As Renee Walker on 24, Annie Wersching was all business – at least until a final, fateful clinch. But on tonight’s episode of NCIS, Wersching is only part business as Deputy DA Gail Walsh. Her character in the episode titled “False Witness” is “very ambitious and hardworking,” says Wersching, “yet she also has some drive to get part of her personal life going. So she’s interested to see if anyone at NCIS is a prospect” – like, specifically, Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly).

Since Wersching’s only signed on for one episode so far, she probably won’t get very far with him. That may be a good thing, given what happened on 24. “For the three years that I worked on the show – two seasons, but it took us three years because of the strike – everybody said, ‘Don’t get close to Jack! You know what happens!’ So of course, literally the second I got extra close to Jack, all their predictions came true. But 24 ended up being known for these big, heart-wrenching deaths. I would have liked to live, but it’s not a bad way to go.”

What she’s living for now: 4-month-old son Freddie. “I definitely love to work, and I’m loving being a mommy, so I’d like to try to balance both,” says Wersching, who wouldn’t balk if the NCIS fandom demanded she graduate to semi-regular status: “24 was so serious that it was nice to join NCIS and even be able to smile once or twice.” – Chris Willman

(Thanks “EvilVagenda” for the scan!)

TV Guide’s William Keck caught up with 24 cast members at the series finale event and asked cast members about their favorite scenes or characters in 24.

Annie Wersching (Renee Walker): “My character cutting the thumb off [in Season 8] was pretty cool. Jack usually gets the cool torture scenes, so the fact that I got my own hacksaw moment meant a lot.”

On her memories working on 24…
Annie Wersching: I would say the biggest thing was the friends I made with the cast and crew,” says Wersching. “I was a huge huge fan of the show before I joined it, so [it was great] being part of such an iconic show and getting to play a role as amazing Renee Walker. I mostly will miss her.

On finding out Renee would die in Season 8…
Annie Wersching: “[The producers] came to me at the beginning of the season,” she reveals. At top of season, they didn’t know all that much of what they wanted to do, but the one main thing they wanted to do was bring her back damaged, save her, have them get together and have her taken away from him which leads [Jack] to the path for the rest of the series. I knew that was set in stone. They knew I was sad about it and upset, but these are the moments that make 24 so great.

On making love with Jack and dying in the same episode…
Annie Wersching: “I kind of wish, the Jack/Renee love story making would’ve had its own episode to resonate before she got shot,” says Wersching. “That was a huge moment in the show because it’s the first time Jack has ever done that. It’s interesting she went out that way, as opposed to the line of field where she saves the day.”

On Jack’s mission for the rest of the season….
Annie Wersching: “This is kind of what fuels Jack Bauer and the rest of the show and [fans] will be pleased that he gets to be the most intense Jack Bauer can be.”

On shooting the sex scene between Jack and Renee…
Annie Wersching: “We didn’t know if we could get them to a place where they were actually making love because of the real time and [the producers] figured out how to do it,” she says. “They knew she was going to get shot right afterwards. Jack couldn’t be naked when he was carrying her to the hospital. The specifics were very difficult of figure out. We knew it needed the right amount of time. We shot love making and death over the course of two days. Kiefer and I were so nervous about the love scene, it helped tame down the Renee getting shot part. The whole thing was bittersweet to shoot.”

On Jack having any relationships with women in the future…
Annie Wersching: “I would say this is probably not a good sign for him,” says Wersching. “If they had five more seasons on the show to shoot, I wouldn’t rule it out. The movie being only two hours, it will be hard to find love [too]. This definitely leaves him for not looking for a relationship.”

How Renee fits in Jack’s long line of doomed relationships…
Annie Wersching: “Being a fan of the show, knowing that I knew Jack’s history with every woman on show just from watching it, it was an advantage,” says Wersching. “Just being equal on field, but also [Renee] truly got him and understood what he has to live with inside of him to be the man he is and the moral dilemma and pain he lives with. I think that’s what makes them so unique. She’s the first person that understood him and got him.”

