By Amy AmatangeloCarlos Bernard hasn’t given up on Tony Almeida.
“I can’t call him bad,” Bernard said about his “24” alter ego in a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles.
“I’ve played villains before, but I’ve never been able to play - I’ll call him an antagonist at this point - where you actually got to see how he got to where he is. Even in what he’s doing now, I feel like there’s still that place that’s torn. You can still see, hopefully, anyhow, those moments of doubt.”
The Chicago native has played the former CTU agent since the first season of the Fox drama, which airs its seventh-season finale tonight at 8 on WFXT (Ch. 25).
After seeming to die in season five, Tony reappeared this season as a member of a renegade team trying to stop a terrorist attack. Viewers more recently learned that he’s been on the wrong side of the law all this time.
“Here’s a guy who has devoted his life, risked his life for his country, and not only does the government kill his wife, they tried to kill him,” he said. “I’m not justifying his choices, but I understand.”
Viewers may have been shocked when Tony revealed his true allegiance and killed FBI agent Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling), but Bernard wasn’t.
“I knew before the season started this was the direction they were going to take with the character,” he said. “That’s why I agreed to come back and do the show, because I thought it was a really interesting direction.”
Knowing what was going to happen on a series famous for its twists also allowed Bernard to play his character’s actions more precisely.
“I know how the fans are,” he said. “I know how voracious they are, and they’ll go back and watch DVDs and stuff. I definitely wanted to leak a few moments where now they can go back and look and say, ‘Aha.’ ”
Tony’s actions have pitted him against his former colleague Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). Offscreen, the two friends relish the material.
“We love working together, and I think this season has given us great, great stuff to do together opposite each other. We just had a blast this season.”
What can viewers expect in tonight’s two-hour season ender?
“There’s going to be a showdown of sorts between Jack and Tony. I think it will be really satisfying for fans, let’s put it that way.”
Does that mean Tony could return for season eight? Bernard is purposely vague.
“I could not find a better group of people to work with. It’s an absolute joy still to go to work on that show. I’ll always be happy to work on the show.”
Link: Boston Herald.com
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