James Morrison as William Buchanan
William “Bill’ Buchanan, on the series,
24, is portrayed by James Morrison. Bill is the head of the Los Angeles Domestic Unit of the CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit). He received his degree in English from Brown University and is married to Karen Hayes.
Prior to his leadership position at CTU, Bill was an Associate Special Agent in Charge at the Los Angeles Division. His previous work experiences also include being the Intelligence Analyst and Senior Agent at the Seattle Division and a CTU Agent for the New York Domestic Unit.
As the current Director of CTU, Bill has displayed an authoritative presence equal to that of his predecessor, Ryan Chappelle, who was killed by former CTU agent Jack Bauer. He has supervised many of the operations starting from Day 4, which included the trade-off between CTU and terrorist Habib Marwan. However, there have been times when his authority was tested, especially when some of his agents would go behind his back in order to help out their former leader, Bauer. He almost came close to losing his job when Homeland Security was tasked by Karen Hayes, who would eventually become his wife, to take over the duties of the CTU Director on Day 5.
Bill has been linked to several female agents, including deceased CTU Agent Michelle Dessler and Regional Division Administrator Lynn McGill. Dessler, who was married to Tony Almeida, was killed on Day 5 by a car bomb outside her home, and her death did affect Bill to some degree. Bill, on the other hand, has always denied having had a relationship with Dessler and stressed that the two of them were just very good friends. As for Lynn McGill, who also died on Day 5 after succumbing to the nerve gas, Buchanan had a hard time working with her when they were reunited in Los Angeles.
(Photo courtesy of FOX)