On where the relationship could have gone if Renee had lived…
Annie Wersching: “If it took off from Jack’s apartment [I could] see them try to make it and go back to California, but always getting called back in line to do right thing,” concludes Wersching. “It was fun to see them out saving the day together and running around in different situations and countries – always having close calls and having them together would have been pretty fantastic.”

Source: iFMagazine

Oh no, 24 didn’t. In the final moments of this week’s episode, the show killed off Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) just seconds after she and Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) consummated their relationship. TVGuide.com sat down with Wersching, who’s showing a little baby bump, to discuss the aftermath of Renee’s death, the emotion of being Jack’s final love on the series and what’s next for her career.

TVGuide.com: When did you know that Renee was going to be killed off?
Annie Wersching: I knew before Season 8 started. One thing the producers knew was that Jack and Renee were eventually going to get together, then he was going to lose her, and that would be the impetus for him to go all kinds of crazy to the point where he’s just covered in blood.

TVGuide.com: Were you sad when you found out she was going to die?
Annie Wersching: I’m a huge 24-head and have watched every episode of every season. I thought, “Oh, bummer,” but a cool a– death on 24 is like a big moment that you remember years later, so I knew it would have a big impact. When I learned that it was in Episode 17, I found out from a director who was like, “Oh I just read Episode 17 and you get it and then you get it.” I was very emotional that night.

TVGuide.com: What makes the relationship between Jack and Renee different than the ones he’s had in other seasons?
Annie Wersching: In not knowing each other for that long, they are very similar and understood each other in a lot of ways. No one truly understood what it is to exist as someone who has to do the things that Jack Bauer does. Renee is as close as he was going to get to finding someone that really got him, and vice versa.

TVGuide.com: Renee is the only woman to have sex with Jack Bauer on TV. How was shooting the scene like for you and Kiefer?
Annie Wersching: It was definitely scary. He was like, “I’ve been asked to do this one other time in my career when I was 18, and they never asked me again.” It was a big decision for him to commit to whether or not he really wanted to do it. There was also the option of starting to and having her be shot. It was all about the logistics of getting a shirt on him for when he takes her to the hospital; it was bad enough he was barefoot. They wanted it to be that we were just pausing for a second and were going to go back.

TVGuide.com: How will this affect Jack in the final episodes of the series?
Annie Wersching: Poor Jack cannot get a break. As you can imagine, he wants to take care of every single person who was involved with this … I’m so sad that I died, but she’s very much still there in these last episodes all the way up until the end. For the most part, he goes rogue and wants to do things that people don’t want him to do. Of course, he’s Jack Bauer, so he finds a way to do them.

TVGuide.com: There is a fine line between justice and revenge, though.
Annie Wersching: Definitely. He’s in a scary place for what that line is in these last episodes. He’s a tragic hero. To be the one that makes him freak out in the final run of 24 is a pretty amazing role to have.

TVGuide.com: So what’s next for you now that you’re done with 24?
Annie Wersching: I’m going to bring this little life into the world in August. You never know what happens when you have a kid, but I love to work, so I imagine I’ll be out there trying to see what’s next as quickly as possible.

Source: TV Guide

It was the shocker of shockers for 24 fans. As soon as Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) wrapped their hot love scene in the April 12 episode, Agent Walker took a sniper’s deadly bullet. A little more cuddling might have been nicer, Wersching tells TVGuideMagazine.com.

What a way to go, huh?
Right? It was so sad because Jack and Renee were finally in a good emotional place after so much turmoil. It was almost like, ‘Look what could have been.’ They had taught each other so much and now…she’s gone.

Was it emotional for you personally?
Are you kidding? I knew it was coming from before the season began, but I was bawling after and then I bawled again when I watched the episode. It wasn’t about losing a job or anything. I just really felt sad for Renee and Jack even though I know they’re just characters. At one point, I looked over at my friends with tears in my eyes and went, ‘Hey, does this make me a crazy person?’”

