Zap2It’s Kate O’Hare spoke with Benito Martinez, who played Victor Aruz in the 24 Season 8 premiere.
In the opening hour of Sunday’s 8th-season premiere of Fox’s “24,” wounded informant Victor Aruz (Benito Martinez) shows up at the New York City front door of briefly retired Counter Terrorist Unit operative Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). He’s been shot, he has information to trade, and since he and Bauer are such old pals, he gets dragged inside and receives assistance.
Hmmm, you may have thought, have I actually seen Aruz before? Why, you might have asked, don’t I remember Sutherland (in photo, left) in a scene with Martinez (in photo, right) when Aruz’s name came up as part of the Salazar operation in season 3 of the show?
Turns out your memory is just fine.
“I was referenced,” says Martinez. “But no, I never played the character. All of my character stuff is based on what they introduced then. I saw all of that season, but I could not place it.
“We had conversations on set about it.”
‘We had a great time,” he says. “We were everywhere, L.A. Center Studios, on the roofs of buildings downtown.”
“I can say that I was quite happy to do this journey,” says Martinez. “They wanted to make you feel like it was pushing the restart button for the franchise, for the viewers, for the writers, the creators.
“They took a lot of time and care to make sure the story was in place for this. All the players they’ve lined up throughout is really a testament to what they’ve set out to achieve. You’ve not seen this all before.
“And there’s the challenges that Jack Bauer has — he’s come in from a retired place; he smiles; he’s a different guy; he’s gone through hell and back; he’s not physically well, but he’s getting there.
“So there are a lot of different things that he’s having to rise from as well.”
Source: Zap2It
