Q&A: Kiefer Sutherland on his ‘24’ hours of fame and its future

Kiefer Sutherland says of his Jack Bauer character in “24”: “As an actor, I feel the character changes so many times in such small ways from season to season that it was always interesting for me to play.” For eight seasons, millions of viewers were captivated by the Fox drama “24,” which tracked the exploits of super-counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer, a man who not only wouldn’t take no for an answer but who also found creative ways to get the answers he needed to protect the country. Last year, fans were delighted with the show’s return in a limited form with “24: Live Another Day,” with Kiefer Sutherland once again in the role of Bauer. Having said that, I don’t think I was ever more scared doing “24” as I was in the ninth season. And I said, “Gail, I just want to go on record as saying I think that’s the worst decision ever and I don’t think you can expect an audience to watch 24 hours of television only to have him fail.” And she said, “OK, thank you.” And I went, “Well, thank you what?” And she said, “Thank you for going on the record for that, but we’re going with it.” And I was wrong.