What kind of day-after reaction did you get from fans.
Oh, my gosh! More than I could have ever imagine. That night there were hundreds and hundreds of messages online from fans. The first slew of them was just like, “NOOOOOOO!” All caps and lots of expletives. Then people told me they were crying. Even men said, ‘I can’t believe it. I never cried watching TV but this did it.’ Other people were pissed.

That episode was a good one. What was it like to do the love scene with Kiefer?
Absolutely and completely terrifying and awkward for both of us. It made me feel better Kiefer was as scared as I was. But it was extremely tough. You hear about how awkward these things are, but this one was extreme. Only a tiny portion of it aired but we spent the entire day making out on camera. It’s just so bizarre making out with one of your best friends.

Will there be a 24: Uncut DVD or something?
[laughs] Gosh, in a way I hope so. I had gone to the gym for a bunch of weeks beforehand and we were really proud of the scene. Let’s put it this way. Somebody has the footage somewhere so I’m sure it might see the light of day at some point.

Then you find out the next day that you’re pregnant in real life?
Yes. No relation, of course. [Wersching, 33, married actor Stephen Full last year]. The baby is due in August and I’ll always remember having morning sickness while carrying a gun.

What’s next for you?
Being a mom for the moment. I didn’t want to start another show knowing I’d have to hide my pregnancy, so I don’t have anything lined up right now. But I can’t wait to see what other kinds of butt-kicking roles come my way because of Renee. I’ll really miss her.

Source: TV Guide Magazine

Time’s up for yet another pivotal cast member on 24.

In a shocking twist on the show’s April 12 episode, former FBI agent Renee Walker — played by Annie Wersching — was killed by sniper fire shortly after a love scene with Kiefer Sutherland‘s Jack Bauer.

“I’ve known since the beginning of the season that this is what they wanted to do,” Wersching tells PEOPLE. “They really wanted Jack and Renee to get really serious in as much as you can in a show where you are trying to save the world at the same time. They wanted him to be in a good place with her and have that happen to her and have that be the catalyst to send him off completely on a bloodbath!”

In the end, Wersching was more nervous about her love scene than her death scene. “The actual filming of those days were kind of masked because Kiefer and I had to shoot this love scene. I was nervous enough about that, that I was like, ‘I get shot? Big deal! How I am going to deal with this part?’”

Adding to the onscreen drama, Wersching, 33, learned that she was pregnant with her first child the day after filming her two-day love-and-death arc. But since she filmed those scenes back in December, she’s had to hide the fact she knew Walker’s fate early on. “The big question is, ‘Well, what was it like running with a gun while you had morning sickness?’” says Wersching, who married actor Stephen Full last September. “And I was like, ‘Uh, yeah, that was hard. That was really hard!’”

Also tough was finding out last month 24 would end its run after its eighth season. “As an actor, I know roles go away,” she says. “You get another job. But as a fan, I’m just sad we won’t keep learning about what keeps happening in Jacks life and Chloe’s life. I’m sad that in the theoretical world of what keeps happening to them, that Renee isn’t off doing something is very sad.”

So what’s next for Wersching, who is due in August? The actress originally auditioned for a few fall TV pilots but says, “I was honest in that, ‘I would love to do your show, but I’m going to have a baby probably in the middle of when you’re going to start shooting!’ So … I’m taking it easy.”

Source: PEOPLE

’24′ is almost over, but Jack Bauer is about to face one of his toughest challenges yet — trying to start a romantic relationship with Annie Wersching’s Renee Walker.

Jack and Renee take a well-deserved break from kicking bad guy ass to explore their romantic feelings for each other on tonight’s much-anticipated episode.

