Jon Voight Signs On To "24"

NEW YORK — Jon Voight has been cast as the villain on the upcoming season of the Fox drama "24." The seventh season kicks off in January, though Voight will make his first appearance during a two-hour "prequel" episode to air in November, Chris Alexander, a spokesman for the show, said Friday.

The 69-year-old actor's character will resurface in the second half of the regular season, Alexander said.

"I am thrilled and excited about being invited to be part of my favorite show `24,'" Voight said in a statement Friday. "I'm hoping to bring my very best to it."

The actor's previous TV experience includes the classic Western "Gunsmoke," in which he appeared in several episodes during the 1960s.

Voight, also known as the father of Angelina Jolie, won an Academy Award for best actor for the 1978 film "Coming Home," and has been nominated three other times for "Midnight Cowboy," "Runaway Train" and "Ali."

His big-screen credits include "Deliverance," "Mission: Impossible," "Transformers" and the "National Treasure" movies.

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Comments

[astein1]

I hate that they are telling you who the villain is before the show is even on the air. Season one was so good because you didn't know who the bad guy was before he or she made their move. This is just cheap publicity by Fox. Boo-urns.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

This upcoming seasons sounds like a ripe mess. The production of it was delayed by "script problems" (never a good sign), then the writer's strike, then the decision to delay its debut until next year, now an "annoucement" where they give away a character's identity right away.

[citizenofmars]

typecasting?

[bobdob]

Oughta be good. Voight does creepy almost as well as Christopher Walken. Walken is and always will be the king, but Voight's good.

[ColdSteel3]

How about Walken and Voight play villainous brothers, kinda an evil twofer? That would be creepy as hell, but it would be interesting to watch them try to top each other.

[robXdion]

Soooooooo he's gonna play a shady shadow government figure like Dick Cheney or David Rockefeller? Will his character be apart of Bohemian Grove? Or the Bilderberg Group? That will be interesting, not this cartoonish stock character stuff.

[deckard70]

The first season was best when the bad guys weren't recognizable actors (for the most part). Cromwell as Keifer's father was a bad move ("look, the guy from Babe and Star Trek!") and so is this. Give new actors a chance, and the show can rebuild some credibility.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

Easy Money!

[truthyguy]

It's difficult to watch Voight in a movie or on TV once you have heard him speak or be interviewed.
The person gets in the way of the character.

[DirtyDawg]

Figures...only a rightwingnut like Voight would hook up with 24 and be proud of it - that, and/or, drunks and addicts. No wonder Angelina doesn't get along with Daddy - I mean, do you really think that Guiliani was some kind of savior (or was it Huckabee?)? Voight did. And to think, we really thought he was something of a compassionate, thoughtful, caring person that he played in Conrack all those years ago.

[wm1066]

Well, he was an actor then...now he's not acting.

[westreal]

I cannot wait for 24 next season. A year without it was rough!!! I didn't realize how good this show was and how bad all the others are. I even stopped watching American Idol because 24 wasn't on.