Izzard Adds Dread, Cromwell Adds Dad to "24"

Wed., Sep. 13, 2006 9:20 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Jack Bauer may be everywhere at once. But he had to start somewhere, right?

We're finally going to get a clue as to where that might have been. Six Feet Under and L.A. Confidential actor James Cromwell has joined the cast of 24 in a recurring role as Jack's estranged father, Phillip Bauer.

Which makes him Jack's estranged daughter's grandfather. The terrorist-fighting apple doesn't seem to have fallen far from the tree. (Although "estranged" is certainly better than what's happened to a number of Jack's other friends and loved ones over the past five years.)

Since making people believe that a pig really can take the place of a sheepherding dog in 1995's Babe, Cromwell seemingly hasn't had a moment's rest. He has appeared in films ranging from The People vs. Larry Flynt to The Green Mile to I, Robot. He even scored a Teen Choice Award nomination last year for Choice Bad Guy for his role as the nasty warden in The Longest Yard. Next up for the Emmy- and Oscar-nominated veteran character actor is Spider-Man 3, in which he plays a police captain.

Also on tap to play another accented nefarious sort is British actor-comedian Eddie Izzard, who will presumably be appearing in men's clothing. Fox describes the Velvet Goldmine star's character as a "villainous accomplice."

Izzard was most recently seen in My Super Ex-Girlfriend as Uma Thurman's arch-nemesis, Professor Bedlam, and he's been busy lately filming Ocean's Thirteen.

Fresh off its Emmy wins for Best Drama Series and Best Actor for Kiefer Sutherland, the sixth season of 24 kicks off in January. Others clocking in for the first time next year include Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle's Kal Penn as a man with ties to a terrorist organization, Peter MacNicol as a high-ranking government official, and Regina King as lawyer Sandra Palmer, sister of the late president, David Palmer.

The series picks up nearly two years after where season five left off, with Jack being ferried away from this country's shores by a group of Chinese agents who have torture on their minds. Wayne Palmer, David Palmer's brother, played by D.B. Woodside, is now President of the United States.

And the day's forecast is...convoluted, with a 98 percent chance of violence.