I recently got a chance to talk with Wersching, who plays Renee on 24, about tonight’s big ep. We also talked about the fan reaction to her character and where Renee might be headed after the show ends. Wersching stayed mum about whether things would actually “work out” between Jack and Renee in the end, but she promised that the show’s final hours would deliver some surprising twists and turns that no one, not even Jack Bauer, could see coming.

How hard is it to say goodbye to ’24′ and to the character of Renee?
Annie Wersching: It’s incredibly hard to say goodbye to this character and the show too, because I’m involved in it and I got to be a part of it, but also because I’m a fan. It’s hard on both levels.

In your career you hope that there will be great things in the future, but it’s hard to leave this role feeling like it could possibly be the role of a lifetime. Obviously you hope as you go through your career that there’s going to be bigger and better things, but I just love her so much, and it’s such an interesting, in-depth character for a TV show.

As a fan it’s definitely a bummer because I think they still have a lot of good years in them, but I understand wanting to go out on a high note and go on to the movie.

Is Renee going to survive this season and head to the movies with Jack?
Annie Wersching: Well, you know, it’s ’24′ so you never know. I was lucky I survived one season (laughs). I’m not holding my breath, you know. But at the same time, I don’t think anybody knows any specifics quite yet about who is going to be in the movie. Obviously Jack will be in it, but other than that we haven’t really been told.

I did meet the movie writer (Billy Ray), but other than that I’m just hoping to survive this season and we’ll see how that goes. Surviving is a tough task on this show.

Judging by the previews for the next episode, it looks like Jack and Renee get some down time to be together alone, finally, and they actually kiss for the first time. What does all of that mean for the future of their romantic relationship on the show?
Annie Wersching: Yeah, it seems like it should have happened before, but it hasn’t. It almost happened in season seven, we had a kiss written in a scene in a hospital, but we didn’t film it, because it felt too cheesy, I guess. It didn’t feel right. But, yeah, I was surprised they leaked that in the previews.

(Tonight’s episode) is definitely an interesting episode in that the threat that Jack and Renee were helping CTU track is basically over. As far as what they were contracted to — he promised to find Hassan and they very sadly and unfortunately didn’t get there in time – he’s done with that. So they’re kind of like “Now what do we do?” (laughs) “How do we hang out with each other without guns involved?”

So they go back to Jack’s apartment and Renee brings up the fact that they made promises to each other throughout this day, but that she understands that you say things in the moment and she say she’s not going to hold him to anything that he’s promised. She’s trying to give him an out.

We shot those scenes over a couple of days, and they were pretty intense. There were definitely moments where we were like, as actors, like, “We’re so much better at running around with guns” (laughs). It was so different for us, but I think it’s going to be a really good episode. It’s going to be something different and something that fans have been wanting to see for a long time. Stuff happens that’s never happened on ’24′ before in terms of the Jack character, and I’m very much involved in that so I’m looking forward to seeing the fan reaction.

What has the fan reaction been like to you and the introduction and development of Renee?
Annie Wersching: I would say that the majority of the fans that I interact with or meet or Twitter or Facebook with are huge supporters of Renee, and they’ve been really great. It’s been interesting because the most intense ones who contact me are actually young women. They’re girls in high school or girls who are just starting college. That took me by surprise a little bit, because it’s a very male-watched show. But I was very pleasantly surprised to see that there are a lot of young woman that really look up to a strong woman on TV and they really enjoy Renee.

And you have your other fans that have somewhat of a Kiefer/Jack obsession. And probably somewhere deep down they think that he may actually marry them someday (laughs)! You know, those are the ones that aren’t quite as keen on Renee, but I think that it would be hard for them to be happy with any woman who was even, like, coming close to their man, which is ridiculous (laughs)!

Renee is a very strong female character. I know it’s hard to develop a character when the show only spans one day per season, but Renee has definitely evolved, especially when she came back this season.
Annie Wersching: Renee is a very strong woman, but I think most strong women on TV are simply that, very strong and that’s usually all you get to see. But she was able to be so strong in one moment and then the next moment she shows how conflicted she feels about things. She can go from kicking a guy’s ass one second to tearing up about it the next second. She’s a very complex woman who is strong, but you can also see that softer side of her. There were so many different levels to her and nuances, so I’m gonna miss her terribly.

So what’s next for you after the show ends? More action-adventure roles or would you like to play something different?
Annie Wersching: You know I had such a great time with Renee, and prior to Renee I wasn’t really playing roles quite like this, so I’m glad that people see me in this way now. But first of all I’m going to have my first baby in August.

Congratulations.
Annie Wersching: Thank you, thank you. So that’s going to be the next role for a few months, but I definitely love to work so I’ll get back out there and see what’s next.

I’m guessing your pregnancy is not going to be addressed on the show.
Annie Wersching: No, I mean it’s one day, so you couldn’t really be like, “Um, oh my God, I’m really hungry all of a sudden and I’m going to eat a lot and get a little bit chubbier!” No, none of that really. Timing wise, it actually worked out perfectly that it’s winding down just as I’m starting to show more.

My stunts this year were different from last year. Last year I was doing a lot of fights and rolls and bigger physical things, and this year it was not quite as physical. I did gun work, but not necessarily rolling on the ground or anything like that.

It worked out pretty good as far as hiding it. You know, honestly, the stomach wasn’t quite as hard to hide as some of other things that get large when you’re pregnant (laughs), so that part was interesting. It’s a little harder to hide.

Source: TV Squad

Television roles don’t get any better than Renee Walker on 24. Actor Annie Wersching has gotten buried alive. She went all Ace Hardware on a Russian bad guy and lopped off his thumb with a circular saw. She even had the audacity to stab Jack Bauer in the gut. And lived to tell about it—if not for another day, than at least for more hours within 24’s real-time format.

I spoke with Annie this week. It has been a monumental few days in the history of this historic show. Shooting is wrapping up today and Wersching spoke of what that means for her, the crew, as well as her hopes for a 24 movie sometime in the future. Just one thing: make sure you don’t say that 24 was cancelled.

You have done a lot of different kinds of acting, including live theater. How did the demands of 24 compare to some of the other projects you’ve been involved in?
It’s funny. I’ve been out here now about 7 or 8 years and it’s hard for me to even remember what live theater was like. 24 is such a unique show. I’ve done a lot of television but the real-time aspect, where we’re shooting over 10 months and actually only doing one day—it’s just crazy. Last season, from where Renee began in Episode 1 to where she ended in Episode 24 was such a huge arc. It’s really intense to try and remember and keep it all together in one day. By Episode 5 last season I was thinking, “Wow, it’s only been five hours and all of this stuff has happened.”

How do you make that work as an actor?
It’s a little challenging. Luckily with 24, for the most part, each moment is so intense and your objective is all about that moment right then. So luckily I don’t have time to really freak out and think, “Oh does this actually work because three hours ago Renee was doing this.” There’s no time to freak out about future things or past things because of what you’re dealing with in that exact moment. That’s actually something that really helps the actors.

And do you trust that the audience is able to suspend their disbelief about how much goes on?
When you’re getting across New York City in ten minutes, you know for the most part that the fans are very well-informed and if you spent the entire episode just in the car, it’s not going to be a very good episode.

Renee Walker seems to have struck a real chord with 24 viewers—maybe more so than any other woman character on the show except for Chloe since the days of Nina. What are people responding to about Renee?
I was a fan as well and I knew it would be a difficult task to come into 24. Just to come in as a female agent in general and then to come in as a female agent with some sort of tie to Jack. I knew that would be rough. It really helped in the beginning of Season 7 that right away they put her in the field with Jack and she held her own. What makes her so interesting is that she can go in one moment from cutting off a thumb or kicking a guy’s ass, and then in the next moment you actually see—kind of in the way that Jack does—you still see that things affect her. Whereas a lot of strong women on TV, you don’t get all of those dimensions: If she’s strong, that’s all you see. But you’ve had all these big, lengthy conversations between Renee and Jack about what they were doing and what they needed to do for the greater good.

