Comic-Con 2009 Panel



Comic Con 2009 Panel is a special feature found on the Season Eight DVD.

Comic Con 2009 Panel
'''Comic Con: San Diego. July 24, 2009': Tara Bennett walks on stage and welcomes the audience to the 24'' panel. She then introduces the panel: Sean Callery, Evan Katz, Manny Coto, David Fury, Brannon Braga, Anil Kapoor, Freddie Prinze Jr., Katee Sackhoff, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Howard Gordon and Kiefer Sutherland. She congratulates them on 11 Emmy nominations, and begins to ask questions.


 * Tara Bennett: So, the end [of Season 7] left us all kind of wondering, where are we going to be for season 8. Tell us a little bit about how you came to the decision to put Jack in such peril.
 * Howard Gordon: Well, that's what we do. And as you can probably guess he did make it though and you'll see a little bit later how. Last year was a very exciting year for all of us, and we're so grateful for everybody's support and I can't tell you how happy we all are to be here. On everyone's behalf thanks for sticking with us and for being here.


 * Tara Bennett: Kiefer, Jack went through a lot of really emotional moments last year, from reuniting with his daughter, to of course being infected with bio-hazard. Was there any particular moments from last season that you were happy to play or that felt like was a new facet to him?
 * Kiefer Sutherland: I think one of the things that Howard and I talked a lot about last year was how to get Jack back to a place where living mattered. His life had been crushed so badly after these past seven seasons, so the introduction of Annie Wersching's character Renee was fantastic, she's such a fantastic actress and the fact that she was the female equal to him allowed her to be the kind of relationship he wanted to work and so that was something we fed through that we knew was going to be a main part of season 8. The reconnection with his daughter, which I thought was fantastic, made dying very difficult for him so that was a fantastic thing to be able to play. Those kind of components mattered a great deal, and the development of the relationships, because they took on new sides, were fantastic for last year. Everything obviously from season to season is thought of in the perspective, 'What are we going to do next year?' 'How is this going to play out?' So season 7 and 8 more than any other seasons that we've done before are really connected together; the storylines from season 7 really do play all the way through to season 8.


 * Tara Bennett: So with that, where do we start on Day 8? Are we picking up right where Jack left off at that cliffhanger, or are we going to move ahead like we have in seasons past?
 * Manny Coto: (sarcastically) Well, it's 30 years later. No, its actually starts with a place we haven't seen; that is happy. With his daughter and his granddaughter. It's really an interesting place when you see it, which Kiefer played so wonderfully, because you realise, 'Gosh, we haven't seen this side of you in so long', but there's always this dread when you're watching that this is not going to last, and it makes those moment so much more poignant.
 * Howard Gordon: We get into spoiler territory, so lets try to draw the line there. But I do want to do this; I'm looking at this great new cast and I was so happy to see you guys greet the new cast like that because the casting Gods have always smiled on us, and I will say about season 8 is that we have once again been smiled upon by the casting Gods. We have some very good casting directors as well. Anil, Freddie and Katee are remarkable additions to our cast, and I think you're going to like what we have in store for them.




 * Tara Bennett: With that, lets talk to some of the cast. Mr. Kapoor, without being spoilery about who your character is, what attracted you to coming to American television with 24?
 * Anil Kapoor: Thank you very much. Thank you for being so kind and generous. I think I should ask them what attracted them to me. For me, its an honour to be in this show, and I've always been a great admirer of 24 and I think I'm very very fortunate to be in this show. So I must ask Howard and the entire team what attracted them to me!
 * Howard Gordon: Kiefer just whispered in my ear, 'talent.' It's very hard to play kings and Presidents, whether in Shakespeare or 24. It's a unique ability to have the weight and authority and the intelligence and the warmth and all those things to play a President, to play a leader, and there's a very small group of actors that can do that, and we were very lucky to have been introduced to Anil and I'm looking forward to everybody seeing it.


 * Tara Bennett: Freddie; somebody told me that you were a very big fan of this show. So tell me a little bit about that personal fandom and a little about what you'll be playing now you're on the show.
 * Freddie Prinze Jr. It's not a big secret, I've been a huge fan of the show since the beginning, I remember sitting with my wife during Season 1 and I said, 'That would be great to get to be on that show one day,' not ever thinking there would be an opportunity or a chance because I was acting with talking animals at the time. So when the opportunity came around I jumped at it and I'm incredibly grateful to (indicating to Howard Gordon and Kiefer Sutherland) both you guys and I hope you guys love the show. As far as the character goes, his name is Cole Ortiz and he was in field ops for CTU, he's an ex-marine, and he's a kind of guy who, a couple of years ago, got involved in the marine corps like a lot of young men did, and he had a lot of rage and a lot of anger and those feelings were replaced with what the marine corps gives you, which is discipline, self control, and that's really the qualities I'm trying to bring to the guy. I have a cousin in the marines whose over there right now that I'm trying to pattern him after. That's Cole.


 * Tara Bennett: There's a familiar face right next to Freddie, as a lot of fans will know. They're very grateful to see Miss Katee Sackhoff on the show, so Katee tell us how you came to the role and a little stink on who you'll be portraying.
 * Katee Sackhoff: I basically called my manager and was like, 'Get me on 24!' So through a long process I finally ended up on the show. I play Dana Walsh, who is engaged to Cole, and she is a data analyst at CTU and that's all I can tell you. All I can say is that I sat down in the writers room with Howard and everybody and said, 'This is fantastic. At some point I need a gun, because I'm starting to feel really naked. This computer stuff is great and everything and I love saying all those big complicated words - not really - but I need a gun. And two, preferably.'


 * Tara Bennett: Mary Lynn, last year we saw a very different side to Chloe, as a mother. And so, as a new mother yourself tell us your thoughts on how it was to play Chloe in this different light and what you're excited about this season with Chloe.
 * Mary Lynn Rajskub: I'm happy to be back on the show in general, and yeah I'm a mom on and off the show. And I'm bringing it with me. My character starts off a little bit behind, if you can believe that, because I've been at home with my son, so I'm back at CTU and I'm having to relearn some stuff. That's been really fun and I've been really loving the scripts so far. Its still so smart and there's so much energy behind it.

Questions from the audience are then taken. Topics include how to come up with ideas for a new season, how the music is different because of the location and what the theme of the season is.