On acting
"I would say if you’re really serious about acting, make sure you get a skill to make money while you try to make it in acting. I did my undergrad as an art student and did some freelance design stuff while I made my go at it. And that knowledge also makes you much more well rounded and gives you those life experiences that will also make you a better actor." (Interview by Ryan Brandt)
"I grew up being really affected by stories I saw onscreen, and remembering that feeling of walking out of the theater changed," Bernard says. "My main goal is to work as a storyteller, whether my material or others. It sounds like a lofty kind of goal, but I believe the power of storytelling can alter people's perception. I've walked out of a play or a movie wanting to be a better person. My ultimate goal is to be a storyteller." (Zap2It)
What would be your ideal day? "It’s going to sound really cheesy, but I love when I come to work and I’ve got a full day of cool scenes to shoot. To me that is a great day." (TV Zone)
"24"
"He (Tony) does make bad choices, but that's what I love about the show. People make mistakes constantly - it's great. How boring would it be if we were always right? I love that part of it because, God knows, in real life...I chose to play basketball last year, didn't I? It was not a wise decision." (Zap2It)
"The lame fight with Jack was actually going to be a cool scene," Bernard recalls. "They'd written it with us falling down stairs, just a knock-down, drag-out fight. Of course, two weeks before, I dislocated my ankle, so we turned it into, basically, he sneezes and I fall down." (On damaging his ankle during filming)
"We were saying that next year I'll probably be like the guy in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' with no arms and legs, hopping around. It's a rough job, but somebody's got to do it...As long as you live, it's good." (Zap2It)
"I love daydreaming about what they do between seasons, how that affected them, and how do they pick up again?" (Zap2It)
“Maybe the Tony character might be more relatable. He’s not so sure
about everything. He has questions about things, whereas I think the
Jack character has a real strong resolve about every decision he makes.
I think Tony’s the opposite. I think that’s why they’re an interesting
contrast. Tony lets the emotions come in more and, as a result, he’s
probably not as good at his job. He’s not the machine that Jack is.” (24weblog.com February 2006)
"Everybody at 24 loves Tony in a black suit. And you know what? Quite frankly I could be wearing something worse. When I came in for the pilot episode they had me in these cargo pants and some sort of skateboarder shirt, and I remember holding them up and saying, you gotta be kidding me..." (24: Access All Areas)
"He's pretty much grumpy all the time!" (Carlos on Tony, during Radio One interview, London 2005)
"It takes place in Paris, actually. And Jack is under cover as a painter." (Pure 24, discussing the plot of Season 3)
"Hello, I'm Carlos Bernard. I play Tony the pizza man." (24 Season 3, 10-11am DVD commentary)
The entertainer
"I'm actually retiring from acting, I'm going to start a shrimp ranch in Louisiana....I always felt that shrimp spent too much time in the water..." (24 Inside, when asked about future projects)
"He is the funniest person. I can't believe he's not doing a sitcom." (Reiko Aylesworth, Zap2It)
"He's great. He's just a very real guy. There's nothing "actor-y" about him" (Karina Arroyave (Jamey Farrell), TWoP)
Bernard enjoys playing jokes on cast members. In one that still has cast mates chuckling, Elisha Cuthbert, who plays Kim Bauer, arrives on the set with shopping bags from a spree in New York. She wants to model her new clothes, but a car alarm sounds and distracts everyone. During the confusion, he stashes her bags in a trailer and later distributes her new clothes among the extras. Meanwhile, Cuthbert goes crazy searching for her bags. "In the middle of the shoot, she starts noticing all the extras' clothes, and goes up to them," he says, now laughing. "I had already told them to act indignant and pissed off." (Zap2It)
"I pay the writers off. As much as I can afford. I bring 'em little treats. I bake cookies over the weekend, bring 'em in on Monday and slip 'em under the door. Keep those writers happy." (T4 interview, UK 2005, when asked how he's survived so long on 24)
"Carlos is hysterically funny. He has this dry sense of humor where he lets you think he's serious for the longest time. One week he had Kiefer convinced that he was wearing a hairpiece. He kept coming up to Kiefer and saying, 'Is this on right?' And he's always doing stuff like that." (Reiko, TWoP)
"If we're having a really long day, you know, he just comes over and whispers 'Almeida is God...'" (Reiko, Triple M 105.1 radio interview)
Reviewers and fans
"Carlos Bernard has done such brilliant work in the first three seasons. Here was an instance where you don't fully comprehend the place an actor has created in your life until his character is gone, you accommodate the loss, and then he heroically re-enters your life. I don't want him to ever leave 24." (danielcooper.typepad.com)
"Carlos caught everybody by surprise. There was always a consensus of how much we liked this guy. He is really this unsung hero of CTU, this real interesting person. By default, he wound up finding a place season by season." (Howard Gordon, executive producer of 24)
Howard Gordon has high praise for his acting. "It's a charisma thing. Even just the way his head is slightly cocked, his voice is always a bit low so you find yourself leaning a little bit forward to listen to him." The performance is so appealing that it may have extended Tony's lifespan. "On several occasions, Almeida has survived several first drafts where he died, and then we said: "Aw, we can't kill Tony"'. (Zap2It)
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