From the start there has been a natural ease between Renee and Jack. How did you and Kiefer Sutherland establish that? Was it difficult?
It did actually come pretty naturally… It’s a very, very big deal and especially if you’re going to work closely with Kiefer there’s got to be a lot of trust there. For whatever reason, right off the bat, it worked. We’re both pretty down-to-earth and got along right away. You have to know that in order to have all of these scenes with him you have to show up so well-prepared and so invested in the show. Once he sees that, over the scenes that you do, he begins to trust you a little bit more and knows that you’re going to show up. And that he can count on you to be his counterpart in a scene.

There was a sense that the season got off to a bit of a slow start but that it has established real momentum over the the last three or four episodes. When you were working on this season, what was your sense of how it was progressing?
It’s interesting because last season Renee had such a huge arc from the very first episode to the last episode. And I was in almost every episode. This season is definitely different for me in terms of filming because I have more bursts of activity. But those bursts are bigger. When I was in, there would be four or five really intense Renee episodes and then that would die down… Last year I was in the FBI and the character always knew what was happening overall at the White House. And this year Renee is on her own with Jack. It was a little bit harder this year for me to get a grasp of what the overall arc and vibe of the season was going to be like. But definitely these last three or four episodes, for whatever reason, seem pretty old school 24. Which is so much fun.

24 has been a real legacy series for television: groundbreaking and revolutionary in so many ways. As the show moves to its conclusion, how protective are the actors, crew, and writers of that legacy?
It has been very important. Something that sort of bugged us in the media was when a headline would say that 24 was cancelled. Something about the word cancelled has been totally bugging us. I think cancelled is a word that fits a show that maybe makes it five episodes and gets axed. Or one season. But this is truly one of the most iconic shows around and we’re ending our long run. But cancelled? That word doesn’t seem to work, for whatever reason. It’s hard. It’s rough. Like you said, fans are so protective. The standard that 24 is held to is higher than at other shows. A weaker episode of 24 would be an amazing episode for a lot of other shows. We know there’s a pretty high bar to reach. I think it helps that there’s almost definitely a 24 movie. Some of the characters, Jack at least, will live to see another few hours. But it’s tough. I would say that everyone is very protective of the show and wanted to definitely go out on the highest note that we possibly can.

Do you think it was time? Do you think 24 will benefit by moving off of television and away from the real-time structure?
You don’t want it to come back season after season and have it slowly get worse. At the same time, a show that’s still pulling in the amount of viewers that it does—a new show would never be taken off the air with that amount of viewers. It’s just that it’s an expensive show to make. Like I said, it’s a hard one for me just being involved with the show, knowing all the crew, and being a fan of the show. It’s hard to accept that 24 is going to be over. I understand that it needs to go out on a high note but I’m biased and wouldn’t mind a little more.

What’s your sense of the fan reaction after the announcement?
Gosh, I would say that 99.7 percent are dying for another season. Every once in a while you have people who say, “It had a good run, let it end like this.” But I would say that the fans are so incredibly dedicated and so smart about the show. They just know everything and they definitely seem to want more. So having the 24 movie lurking out in the future somewhere is a nice thing to have in conjunction with the series coming to an end.

Where do things stand on filming?
Friday is the last day of shooting. It’s the very, very end of hours 23 and 24 and the final scenes of hour 24 have already been shot. Because we shoot two episodes at a time over three weeks. What’s being shot Thursday and Friday are not necessarily the last scenes of the show. So the last moments have already been shot. Which is just crazy.

