"I was reading through the script and somewhere around page 28, I shoot Nina, and I was like 'Oh my God they fired Nina! That's horrible!' So then I get 20 pages down the road, and she's alive and I'm like, 'Oh, good! Okay!'" - Kiefer Sutherland on reading a script of the first season of '24'
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BIRDIE: The bus never came, then it did. I have to pee. - "Thirteen>
Press
"Q&A with Sarah Clarke" Sci-fi Online
(3/10/2003)
Darren Rea: Apart from the money, what was it that attracted
you to the role of Nina in 24?
Sarah Clarke: [laughs] Apart from the money? Well, I would say
that the part of Nina wasn't fully developed when I went for the
auditions. It was never clear, at the start, whether her role was
going to last for the entire series.
I was happy to be playing the role of a strong woman who had an
important role in a male dominated environment. To explore the
world of the CIA, that was exiting to me.
DR: Why do you think the first season was so popular? Do you
think that the ongoing fear of terrorist action against the
Western World has led people to become interested in what
official channels are in place to deal with such threats?
SC: Yes, I think the fact that this shows that there are people
working so hard behind the scenes may well be comforting. When 24
was launched there were a couple of other similar shows that
looked at CTU-type organizations. The other CIA shows didn't
really last because I think that it was daunting to think of how
much information was available to anyone who wanted to commit a
terrorist act. The fact that 24 was conducted in real
time, I think, also captured the viewers imagination.
DR: In the first series, at what point did you realise you
were the CTU mole? And how did you feel about that?
SC: I found out six episodes before the end. So of course I was
completely shocked by this revelation. Because until that point I
was convinced I was one of the good guys.
I'd been such a trusted confident of Jack's and I'd played it
that way and then I realised how brilliant that was of the
writers. Because that was exactly what they wanted. They set me
up to be the ultimate double agent.
I think it worked really well as there was no way the audience
could tell from my performance that I was the mole, because I
wasn't playing the character with that in the back of my head.
When they did eventually tell me I was thrilled, because it gave
me a secret to play and I think that is a wonderful tool as an
actor to have something that the audience are not aware of and is
something that is slowly revealed - to have a slow understanding
of what is happening.
DR: As far as you were concerned was that the end of your
character? SC: Yes, but when I hear that Nina would be coming back I
was very curious to see what they were going to do with the
character after I was jailed [laughs]. I waited to hear what the
premise was going to be and then I was told that I was being
pulled out of jail to help Jack.
The ongoing narrative then looks at how well the two of us work
together, and when you consider what I did to his family, you
know it is not going to be an easy ride.
The other great thing is I got to wear what I wanted in the
second season. I actually went out and picked my costume...
DR: Not the prison gear I assume...
SC: [laughs] No... not that costume. I managed to chose my own
civilian clothes which was great because I could chose something
I would normally wear.
DR: You're married to Xander, who you met while filming the
pilot for 24. Was it love at first sight? What first
attracted you to him?
SC: [laughs] I thought he was a great, funny, genuine guy. I
thought that I really had met someone different. As I got to know
him he'd talk about movies he's been in and I'd say "Oh, I
saw that. I didn't realise you were in it." [laughs]
DR: Last summer you made two movies with Xander. Do you
prefer working together?
SC: I love working with him. He's so inspirational, a joy to
watch and very helpful as well. The first movie we did was Below
the Belt which was shot in Denver. The movie is based on an
off-Broadway play. I had a very small part, but I was just there
to hang out in Denver really [laughs] 'cos I was exhausted from
the first season of 24. They had me on set for a couple
of days as the face and voice of the corporation that the movie
revolves around. I was an info-mmercial that lured people to come
and work for the corporation. It was very sci-fi. I was sort of a
deranged stewardess.
The second project we got to do together was a movie called The
Third Date with one of my best friends, Amy Barrett. She
wrote and directed this short film set in Coney Island. So we got
to go to Coney Island for a week. I play a Russian immigrant and
the movie is the crazy story of a third date. The Third Date
is currently doing the rounds at the film festivals. Below
the Belt is still in post production at the moment. Because
the world of the story is so fantastical - it is set in a
nondescript third world country that has been poisoned by this
multinational company - a lot of the exterior shots are in the
process of going through CGI treatment at the moment.
DR: Xander's character in 24 has only one day left
to live. If you were told tomorrow that you only had one day left
to live how would you spend your last day on Earth?
SC: Wow, excellent question. One day left... Hmm, I would try and
see as much of the World as possible. I would start on a boat
because I feel that the water and the coastline would be
something you could just take in immediately. Then, maybe I'd get
on a train [laughs] and see the countryside. I would just try to
have as many visceral and sensory experiences as possible because
this would be the last day in this body.
