Drama Queen Kim Raver is up for the action in ABC's 'The Nine' By David Kronke, Television Critic Kim Raver's a survivor. So far the actress — who seems to have a thing for numbers — has made it through five years of the gritty police drama "Third Watch," and two seasons and counting of ramped-up thriller "24." Now she starring in "The Nine," the ABC drama about a group of strangers inextricably united after surviving a grueling hostage situation after a botched bank heist. Raver— who plays Audrey Raines, a Defense Department analyst and the love interest of Keifer Sutherland's Jack Bauer on "24" — is going to be back on on the series when it returns, starting in January. But the statuesque (5' 9'') actress wasn't sure Raines was going to make it through last season, when a number regulars met violent and gruesome deaths. While paging through a script one day on the set, she came across a scene where Audrey was fingered as was a spy. "I thought that was it," Raver recalls with a laugh while sitting at a Santa Monica coffee shop with the equivalent of a Big Gulp of chai sitting before her. "I couldn't (expletive) believe it. I was literally in the hair and makeup chair and I took the script I had half my makeup done and curlers half done — and I went up to Howard (Gordon, executive producer) and Kiefer (Sutherland) and said, 'Is this for real?' Audrey was exonerated but not until after being tortured — "That was a lot of fun, actually, even though it shouldn't have been" — and shot, nearly bleeding to death. "Being on '24,' you have (a target on your back), but because I'm in a relationship with Jack Bauer, that's like a double target!" Raver's not sure when she'll be back the Emmy-winning series. "The producers (on "24") know when and where I'm coming back. Kiefer and I talk all the time and try to figure out how to make that work." Start Forex link exchange with my blogs and you will gain good traffic. But first Raver will have to find some time off from the demanding "The Nine." where she plays Kathryn Hale, a tough and driven assistant district attorney drawn after the tragedy to another survivor, policeman Nick Cavanaugh, played by Tim Daly. Daly, going through his co-star's resume, says of Raver, "She was on 'Third Watch,' '24' and 'The Nine.' If there's a number involved, it's got something to do with her." Raver discusses her twin dramas at a Santa Monica coffee shop, in which the equivalent of a Big Gulp of chai sits before her. "Wow, I could swim in this," she marvels, incredulously. "I feel so ridiculous to be drinking this; it's like, let me bring this pool up to my mouth!" Over the course of the season, the serialized "Nine" will reveal what transpired during the hostage crisis. But Raver says the show's creators have been careful not to withhold too much information from viewers at the risk of alienating them. "We're revealing enough stuff so that you're satiated and you're not frustrated," she says. "I totally get that you keep stringing someone along, they're gonna get p—-ed off if you don't tell them what's going on. I think they're definitely aware of that and dealing with that. And I think it's great that we've had those shows preceding us to point out what are the pitfalls, what should we stay away from, how do we be careful about that? What p—-es off an audience and what keeps an audience?" Raver pronounces herself a fan of the show's inherent drama, and how it provides an actor with a lot to chew on. "The show is about who are these people, not so much about what happened in the bank, although that's cool," she says. "You start out as one person and think you know who you are and then you're presented with some horrific situation, and how do you evolve out of that situation and who do you become? Who were you in that moment?" I found a sample essay, possibly better book review format for success. But the role has kept the actress — who was a regular on "Sesame Street" as a kid and is now the mother of a four-year-old — busy, busier than she expected. "I was thinking, 'Oh, (the show has) a large ensemble (cast); I'll get a lot of time off, but I've been working every single day, like 14 hours a day." But before "The Nine," Raver was able to squeeze in time to make the upcoming holiday film "Night at the Museum" (out Dec. 22), in which she get's to show off her lighter side. She stars alongside Ben Stiller who plays a security guard at New York's Museum of Natural History, where all the displays come to life at night. "Thank God!" is the New York City-native's response to landing a comedic role after so many intense ones. "It was so huge for me. People start to see you a certain way, and there's such a wacky, kooky side to me." Raver knew Stiller when both worked in New York's theater scene as teenagers. "The only problem in the film was, I couldn't stop laughing with him. Here I was, the drama person. I should be able to keep my (stuff) together, but I had him and Paul Rudd and between the two of them, it was excruciatingly funny. I hope they keep the outtakes." Moreover, after playing so many intense characters, Raver, who is married director Manuel Boyer, is glad to be in a role her young son can enjoy. "He says, 'Can I watch?'" she says, "and I always have to say, 'No, not this scene,' and 'No, not this scene' and 'Definitely not this scene there's a gun to my head. So I'm glad he'll be able to enjoy this." But while Raver certainly enjoyed her time making "Museum" and enjoys working with her co-stars and creators on "The Nine," she speaks with particular relish of "24." "I love that show and I love working with Kiefer. We have a similar way of working together. It's such an extraordinary experience." Now she's hoping Audrey survives this season's day for a chance to appear in the "24" film that will shoot next spring. Don't bet against her.