24 at Comic-Con: Live-Blog

24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY may have concluded a few weeks ago, but franchise star Kiefer Sutherland is in San Diego to talk about the show’s run with executive producer/direct Jon Cassar.

Here is Comic-Con’s officially description of the panel, and check back starting at 10 AM PT for live updates for what the duo have to say.

“Jack is back at Comic-Con, damn it! Kiefer Sutherland takes the stage to celebrate 24‘s most iconic moments and highlights of Jack Bauer’s triumphant return in 24: Live Another Day. Catch the exclusive sneak peek at highly anticipated Blu-ray and DVD featurette, Worlds Collide, illustrating how the pulse-pounding storytelling was created for this thrilling new season. Screening and discussion moderated by executive producer Jon Cassar to be followed by Q&A.”

10:03 AM: We’re starting off with a sizzle reel for 24!

10:06 AM: Sutherland says this is the most nervous he’s ever seen Cassar.

10:07 AM: What was it like shooting 24 in London? “It was difficult,” Sutherland says. He points out that they had issues with working on guns there. “We needed six weeks to even have a gun on set. We needed six weeks of advance notice…having said that, there was a fantastic kind of thing that happened out of that, which was instead of just killing something, we had to figure out other ways for drama.” He also mentions it took them a few months to bond with the new crew, because they had spent eight years working on the original show with a crew in LA.

“There was a texture in the UK where we got to shoot which was unique and special,” Sutherland says.

10:10 AM: On shooting with crowds: “The rules are interesting…in Los Angeles, police officers say you can’t walk here,” Sutherland says. “And in London, you can’t. People are very cler about their rights, and the sidewalk is mine, I paid for it, it’s in the Magna Carta. When we did some of the scenes early on…we would get up to 3000 people watching. The thing about that that’s kind of amazing is they actually did listen [when we asked them to move]…you would watch this giant ant farm move to the left.”

Sutherland notes that the scene when Chloe tells Jack that her family was killed, “there were 2000 people in a park watching us. She looked at me and says, ‘I don’t know how to do this.'” He told her to internalize it, and she did cry, and then she told him after she cried because “‘I couldn’t believe 2000 people were sitting in a car watching us.'”

10:13 AM: What was his reaction when Sutherland was told they wanted to revive the character? “Honestly, I think we left it open in season 8, because we had every intention to do a film,” Sutherland says. “And for a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen. This character has been one of the greatest gifts of my career…when I get a call from Howard [Gordon]…there’s five minutes of ‘I could never do this’ until ‘When do I start?'”

“The panic was extraordinary,” Sutherland says of returning. He says they’ll never say they made a perfect season, but “there was enough that we were proud of, that when we put it to bed after eight seasons, we were proud.” But Sutherland says that in the six months between agreeing to do it and production starting, he turned himself into a mess of nerves.

10:16 AM: “Man, I love that part,” Sutherland says of Jack shooting people multiple times after they were dead.

10:17 AM: Sutherland rewatched season 1 before going back to play Jack. He notes, “There was so much hope in this guy…and the evolution of this guy with everything he’s lost, he’s run out of patience…he’s done.”

10:18 AM: What was Jack thinking at the end of LIVE ANOTHER DAY? “The fact that he managed to save Chloe gave him some satisfaction, and the fact that the day had been finished, that gave him satisfaction,” Sutherland says. “We went through so many ideas for that ending. We thought, maybe for the DVD, Jack will put out a hand grenade, and just blow it up. We had never had that kind of freedom before.”

“Your response to the end and this season was really gracious,” Sutherland says of

10:22 AM: On returning stars: “Kim Raver specifically: this is one of my dearest friends,” Sutherland say. He recalls their first scene together that they shot for a DVD set where Jack and Audrey had to make out against a wall — and he had just met her five minutes before they shot it. “I had not seen her in two years, and literally, [our dynamic] picked up exactly like that.”

He jokes Chloe has basically a halo around her, and he knows they can’t kill off Chloe…people would rather Jack die than Chloe.

