Las Vegas Weekly

June 2, 2009 · 2:39 PM

Death-defying stunts are part of the job for 24’s Annie Wersching

By Robin Leach

Annie Wersching.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

After just one season on Keifer Sutherland’s hit Fox drama 24, actress Annie Wersching has suddenly started to shine in the spotlight. Annie joined the series last year at the start of Season 7 and has already been signed for Season 8.

“I started out as a good girl in my first year, but then was influenced by Jack Bauer (Kiefer’s character) and ended the season a little bit on the dark side,” she told me when we talked at the Lili Claire Spring Bling charity fundraiser at the Palazzo.

“Being involved in a show like this is such an accomplishment, and it has become a pretty big deal. It is hard as a female to come into 24 and go toe to toe with Kiefer. I had people saying I was the female Jack! That’s ridiculous, but it was a very cool role, and the character is as interesting and as complicated as his.”

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

24 actress Annie Wersching.

Annie told me it was the first time she had flown into Las Vegas: “I love coming here, but it’s always been a road trip before. I live in L.A., so my boyfriend and I or a girlfriend usually drive over and stay somewhere like Motel 6, where one can take the dogs instead of leaving them home. I am very happy now to live like a TV star in the glamorous Palazzo. It’s a big jump!

“In all the times I have been coming to Vegas as a struggling actress, today was the first time we went to the pool. Other times it’s just been the buffets and a little blackjack, roulette and video poker. I usually break even when I come to Vegas. If I am down a little bit before I leave, I’ll try to win another 40 to 60 bucks to say it’ll buy the gas on the way home.”

I asked Annie about the dangerous-looking action sequences she’s involved in on 24. “I only had one day of gun training before I started on the show. I got cast a little bit late. I had to learn all that physical stuff and intense action stunts as we went along. Fortunately, I was an athlete growing up, and I absolutely love the stunts. I am a tomboy at heart. They are pretty difficult and dangerous. I actually begged to do more of them, but the insurance people wouldn’t let me.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Annie Wersching.

“I have been buried alive. I jumped off a moat. I was swimming in the Potomac. I hung on the outside of a speeding SUV while driving it and shooting away. Then I had to jump off and roll away before it rolled on top of me. That was probably my favorite stunt so far. Fortunately, no injuries, not even a scratch. I looked at it as if we were on a Sunday afternoon picnic!

“I’ve just read the scripts of the first four episodes because we start shooting the new season shortly. I know there will be more dangerous stuff this time. My character ended in a strange, dark place at the end of (Season) 7. She has come back in a pretty dark place, as well. She had been battling with the moral issues of torture throughout the season, so the very last episode of Season 7, she goes into a room and you don’t know if she is going to torture or not torture this last suspect. All I can reveal is it didn’t go very well for her.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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