How would you describe the mood?
I would say it’s pretty sad. I’ve been there three years and two seasons—because of the strike it was actually about three years. But for the crew and for Kiefer, it has been nine years of their lives. They’ve been married, divorced, and had kids. Somebody has the number of how many kids were born during the run of 24. It’s pretty amazing. It’s kind of like a family breaking up. I’m sure a lot of people will still work together on future projects. But just the fact that production people are cleaning out their offices and things like that. That just… you’re used to seasons coming to an end and then you have a break for three months but you know you’re going to come back to it. It’s definitely sort of a quiet, a little bit of a downer on set right now. But there’s that feeling that every moment you play has got to be absolutely perfect. It’s that pressure that you feel knowing that these are the last moments. There’s definitely a little of that going on.

SPOILER ALERT

What should we look forward to?
This coming Monday is a pretty big one for Jack and Renee. I was actually surprised that they showed a little of it in the promo from last week. Like you said about the fans accepting her, it will be interesting to see how they will all respond to Jack and Renee sort of finally getting a little bit closer. For the most part I’ve heard good things. But then you have your fans who legitimately think that Jack Bauer loves them and that they’re going to marry Kiefer Sutherland and they want to push Renee off a cliff.

Speaking of cliffhangers, now that we know that shooting has wrapped up, are you going to tell us what happens at the end?
Uh, no.

Source: TV.com

How did you find out that this would be ’24’s final season?
We knew it was kind of lurking. It had been rumored for a little while. It was more so that we were waiting for someone to gives us the official word. It was kind of strange that it was dragged out. We found out on set from [Executive Producer] Howard Gordon. We were waiting to hear if another network would pick us up.

How do you feel about the show coming to an end?
It’s bittersweet. As an actor, you’re prepared for shows to come and go. And so that part I’ve always been prepared for. But as a fan of the show which I am and was since the very, very beginning — I’ve seen every episode since the very first one– it’s sad mostly [because] the show is doing so well. If a new show came out now and debuted with eleven million viewers then stayed around nine, never in a million years would they ever cancel the show. But it’s so expensive [to produce.] It was one of the most iconic, groundbreaking game changes in television. It’s a privilege to have been a part of it and to get to be there for two years was great.

Since you were a fan, joining the cast must have been a dream come true. When you got the audition, how did you prepare?
I had done a pilot with the creators of 24. About six months before, I had worked with [Executive Producer] Joel Surnow and Jon Cassar, one of the directors. Even that was exciting. Then that pilot didn’t get picked up so I was like, “Ooh, I wonder if maybe, just maybe I could go in and audition for a guest star in one episode.” So when I got the call to audition for a series regular and then found out it was a lead female agent that would go toe to toe with Jack Bauer, I was just in awe. It all happened pretty fast. I was cast about a week and a half before we started shooting. I definitely think being a fan helped in terms of knowing Jack’s history with different women and different partners that he’s had.

You and Kiefer Sutherland have such great chemistry. How did you build that connection?
It’s something that we luckily just sort of had and found from the very beginning. And thankfully so. I think if that hadn’t really been there, the role might have taken a different turn and Renee may have not made it through season seven. He’s so dedicated and invests in the show with every single moment. There’s no way you could show up and not be on your A game. So I came prepared. When he knows that you’re going to show up ready to play on the same level that he is, that helps immensely in terms of gaining a trust between the two of you.

When you found that Renee was going to be kind of crazy this season, what did you think?
I knew that it was going to be a darker path and she was no longer with the FBI. I knew that something in her past was going to be directly involved in what she was doing now. That’s pretty much all I knew until I got [the script for] that first episode, which for me was episode four, and by the time I got to the end I was cutting off someone’s thumb. It was fun because I had such a great arc with the character of Renee last season from where she started episode one to episode twenty-four. It was really invigorating to get to do something completely different.

When viewers last saw Jack and Renee, they were were in a shoot out and had just found the man who was working for the rogue general and wanted to deliver President Hassan to the terrorists. How do they get out of that mess?
We’re trying to protect President Hassan. He doesn’t make it easy for us because he’s trying to do a noble thing. He has his own challenge to what we’re trying to do. In a typical Jack way, it’s never going to be quite like you think it’s going to be.

