Jimmy Smits Cast in Fox’s ’24: Legacy’ Pilot as U.S. Senator

Jimmy Smits has been cast in the Fox drama pilot “24: Legacy,” TheWrap has learned.

Smits joins previously announced cast members Corey Hawkins, Miranda Otto and Teddy Sears. He will portray John Donovan, a powerful U.S. Senator with higher political aspirations, who is married to the blazing smart former head of CTU Rebecca Ingram (Otto).

Smits appeared in the final three seasons of FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” and is currently completing a one-season commitment in Baz Luhrman’s “The Get Down.” He is best known for long running roles on “NYPD Blue,” “L.A. Law” and “The West Wing.”

He is represented by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Tom Hoberman.

Hawkins will star in the series, taking over for Kiefer Sutherland‘s Jack Bauer. He will play Eric Carter, described by Fox as “strong and smart,” has a very rough background, but has turned his life around in the Army Rangers.

Now back home in Virginia with his wife Nicole, Carter is pulled back into action as his past comes looking for him. The upcoming revitalization will see Carter ask CTU for help in saving his life, the network notes, and in stopping what potentially could be one of the largest-scale terror attacks on American soil.

Sears will play Keith Mullins, the former second-in-command to CTU boss Rebecca Ingram, whom he recently replaced as head of the unit.

“24: Legacy” hails from 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television, in association with Teakwood Lane Productions. The one-hour drama will be executive produced by Howard Gordon, Manny Coto, Evan Katz, Brian Grazer.