Jimmy Smits joins the cast of 24: Legacy spinoff series

FOX announced the addition of Smits this week, confirming that the former L.A. Law and NYPD Blue actor and 12-time Primetime Emmy nominee would join previously-announced cast members Corey Hawkins, Miranda Otto, and Teddy Sears in the 12-episode series. The series will feature an entirely new cast of characters but will unfold at the simulated, real-time pace that made the original series so popular.

According to FOX, Smits will play John Donovan, an ambitious U.S. Senator married to the former head of the Counter Terrorism Unit (C.T.U.), Otto’s character in the series.

While a 12-episode arc is planned for the series, the network has only ordered a pilot at this point. Original series director Stephen Hopkins will helm the pilot episode, which also brings back many of the producers on 24.

Early reports on the plot of the series suggest that it will follow a former Army Ranger and military hero played by Hawkins, one of the stars of the recent N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Hawkins’ character attempts to settle down after retiring from the military, only to get caught up in a far-reaching terrorist plot that drags him back into action. He ends up seeking help from the C.T.U. in order to stop a potentially devastating terror attack on American soil.

The original 24 series premiered in 2001 and ran for eight seasons, then returned for a 12-episode miniseries in 2014. Over the course of its original run, the series and its star, Kiefer Sutherland, earned 73 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including one Emmy Award for the year’s best dramatic series and one Emmy Award for Sutherland. The 2014 miniseries also won three Emmy Awards.

There’s no word on when 24: Legacy will premiere on Fox.