Sean Astin: From Hobbit to Hotshot on 24

When the creator of "24" was looking for an actor to play Lynn (good name) McGill, a young Counter Terrorism Unit boss, he didn't have to look further than his chiropractor's office. Lord of the Rings' Sean Astin was a patient in the office as well and was happy to take on the new challenge.

We cornered the affable star recently in Pasadena, Ca. and got the true story of how he was recruited for the show, how the cast welcomed the newcomer and how he's moving on from "Rings".

TeenTelevision: Hey, so you and Dominic...big TV stars now, huh? How did you feel when you first heard that your old "Rings" pal Dom was going to be co-starring on "Lost"?

Sean: I'm so happy for him. I remember before he did "Lost", how frustrated he was because he was looking for something and it took him longer than some of the other people in the cast to find their new things but he sure came on with a vengeance.

TeenTelevision: Were you a fan of '24' before you joined the show? Is there a backstory there?

Sean: Yes. I was working on building my directing career so I had an agent send me, on videotape, the pilot for '24' before it aired and I remember being in my garage on the treadmill and watching the pilot episode and I knew five minutes in that this was the most innovative thing out there, that it would be a huge hit so I called my agent and said 'S**ew you! Thanks a lot for sending me '24'. He said 'Why? Don't you think it's great?' I said, 'yeah, it's brilliant. I'll never get anywhere near it'. So I didn't watch any of it beyond that until the day I met Joel Surnow at the chiropractor late last year. What I had said to people when '24' got really hot was, 'I'm not going to watch an episode of that show until I can watch an entire season on DVD'. I hate having to wait. I felt the same way about the Lord of the Rings movies. So, I ended up watching the first three seasons in one sort of go as I got the part.

TeenTelevision: So you were up for three days straight or something?

Sean: I barely slept. Judging by the sore butt cheeks, I probably did nineteen hours at a stretch and then slept for five or six. My assistant brought me a huge cappuccino every couple of hours. I watched the episode Sunday night with my dad John Astin and he's not a TV watching guy. He's 75 years old and his heart was pumping, man. He was watching the show and screaming at the characters not to do something and every time a commercial came on he was furious because it interrupted the story.

TeenTelevision: Well, TV guy or not, a lot of people remember him from "The Adams Family". It's syndicated everywhere.

Sean: He's doing great. The next night he called me during the commercial breaks to talk about the story.

TeenTelevision: Do you think the show is getting pretty far out there? Pretty hard to believe?

Sean: At certain moments it would become ridiculous and implausible and, at those moments, I would start to get a little depressed because I'd grown attached to the characters but I'd fight through the next 20 minutes and another wave would kick in and the show is working again. The audience I've talked to that love the show enjoy the amusement of the things that are too far-fetched to get your head around. The show earns an emotional credibility with the characters.

TeenTelevision: Very true. What was it like to go from "Rings" with a passionate fan following, to '24' with its own passionate fans?

Sean: I had this real feeling of relief after I met Joel and knew I was going to be on the show and I knew that it was real. There were no agents, managers or publicists. It was just a guy who made a show and looked at me and said 'you want to be on the show?' I said 'yeah' and knew it was going to happen. Then, every time I'd see the '24' DVDs I started getting that old, familiar 'oh, I'm a part of something again' feeling instead of being a maverick out there on my own.

TeenTelevision: Were you welcomed with open arms when you first got on set?

Sean: Everyone's attitude, to a person on the crew and the cast, they came up and said 'welcome to the show' and it was honest. It was heartfelt. They knew that they were a part of something. There is a feeling of confidence and comfort, security.

TeenTelevision: Was it exciting or nerve wracking to be the new cast member on a hit show?

Sean: Well, as all the press started gearing up I stared getting really nervous; getting tingles. I started realizing, 'what if they spit me out? What if the people that love the show react badly to me?' I was really relieved this morning when I got a bunch of phone calls from people with compliments and good thoughts. I'm definitely feeling a lot better about it since seeing it.

TeenTelevision: Do the cast members ever joke with you about being in "Rings"?

Sean: No, but second assistant directors make Gandalf jokes at bizarre and non-sequitur moments and there are feet jokes. The actors' attitude has been to completely avoid talking about it until there was some moment that they wanted to communicate how moved they were by what everyone did in Lord of the Rings. I try to respond in kind. It was a very respectful, professional thing. As for jokes, I was totally ready for anything. But, it's serious business when the cameras roll.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.