Carrying on a legacy

Corey Hawkins is no stranger to being part of an iconic series and a huge dedicated fanbase, with the likes of The Walking Dead under his belt. But, the spin-off of the hit real-time action show 24 — 24: Legacy and taking over from Kiefer Sutherland seems to be a whole new ballgame. The actor isn’t just taking over from the best but is hoping to create his own role that stands out and makes a mark.

Corey Hawkins

did you walk into this environment imagining that you will be part of 24 for at least as long as Jack Bauer was?
Right now, we’re allowing the character to just speak to us and tell us where it’s going. It was just sort of letting him — Eric Carter — continue to surprise me. We start in such a good place, there’s hope at the beginning of this pilot, whereas Jack Bauer, was a hardened CTU veteran —you knew you could depend on him. We don’t know if we can depend on Eric, and so we have to take that time to get to know if we can, first and foremost, see the demons and the skeletons in his closet, and then see what happens after that.

Do you try to ignore the notion that you’re supposed to be the new Jack Bauer?    I can’t look at it like that. The only shoes I’m stepping into are Eric’s shoes. Something that’s been iterated and that I have been stressing is just that we continue to do him justice.

You said you spoke to Kiefer. What was the context of that conversation? tell us more about it?
We didn’t speak at the beginning. I wanted to find Eric and just really craft it and find the challenges, the craziness the things that make him tick without being influenced and find what works for me, what doesn’t work for me on my own, and then Kiefer, who’s always sort of been involved, had a hand in it obviously. We talked about a lot of stuff and he’s just a good sport in passing the baton on.

were you a fan of 24 before you were cast in it?
I grew up on it — I was the young kid watching it! And at that time, Jack Bauer was the hero that I looked up to. And now children who look like me get to see that hero, you know, and that’s really exciting to me!

Do you have a precise idea at this point of who Eric is?
I’m still discovering where he’s coming from. We see a hero who looks put together, but we watch it all fall apart towards the end of the series. I think emotionally he’s torn between responsibility and family and home. That’s something you’ll see with the relationship with him and his brother, and maybe eventually other family members that’ll come into play.

Do you see that experience has  prepared you to be part of this huge franchise, since Walking Dead is so popular and has a dedicated fanbase?
For me, I’m just making Eric’s storyline, and then everybody’s making their own storylines. You put it together and then we finally got to screen it for a few fans in different places, and we’ll stand in the back and watch their reactions to it. I’m glad to kind of carry on that.

(The show airs Wednesdays at 9 pm on Star World and Star World HD)