Tony Almeida is back from the dead. The character, a guy who’s almost as indestructible as iconic Jack Bauer, performs his Lazarus act in season seven of '24', Fox’s outrageous and addictive conspiracy/cliffhanger action series.
Tony, played by Carlos Bernard, was killed in season five. Or so we were led to believe. “I always had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t really dead,” Bernard says. “The way it was done, they definitely left the door open, especially with the lack of a silent clock.” The so-called “silent clock” is a rare occurrence on 24. It’s when the digital clock readout appears onscreen at the end of a scene or episode, but with no beeping. The half-dozen or so times it happened, it usually followed the poignant death of a character. The fact that Bernard, showcased in more episodes of 24 than any actor other than leading man Kiefer Sutherland, didn’t get that kind of tribute makes sense now. The new season opens with two hours of high-octane episodes at 7 p.m. CT Sunday, Jan. 12, then two more on Monday, Jan. 13. Tony will explain his resurrection, sort of, on the second night. “He’s not like Bobby Ewing on Dallas,” Bernard jokes, “and he’s not an angel. He really is alive.” Beyond that, it’s probably best not to fret about the details. Just enjoy that a beloved character has returned.When did the producers make it known to you that Tony wasn’t really dead? Did you know way back in season five? Or did some time pass before you knew?“I was suspicious all along that they might be bringing the character back at some point. Not that I was sitting around waiting for it. Every time I finish a season on the show, I basically move forward with whatever else it is that I’m working on. I was heavily into producing a project that I had written with my co-writer and obsessed with that while the sixth season was going on. Then they actually called me during the sixth season to pitch an idea to bring me back in the last episode. But it just felt very gimmicky. It didn’t feel right. And the question became, ‘Well, why do it? What’s the hook? What’s the story?’ And everyone eventually agreed that we shouldn’t do it. But that planted the seed for them to write a story that made sense for the Almeida character to be back.”Do you suppose that Tony’s resurrection could open the door for other killed characters? Suppose David Palmer’s not really dead. Or Nina Meyers or Michelle Dessler or Teri Bauer or Edgar Stiles. They could all make comebacks.“Trust me. David Palmer is pretty dead. He was shot in the throat. But I was injected with God knows what and then carted away. I don’t think you’ll see any of those other characters drop in. Look, obviously on our show, you need to suspend a little disbelief every once in a while. Even if it’s just Jack driving from the airport to downtown L.A. in 12 minutes. There’s a certain amount of suspension of disbelief required for this show to work. But that being said, the logic behind what happened is not too out there.”Tony seems to have as many action sequences as Jack does this year. Do you enjoy that part of the job?“I love the action stuff. It’s fun to do. It’s definitely physically demanding. You get dinged up and beat up a bit, no matter how safe you are. But that being said, there are also a lot of very cool scenes between Tony and other characters. For me, it’s all about the relationships. One of the great things about this year is there are a lot of great stuff between Jack and Tony. There’s so much history between the two of them and it feeds into these scenes that we have together. I mean, I love expressing myself physically on the show and that’s a lot of fun. But actors are trained on words. They come up from theater and whether it’s Shakespeare or Chekhof or Mamet, whatever it is, it’s always about words. There’s the old joke about actors counting their lines. Well, it’s partly true. We like to be able to express ourselves verbally. So the stuff that we get most jazzed about — I can say this for Kiefer as well — is the scenes between characters where it’s really personal, where there’s a real history between those two characters.”Tony is wearing a few extra scars these days. It gives him a darker vibe. What’s the story there?“One of the things that was always on my mind was carrying all the baggage that he has amassed through the seasons. Everything he has been through is still with him. That went into putting together the exterior look of him. The scars tell you that clearly something’s up with the guy. I know from personal experience that when you go through a darker time in your life it tends to show on you. And I definitely wanted it to show on him, to the extent that it’s a little jarring when you first see him.”So is Tony really a bad guy now?“I don’t really think of him as a good guy or a bad guy. I think in terms of what’s driving him, what it is that he is after. This season, everybody’s saying, ‘Well, he’s a bad guy now.’ But in my mind, he’s not the bad guy. In my mind, he’s just doing what he needs to do.”Was there a pivotal moment in your life that compelled you to be an actor?“It was something I always dreamed of doing, but I don’t know that I thought it was possible. I think there was a moment when my family was living in Mexico for a few years, because my father had been transferred there. We had become good friends with this Spanish family living in Mexico and they were a family of actors. They were pretty well known actors in Latin America and Europe. And just being around them opened up my eyes that it was possible to do it. They were so alive and so just plugged into life. And I think that’s really where the seed was planted. I was probably 9 years old at that time and I think that’s probably where it started.”You must feel alive every day of doing a show like this.“That’s for sure. That is the truth. You do feel alive. What’s kept this show fresh is that it changes every year and the characters keep evolving. If I were in a procedural crime show for more than a year, doing the same thing from episode to episode, I would go nuts.”There’s a Jack Bauer action figure available in stores now. Shouldn’t there be a Tony Almeida action figure too?“Well, they’re big on Jack. I saw one of those action figures. They were handing them out to the crew a couple of weeks ago. I think I’ll have to get one and paint his hair and give him a soul patch. Turn it into a Tony!”Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
