24 Days of "24": Annie Wersching on Renee Walker

Shortly after her character, Renee Walker, died on “24,” Annie Wersching talked to the media via conference call about Renee’s death, Jack’s future and the end of the show…

Here’s a sample of what she had to say…

On how she came to be a part of the cast: “I was cast in a FOX and Twentieth Century Fox pilot that Jon Cassar and Joel Surnow went to do in the spring of 2007. That pilot didn’t get picked up, so when they were casting for Renee, they were actually having a very difficult time casting for the role of Renee Walker, just trying to figure out how old they wanted her to be, how young, how tough, how cold – so they brought me in for it, and the role that I played in the pilot was very different from Renee, so I think they brought me in thinking ‘oh we liked working with her, but she’s not really right for this, but we’ll bring her in.’ That was a very proud moment for me in my audition life just because I feel like I really went in and sort of changed their mind about what they had preconceived about the type of actress I was and something that I was right for. The challenges were pretty much just—since so much of my stuff was with Kiefer, you really had to show up on your game. You never could be slacking in any sense, so it really challenged me and made me such a better actor and person. It’s just an amazing experience.

On what she misses about being on the show: “Wow. So much. I would say the biggest thing is the cast and crew, and the friends that I’ve made, but I was an absolutely huge, huge fan of the show before I joined it, so just being a part of such an iconic show and getting to play a role as amazing as Renee Walker. I really, really loved this part, and in your career you hope that you have greater things in your future, but it’s hard for me not to, at this time, think of it as sort of a role of a lifetime because she was so dynamic. I will probably mostly miss her.”

On the fan reaction to Renee’s death: “Yeah. I would say I’ve been actually very overwhelmed by the reaction. I knew that there was a lot of people out there that really loved Renee and loved the Jack/Renee dynamic, but I’ve had thousands of messages, either on Twitter or Facebook or different fan things, where people are just genuinely so sad and like you said – there isn’t sort of a resolution to these two. But, again, it’s kind of what fuels Jack Bauer in the rest of the show, and I think they’ll end up being pleased that they get to see him being the most intense as Jack Bauer can be.”

On the moments that stand out to her: “Oh, goodness. Obviously just the relationship that sort of was able to develop between Jack and Renee in that first day of only knowing each other for 24 hours was a huge thing. For whatever reason when you asked the question, for some reason, the scene where it’s Jack, Larry Moss, and Renee right in front of the Capitol that was shot in D.C., the three of us basically having a conversation and battling the idea of Larry saying—just the whole moral dilemma of what’s right and what’s wrong and everything. For whatever reason, that was sort of her breaking point where she didn’t want to but kind of chose to do the one that Jack was suggesting. I think that was a big defining moment for her.”

On Renee getting the silent clock: “It was a great honor, obviously. Besides Jack, she was actually the only one to ever get two silent clocks, because there was a silent clock, with a little bit of breathing for Renee after she was buried alive in Episode 5 of Season 7, and I didn’t even think about that, but fans have been sending me things saying ‘Did you know you’re the only one besides Jack to ever get two silent clocks?’ I guess Jack got a silent clock in redemption at the end of another season. A complete honor, because I’m a fan of the show and I know the significance of the silent clock – a complete honor.”

On being on the set while the show’s fate was being decided: “This sort of happened to me for both seasons that I was completely finished filming all of my Renee stuff before the season even started airing. That happened to us with Season 7, obviously, because of the writers’ strike. But then for me, we finished up to episode 18 by Christmas, so by the time we were out promoting the show starting to air in January, I had already shot everything. It’s crazy mostly because I’ve been keeping it a secret for three and a half months which is slightly difficult. So as far as the show ending, I wasn’t there on set as much. I went to visit, but for months it was kind of like ‘has anybody heard anything, anybody know anything, I don’t know, I heard 50-50 shot, Oh, NBC might pick it up.’ There were always sort of rumors going around through the crew. We knew it wasn’t necessarily looking great, but everybody had high hopes. I think the fact that the movie is sort of lurking out there in the future was something that at least was something sort of to look forward to, knowing that you will at least see Jack again.”

On whether Jack can ever find happiness: “Well, I would say this probably isn’t a good sign for him. If we had five more seasons on the show to shoot or something, I wouldn’t rule it out, but as far as the rest of this particular series goes, who knows what will happen in the movie. I imagine, the movie only being two hours, it would be a little hard to find love. I would say this definitely leaves him not ready to look for a relationship right away.”

On what made Jack and Renee work: “Being a fan of the show, too, I think it was really interesting just knowing that I knew Jack’s history with every single woman throughout the show from just watching it, so I that was somewhat of little bit of an advantage. Besides being just equal out in the field, she was the first one, I think, that truly got him and understood what he has to live with inside of him in order to be the man that he is and do the sort of things that he has to do and the moral dilemma and the pain that he lives with. I think that’s what made them so unique is that she’s really the first person ever that just truly understood him and got him.”

On why people still love the show: “Well, definitely in the beginning, it was such a groundbreaking show, and there was nothing else like it on television. It’s really like a little feature film every week with the ticking clock and the real-time aspect. There’s such an intensity to the show that at the end of the episode, it just leaves you wanting more which is how I think every television show should be.”

Tomorrow, 24 Days of “24” continues with a gallery of photos of your favorite past and present “24” stars from the finale party last week…

Photo Credits: Brian Bowen Smith/FOX and Kelsey McNeal/FOX