We haven't seen Jack Bauer for over a year now, but this fall he'll be back, as the TV-Movie 24: Exile premieres. Exile is a prequel to the seventh season of the series, which will premiere in January, following a full year delay caused by the writers' strike.

The main story of Exile follows Jack in Africa, where he and an old friend (played by Robert Carlyle) end up teaming to stop a brutal militia group. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., we follow what is occurring as the new president (Cherry Jones) is inaugurated.

This past week the press spoke to Kiefer Sutherland about Jack's return in Exile; how it connects to Season 7, and how the actor views the series and his iconic character, several years into 24's run.

Q: What is Jack like when we catch up with him at the beginning of 24: Exile? It seems like it must be very different to see him outside the U.S.

Kiefer Sutherland: At the end of Season 6, he was so disillusioned that there was something wonderful about shifting to Africa – that he had actually found a kind of peace and a calm there with his friend and the dynamic between Bobby Carlyle, who's an old friend of his, that he'd been working with in Special Forces some 15 years ago. Bobby Carlyle's character has started a school that is trying to give a safe haven and rehabilitate the children of African wars.

It's the first time that you saw this character kind of in a place where he felt like he was giving back for a lot of the things where I guess he felt like he'd been a part of the problem. This was an opportunity for him to kind of [atone]. So it's on an emotional level, not only physical, it was a really nice way to start for that character.

Q: How did the prequel come about?

Sutherland: We didn't want to wait to air until January. We wanted to get something out before that. The prequel was the perfect opportunity for that. And [24 executive producer] Howard Gordon had originally started out in Africa at the beginning of Season 7, but what the writers could never figure out was whether or not we could disrupt the real time aspect of the show to get out of Africa and back to the United States. We would have literally have had to say '16 hours later.' No one felt good about that. We ended up having to stop that storyline, which we all loved, so the prequel was this fantastic opportunity to do that storyline and set everything else up with that and allow us to go to Africa. So it was a series of things that happened that allowed us to do it.

Q: What was it like for you to get back to work after the break caused by the writers' strike?

Sutherland: I was excited. I don't think any of the writers wanted a strike and I don't think any of the producers wanted a strike. I certainly know that now the actors don't want one and the producers don't want one. Sometimes, unfortunately, it's necessary when people can't agree on what is fair. So I think everyone was just excited to go back to work. I think the people who get hurt the most, obviously, are our crews. They're not making the kind of money that the rest of us are making and it's a real workers job. So I was very conscious of that, so we were excited for a lot of reasons to get back to work. And I still love making the show. I really do believe we have one of the best scripts we've had in the longest time and then you have actors like Jon Voight and Bobby Carlyle and Cherry Jones. I saw the trailer just a second ago and it looked like a movie to me.

Q: Was this ever considered for the plot to the 24 feature film you've talked about in the past?

Sutherland: No.

Q: You'd done a good deal of work on Season 7 before the strike.

Sutherland: Oh my gosh, yeah. We'd finished [ten] episodes.

Q: But there was no thought of just airing ten as a season this past spring?

Sutherland: I think there might have been at some point. I'm not included in those decisions. That's really FOX's choice. And I think, ultimately, they made a very courageous choice, but I also think a really correct one, in waiting. I think the whole television season was disrupted so badly, that I don't think the people that aired half a season won and I don't think we won. I think television got hurt, actually, probably more by the writers' strike than any media. And ultimately, I think for us, we've always done better when we've been able to air all 24 episodes continuously and they had to make a hard decision to choose to do that.

Q: Do you think the 24 feature film could happen next year?

Sutherland: I think we're probably going to do the film when we stop doing the series, and I don't know when that's going to be.

Q: How much time is covered in Exile?

Sutherland: It's two hours, period.

Q: And it feeds into the new season?

Sutherland: It absolutely sets up the conflict. The conflict that starts in the prequel is the conflict carried all the way through Season 7.

Q: So the characters will carry over?

Sutherland: Absolutely.

Q: The newer guys like Robert Carlyle?

Sutherland: That one, I'm not so sure about - Robby. But yes, almost all [of the Exile cast return in Season 7].

Q: How long can a franchise like this go for?

Sutherland: The honest answer is, I guess, as long as people watch it. I love making this show and I've always said that audiences will ultimately dictate and tell you when it's time to stop. Again, I was always surprised… the great fear that an actor has, wandering into television for the very first time, is playing a character for five years. And I never realized what an arrogant idea that was until I'd actually done it. There is so much room, especially in a show like 24, where each season impacts the character. So from Season 1 to Season 2, I'm dealing with the death of my wife, the disruption of my family, and all of this weight starts to affect a character. It starts to affect him physically – obviously it affects him emotionally. So the character is always growing and I found that amazingly interesting and exciting to do. I've always also said that the idea of the show is so strong that I think it can certainly live past my involvement. I think an audience will ultimately dictate that.

Q: Did you think that series TV would be more of a grind that it is and it would become mundane?

Sutherland: Yeah, I think I was worried that it would become boring, and that was a really elitist, arrogant thought.

Q: You've become more involved since the first season, right? As far as meeting with the writers?

Sutherland: Only because I know more about the beast. To do 24 episodes makes you understand how episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, impact episode 12. I know more about that [now], so there are things that I am looking for in the scripts that I just didn't know to look for when I first started. So on that level, yeah, I'm probably more involved. But again, one of the reasons that I think our show has been successful is that the lines for what everybody does are very clearly drawn. The writers write; the actors act; the directors direct; the cinematographer lights; the post-production people do post-production. Everybody, really, has been hired and is a part of our show because we trust them to do what they're doing. And so our show is not micromanaged by one specific person. We work very well together.

Q: You have a female president on the show in the next season. Would it have been helpful to the show if Hilary Clinton had won?

Sutherland: Well, we certainly intended to air before that would ever have happened. But no… Again, you're writing a story that is loosely based on things that are happening. Certainly, the synthesis of that would have been interesting, wouldn't it?

Q: African militia are a new enemy for Jack Bauer.

Sutherland: Well, certainly in the prequel it is.

Q: How does he handle that?

Sutherland: Mostly by running fast!

Source: http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/892/892544p2.html