Of the cast members least likely to return to 24 for the series' planned comeback next year, Louis Lambardi is probably high on the list. Granted, presumed dead characters have been known to come back to life - RIP CTU Almeida - but in the case of Lombardi's character, I'm thinking Season 5 was the last we'll see of the sweet CTU intelligence Analyst Edgar Stiles, whose last breath was full of nerve gas, if memory serves. So while it's probably too much to hope to see Lombardi on 24: Live Another Day, but we will see him on Frank Darabont's upcoming TNT drama Lost Angels, in which he'll play a recurring role.
TNT gave Lost Angels - previously titled L.A. Noir - a six-episode order last fall, though there's currently no premiere date yet. The period cop drama is based on John Buntin's book and follows the battle between mobster and former boxer Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke) and the former Los Angeles Police Chief William Parker (Neal McDonough). Also among the cast are Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Ed Burns and Jeff DeMunn (The Walking Dead).
THR says Louis Lombardi will play the recurring role of Stucky, one of Mickey's men, which I guess puts him on the criminal side of this cops 'n robbers story… assuming robbing is among Mickey's criminal offenses. Regardless, the presumably criminal nature of Stucky is a flip from Lombardi's roles in 24 and The Sopranos, both of which had him working for the law. In 24 it was as a tech guy and on The Sopranos, he played the role of FBI agent Skip Lipari, with whom Big Pussy confided. Prior to The Sopranos, he played roles in Beverly Hills Cop III and Natural Born Killers. And he played Mickey in Suicide Kings.
Lombardi's roles in 24 and The Sopranos elevated him above character actor status, but we haven't seen him in any kind of major role in a big project since his run on 24 ended in 2006. Among his TV appearances, he guest starred in Las Vegas, Ugly Betty, CSI: NY, Entourage and Hawaii Five-0. He also played the role of a bartender in Battleship. And coming soon, we'll see him in Brad Furman's upcoming thriller Runner Runner, which stars Justin Timberlake as a college student who gets mixed up with some kind of offshore entrepreneur who cheats online gamblers. Given that the release date for that one is September, we'll probably be seeing him in Runner Runner before we see him in Lost Angels, unless TNT manages to get it on the air before the fall, but considering we still haven't heard the official start date, that seems unlikely.
