Voight joins cast of 24 as new nemesis

Veteran U.S. actor Jon Voight has signed on to play a nemesis of Kiefer Sutherland's counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer on  24 next season, according to industry paper Hollywood Reporter.

The report says Oscar winning Voight will portray a villain pulling the strings behind a new terrorist threat on the popular TV series. His character will be introduced in a two-hour prequel to the upcoming seventh season of the Emmy Award-winning action drama.

Fox, which usually begins broadcasting 24 in January at the beginning of its annual winter season, decided to postpone the show this year because the Hollywood writers strike had interrupted its production schedule last fall.

The prequel instalment, currently shooting scenes in South Africa, is scheduled to air in November, with the new season to follow in January.

Over the years, other 24 villains have included:

• Dennis Hopper as first-season baddie Victor Drazen.
• Sarah Clarke as double-agent Nina Meyers.
• Arnold Vosloo as terrorist leader Habib Marwan.
• Gregory Itzin as U.S. Vice-President, and later, President Charles Logan.
• Paul McCrane and James Cromwell, who portrayed the brother and father of Sutherland's character.

Voight, who appeared in several TV roles before his film career took off with 1969's Midnight Cowboy, won a best-actor Oscar for his turn in the 1978 film Coming Home. His recent film credits include movies like Transformers, National Treasure and, its sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets.