For this 19-year-old Canadian native, there was one sure sign of success: Meeting actress Drew Barrymore in a parking lot.
"She caught me looking at her and she ran over to my car and she went, 'Elisha Cuthbert from "24"? You rule!' And I went, I think I made it. Drew Barrymore and I are chit-chatting 'cause she likes the show!"
Excited where Kim is sullen, articulate where Kim is dense, Cuthbert proves she was clearly acting in her "24" role, a bratty teen with a penchant for no-good guys, including her kidnapper, Rick.
"I'm definitely not Kim Bauer in the sense that I would no way in hell go after the bad boy," Cuthbert said in July at a Fox-sponsored "24" party. "Last year, Kim was very immature and really didn't know how to act or what to do in those circumstances."
This season, Kim will mature in her new role as nanny for a family. "She's missing her mother now, so maybe [acting as] a mother herself is filling that void."
The death of Kim's mom has also driven a wedge between Kim and her father, Counter Terrorism Unit agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). "We're not angry at each other, but Mom's died and how do we deal with it?"
Different as she is from her character, Cuthbert said walking into her trailer and seeing the same wardrobe for months on end put her in the mood to play pouty Kim.
"I would watch 'Sex and the City' and think, 'I hate you women,' when we're down in this one outfit," Cuthbert said. "I'm really hoping the writers can find time this season when I run into someone's house and change."
Sunday, October 27, 2002
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