At any point does Hassan lose his hairsprayed pompadour?
Absolutely not. It may be a little bit more tousled because he’s running.

What have been some of your favorite scenes as Renee?
What I love about her so much is that I can go from a Wednesday where all I do is run and shoot weapons and hang off the side of a car and do all this crazy stuff and then the next day it can be this huge, dramatic heavy dialogue with Keifer Sutherland. It’s such an amazing role, definitely the role of a lifetime. I love the big scenes that are those huge 24 moments, like getting buried alive last year or cutting off the thumb this year, those things that you know are going to be such a big deal. But then I always love the scenes that are just Jack and Renee talking about a lot stuff. Last season in particular I found it very interesting that they got to have so much dialogue and discussion about torture issues. I loved the scene in the hospital where she slaps him. I love the scene this year when Jack and Renee see each other for the first time.

Have you found out if you are going to be in the ‘24′ movie?
I certainly hope so. With 24, I hope that I live to the next episode every week. I think, first of all, that the show is going to be so amazing on the big screen. I would love to run around with Jack Bauer wherever he ends up next.

Do you know how the series ends?
I do. Wouldn’t you like to know?

How much money would it take to get you to divulge that?
A lot. And you’d have to guarantee me another job.

Can you give me any hints?
It’s going to be amazing. Jack Bauer definitely goes into the Jack Bauer moments that fans just go crazy for are definitely in the future episodes. I do not think anyone’s going to be disappointed.

You are expecting a baby. Does that make it more difficult to shoot ’24’s action scenes?
It hasn’t been bad as far as how I’ve felt physically. It’s more about making sure you can tweak wardrobe things here and there. It was actually easier to hide my little baby bump that was forming than a couple of other things that get really big when you have a baby. Wardrobe was very good to me with jackets and shirt sizes going up.

A teenage girl has started a Facebook group to get you on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Has anyone from Ellen contacted you?
No, we’ve not heard from the Ellen Show as of right now. These girls are doing all these things to campaign. This girl went skydiving and wrote on her hand, “Annie on Ellen,” and posted a picture of it on the group. There are other girls making raps. They’ve e-mailed Ellen and tweeted her all the time. Ellen’s probably going to get so annoyed she’s probably be like, “Fine.” It’s very sweet what they’re doing.

Have you ever used any of your ‘24′ secret agent skills in real life?
I like to recreate some of the fight work that I’ve done on my friends. I still remember the exact choreography of fights I had last season.

Source: Fancast: ’24’s Annie Wersching Knows How The Series Ends…But Won’t Tell

Nice article about Annie Wersching from the April 5-11 issue of TV Guide. Thanks Patikakes/Tish for the scan.

She Plays: Former FBI agent Renee Walker, who was enlisted by a desperate CTU to help thwart a dirty-bomb attack in New York City, and who just might be crazy. “When [the writers] came to me at the beginning of the season and gave me a hint of what they were thinking, I was like, ‘OK,’ ” says Wersching, 33. “Then the first scene I shot was sawing off a guy’s thumb!”

Where You’ve Seen Her: Soap fans recognize Wersching from a 2007 stint on General Hospital, but most know her from 24. “This is close to the role of a lifetime — to be so strong, then crying in the next scene,” says the actress, who is pregnant with her first child. “And it’s fun running around with Jack Bauer.”

Why We Love Her: There’s nothing sexier than a butt-kicking, rule-breaking badass who’ll do anything — even bed a bad guy — for the greater good of the country. “Annie has managed amazingly one of the most difficult transitions any character has had to make,” says 24 showrunner and EP Howard Gordon. “But she’s kept Renee consistent by projecting a uniquely American toughness.” Annie, we salute you! — Joseph Hudak