Cassar and Sutherland are jokingly mocking William Devane, who complained in England about not having enough food or TV channels available. They both praise his work, and Cassar says to pay attention to Heller’s clothes in LAD when you rewatch — they credit it all towards Devane.

10:26 AM: Sutherland notes that when he started, television was the kiss of death. “24 was part of it, but ER, and there were certainly fantastic shows before us. SOPRANOS was a perfect example: if you look at Tony Soprano’s character from the beginning to the end of the show, the character was vastly different.” He says he’s told other actors that, and that television is “one of the greatest acting opportunities.” He says he barely goes to the movies any more, he watches a lot of TV.

10:30 AM: “As it was written, I come through the window and shoot her,” Sutherland says of killing Michelle Fairley on-screen. He really wanted to be able to say he worked with her, had a scene.

“She’s the strongest, shortest person you’ve ever met,” he laughs. “I never got to have a scene with her, because I spent the entire time trying to hold her still. So by the time I chucked her out the window, I was very happy.”

10:31 AM: Sutherland praises the UK stunt team that they worked with.

10:34 AM: “That’s the best way I can explain my experience on 24: people came to work and they were excited, and they wanted to be different or bold,” Sutherland says. It was a group experience that helped mold the show.

Sutherland compares the experience to a band, “We stayed together, because everyone respected what they did.” He says the writers let the people on set do what they had to do, and the actors didn’t tell the writers what to write.

10:36 AM: How are Kiefer and Jack different? “Just take a look at my record,” Sutherland jokes. “I promise you when I grow up, that’s the guy that I would like to be.” He says he has a very strong sense of right and wrong: “It doesn’t necessarily mean that I follow it, but I know it.” He says Jack knows the same thing, but Jack actually lives by it.

10:37 AM: Sutherland is sharing a story of accidentally going to the wrong location for work, being late, and running out of gas. And as he’s running to get a can of gas, and someone called out that, “Jack Bauer is a loser!”

He also says he tried to save an old lady he thought was being accosted by two teens, but after he punched the first one, he realized it was actually a student film.

10:40 AM: Who would Sutherland dress up as for SDCC? “First instinct is a storm trooper from STAR WARS,” he says. “No one will know who it is, and your body is defined.”

1042 AM: Could Kiefer beat his father, Donald in toughness? “It’s almost an odd family rule: you don’t bring business to the table,” Sutherland says, noting they recently shot a film together. “But I could kick his ass.”

10:44 AM: Sutherland talks about his experience working on video games: “The technology is extraordinary.”

10:45 AM: “Absolutely reluctant,” Sutherland says of Jack’s hero status early on. “This was a guy who was given a certain set of responsibilities based on his job. On that first day, he was given a set of circumstances that…he succeeded at some and failed at others…the evolution of the character was how much he lost, which was was led us to season 9: he had nothing, and he was angry.”

10:49 AM: Sutherland points out the show wasn’t trying to predict political hot topics for much of its run. Though, for season 9, they took real, hot-button topics — drones and an Edward Snowden-esque figure.

10:50 AM: Where is Heller now? Sutherland says he’s probably mourning the loss of his daughter and likely resigned.

10:52 AM: Sutherland says some actors don’t use the best prop guns, and they think they’re not shooting it right — and he doesn’t tell them. He finally copped to it when shooting LAD and Yvonne Strahovski was misfiring in the middle of the night, and he let her borrow his prop gun, and she realized he had one that worked better.

10:53 AM: Would they rather have an engaging/shocking story the first time around, or something that’s rewatchable? “I want to engage you in the first time you watch it,” Sutherland says.

10:55 AM: An audience member just asked Sutherland to do a “dammit!” and he complied.

10:56 AM: Who would Sutherland like to work with? He says the dream would have been Gene Hackman. As for who he’s gotten to work with in the cast, Sutherland deadpans, “There is a real revolving door with actors, because we kill so many of them.”

10:59 AM: “I think we’re still talking about the movie, it’s still potentially out there,” Cassar says.

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And we’re done!

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