Over eight seasons of the TV series 24 the only thing longer than the trail of bodies was the number of people who misunderstood the show’s hero, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). When we last saw Bauer, he had gone on a killing spree that achieved the rare feat of making him one of the most wanted men in both the U.S. and Russia. The latest installment, 24: Live Another Day, picks up four years later in London, with viewers wondering whether Bauer is a hero or villain.
Sutherland is joined by returning cast members Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O’Brian) and William Devane (James Heller), as well as new cast member Benjamin Bratt, who is leading the search for Bauer. In honor of the new season, we looked back at other celebrities who tried to challenge Bauer and came up on the losing end.
Dennis Hopper
While hardly on a par with his work in Easy Rider, Blue Velvet or even Speed, Hopper was the first and best of 24’s bad guys. He played Serbian war criminal Victor Drazen, who tried to assassinate Bauer and Senator David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) as revenge for a U.S. mission against him years earlier.
Jon Voight
The Academy Award winner played Jonas Hodges, CEO of a military contractor. In a poor management decision, Hodges provided African rebels with the support needed for an attack on the White House as part of a plan to convince the government to turn national security over to companies like his.
Sean Astin
The Lord of the Rings and Goonies star was said to have been cast when he met co-creator Joel Surnow at a chiropractor they shared. During Season 5, Astin played anin-over-his-head Counter Terrorist Unit leader whose incompetence ends up helping the terrorists and killing a large portion of his staff.
Janeane Garofalo
The left-wing comedian played an FBI analyst who often clashed with Bauer over issues like torture and racial profiling. Garofolo later called show anti-Hillary Clinton propaganda.
On TV:
‘24: Live Another Day’ premieres Monday at 8 p.m. On Fox/5
