We’ve got a short interview with 24: Redemption star Robert Carlyle in the next issue of TV & Satellite Week, but there wasn’t nearly enough room in one page for everything he told us, so we’re putting the full transcript here for your enjoyment. Robert gives us a few hints about 24: Redemption, tells us about his old pal Kiefer, and also updates us on the other projects he’s got in the pipeline. Top geezer.
What’s the story of Redemption? Redemption is a two-hour stand-alone piece that bridges the gap between Season 6 and Season 7 of 24. It tells you where Jack has been - he is an exile and he’s been wandering the world, through Afghanistan and several countries in the Middle-East. He ends up in the fictional country of Sangala to bed down with his old friend, Carl Benton.
Carl trained with Jack in the Special Services and turned his back on that world a long, long time ago. He explains why he turned his back on it all and you begin to think that Jack might find the same peace in his life and that his life might follow the same route. Carl is teaching in a school, trying to stop young kids being rounded up into tin-pot dictator armies so they can be used as cannon fodder.
Jack joins Carl in this mission but, in typical 24 style, the peace is pretty quickly disturbed. It all happens in real time over two hours and Jack’s faced with a massive dilemma at the end, deciding whether to go back to that 24 world or not. It’s not giving too much away to say he goes back, but how he gets back is very interesting. It’s a terrific dilemma.
So Carl Benton’s Jack’s buddy rather than his mentor? They were considering making Carl his mentor in the original script and maybe using an older actor. It goes back to my relationship with Kiefer. We made a movie about eight years ago, got on really well and have always kept in touch. In fact, he was actually reading the very first 24 script when we did that film together. Through the years he’s been trying to get me to do 24. Last year I was going to join the show but I already had a couple of other things going on. This part was perfect though because Jack and Carl haven’t seen each other for about 10 years either. That was great as an actor to play on our own relationship. Continue reading ‘Robert Carlyle gives us the lowdown on his role in 24: Redemption’
Not long to go now, thankfully, until the 24 TV movie Redemption hits our screens (it’s currently scheduled to air here in the UK on Sky1 on Monday 24 November) and, to get us in the mood, Fox has just posted this little series of behind-the-scenes clips which give you a good flavour of what to expect. Not sure about the cheesy African muzak, but otherwise it all looks very promising indeed…
We can hardly contain our excitement. Not only have we got the 24 TV movie Redemption to look forward to at the end of November, but then a full-on new series in January.
And judging from this trailer, it’s going to be action, action, action as Jack takes on the back-from-the-dead-turned-bad Tony Almeida. “So help me God,” says Jack, “I will kill you, and you will stay dead this time.”
• We were very pleased to announce the long overdue return of Sarah Michelle Gellar, who has finally recovered from all that vampire slaying and is about to start filming new comedy drama The Wonderful Maladys.
You may decide 2008 is the year you start celebrating the American tradition of Thanksgiving, since that’s when the one-off 24: Redemption episode will be airing in the States, with the promise of Sky1 airing it not long after here in the UK… Here’s a new, very short trailer, complete with plenty of drums, drama and explosions. Let the countdown begin! By the way, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a Jack Bauer type, why not go the whole hog and get the costume? Not sure if the facial scars come with it, or if they’re model’s own…
