character came back with a real solid reason.
What can people expect this year?
What I like about this year is that it reminds me of the first season because it is told at a much more personal level. The show can really go two different directions: one being a more personal level-type storytelling, and then the other one is this huge explosion-type direction where they are setting off dirty bombs. And sometimes we get a little too carried away with the explosions. For me, the show doesn’t work as well if it isn’t rooted in some sort of personal story. This year it all definitely comes back to being very personal for the characters. I really think this year’s ending is one of the better ones.
This season Tony seems to take on the bad guy role. How does it feel to be the dude in Jack’s crosshairs?
I don’t want to refer to him as the bad guy because I think he has reasons for doing what he is doing. In my career, I have always been attracted to darker characters and I really like exploring that side of life. Especially with a character you have lived with for so many years, you can really track the traumatic events that he has been through. People will start to see Tony’s character unfold starting as early as the third or fourth episode but the whole scope really unfolds throughout the season. You’ll just have to wait and see.
Will Tony be around for Season Eight?
Come on, you know that I can’t answer that one. I have to keep some secrets.
Comments (1)
I'm so glad he is back...Tony was always my favorite character outside of Jack...I cried when they killed him and his wife off...he was the one that could always get Jack's attention! Welcome back, Carlos! We love you!