The Hollywood Reporter says Jones will play the President in the seventh season of the series. The network would not confirm the casting to the industry paper. Production of the series, the Hollywood Reporter reveals, has been delayed until next month because "a set-in-Africa storyline fell through and the producers [have gone] back to the drawing board."

Keifer Sutherland heads the cast of "24" as agent Jack Bauer. The seventh season, according to the show's official website, will debut in January 2008.

Cherry Jones originated the role of Sister Aloysius in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt at Manhattan Theatre Club Off-Broadway, and the production moved to Broadway. Along with the Tony Award, the role earned her a Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and an Obie. Her other Broadway credits include The Heiress, Imaginary Friends, Major Barbara, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Our Country's Good, Angels in America and most recently Faith Healer.

The TV series follows one - rather eventful - day (the title referring to 24 hours) in the life of Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) agent Jack Bauer (Sutherland). Each of the 24 continuous weekly episodes in a season shows what unfolds in one, real-time hour. (A ticking clock occasionally appears, fueling the show's signature intensity.)

Jones joins a list of previous guest stars who also have stage credits, including Jayne Atkinson (Enchanted April), Stephen Spinella (Angels in America), Jean Smart (The Man Who Came to Dinner), Peter MacNicol (Crimes of the Heart), Zeljko Ivanek (The Pillowman), Gregory Itzin (The Kentucky Cycle), Tamara Tunie (Julius Caesar), Logan Marshall-Green (King Lear), Harry J. Lennix (Radio Golf), Lou Diamond Phillips (The King and I) and James Cromwell (Hamlet), among others.