Kiefer Sutherland: '24' movie 'hopefully' shooting in April

Kiefer Sutherland was at Fox’s press tour event in Pasadena on Sunday to talk about his new show Touch, but after eight seasons of 24, critics weren’t quite ready to quit asking about his previous hit.

On the long-anticipated 24 movie, Sutherland had some potentially good news. The production team, he said, will “hopefully be shooting at the end of April.”

As for Touch, critics asked several questions along the lines of “how is your new character like Jack Bauer?” and “did you just want to do something different than 24“?

Sutherland recalled he wasn’t necessarily looking to jump into another TV show and somewhat reluctantly read Tim Kring’s Touch script, about a father whose mute special needs son can predict future events. “I got to page 35 and I went, ‘Shit, I’m in real trouble here,’ because it was really beautifully written. The character was so vastly different [than Bauer] and the tone was so vastly different. I had to read it twice.”

Sutherland continued: “The one parallel between the two characters is Jack Bauer was asked to save the day, and there was always going to be casualties. [His Touch character will] never have an idyllic relationship with his son. With both characters, they’ll never completely win, and that’s something I’m drawn to as an actor.”

Another attraction, Sutherland said, was Touch’s theme of global connectivity — how little events in one location can ultimately have major consequences in another.

“There is a cause and effect to everything,” he said. “There’s something wonderfully comforting about how everything has a purpose. There is no small moment … we matter.”

Fox is airing a premiere preview of Touch on Wednesday, Jan. 25. And a 24 movie to start filming in April — assuming, of course, Sutherland doesn’t run out of time!