24 SEASON 3
Q&A with Kiefer Sutherland		 Search all of phase9.tv






Interview with Kiefer Sutherland (as Jack Bauer)


How’s life on the set? Everybody happy?

KIEFER SUTHERLAND: Yeah, we’re doing well.

How did your spend hiatus between two and three?

KIEFER: I did a small part in a film with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke. It’s a very short break, it’s a seven to eight week break. I did that, and kind of started straight up again. There’s so much work that the writers are doing in that break to set up the next season that it’s unreal. I remember constantly being in touch with the writers as well and hearing their ideas of storylines and what direction we were going to go in. Again, the break is just so short it really makes it tough. There’s enough work to do to get the next season ready, that we were occupied with that.

Has 24 taken over your life?

KIEFER: My professional life? Absolutely. It’s been interesting though. I’ve been so lucky, I love doing this show, I love this crew, I love the subject matter, I love the character. For all of those things, I’m very happy and I’m really enjoying it. I could not imagine what it must be like for an actor on a show that they don’t enjoy doing. Because I’d become suicidal.

Did you ever think you’d be in the position where you seem to be?

KIEFER: No. I guess my focus has always been somewhere else. It’s been a really wonderful run these last two years with the show. Anytime something like that happens, I feel very humbled by it. Sitting in that room Sunday night and looking out and seeing theater actors that I’ve just been so fortunate to work with. And others that I would give my right arm to work with. You sit in a room like that and feel very humbled by that.

What do you think are the factors that make the show so successful?

KIEFER: I think ultimately it’s…

Because it’s not just in America. It’s all over the world.

KIEFER: I think the time format. It takes a genre, that of the thriller—which I think is fantastic anyway—and adds to it. That time format will inherently give you more angst. It makes you nervous, to watch that clock ticking. “Oh, my God, something’s going to have to happen right now. It has to happen within the next two minutes.” And it gives it a sense of urgency. We really did change the genre, in that regard. I think the time component being added to the genre is the initial reason. And I think the writers have done a fantastic job. I think we have a really fantastic cast. Developed, compelling characters. It’s at the right time. Who knows if this idea would have been very successful 10 years ago?

What do you think about the impact of this show?

KIEFER: It’s kept us alive. In the first year the show already had a core audience here that’s stayed with us, but it’s not as big (laughs) as I think they might have liked it. The incredible success that we’ve had in the foreign markets with the show, really kept us going.

What do you attribute that to?

KIEFER: It’s an American show that’s dealing with the political ramifications of something that might be happening in their country. But they're also going to have huge worldwide ramifications. It’s what’s happening in the world on a lot of levels. I think that there’s a visceral reaction that you get from the show from its pace and from its energy. I think that that can transcend language and it can transcend a lot of things. It’s very simple. If this guy doesn't get from here to there and do this along the way, something terrible is going to happen. You put a time component within that very simple structure, and it becomes exciting to watch. For anyone.
I think that kind of kinetic energy transcends language, it transcends a lot of things, and I think that’s why it’s managed to go, and be as successful around the world as it has.

Is the audience for the show able to suspend that disbelief?

KIEFER: Our audience is predisposed. When I was talking earlier about suspending somebody’s disbelief, our audience is predisposed to do that from the beginning. We’ve been very lucky that they've been willing to do it. No, it’s one of the things that’s fantastic. There are so many things that are working against Jack Bauer and a lot of the other characters right now. Exhaustion is something that we start to play now. It’s starting to screw up everything for a lot of the characters. And that’s going to be a really interesting thing to watch happen.

You have such intense dramatic scenes in every episode. Do you try to counterbalance that by creating a lighter mood on the set?

KIEFER: Not consciously. I think naturally that’ll happen. We have such a fantastic crew. We have a hundred people right on the other side of that wall, that are doing everything they can, to make this scene look, sound, and feel as good as it can possibly be. That’s the primary focus. But we know each other really well, after three years. There’s just going to be some inherent jokes, and—it’s not conscious. I think on the really, really heavy days, it does seem to be a bit looser on the set in between takes.

You said last October that you might die in this series. So what's the deal with that? Can the show continue without you?

KIEFER: I think it's very important to believe and know that on any given moment, any actor can die on this show. I think we proved that with season one, and I'm no exception to that. Otherwise, you'd know Jack's always getting out of it, and that's not the case. Eventually, you know, there's going to be some things that'll happen, and I'm not exempt from that.

But isn't that the end of the series though?

KIEFER: I don't think so. I think the show can go on for 20 years and go through multiple cast changes and things like that, because the star of this show is the time format and what it did to the thriller genre. And we all service that.

I think a lot of people actually do watch it for you and Jack Bauer.

KIEFER: Again, I think that the show will do fine. I hope I get to do this show for a long time.

So you've got no plans to move.

KIEFER: Not as of yet.

You say that the show is bigger than the actors, but in this case, you helped the show to get out. You were bigger than the show at the beginning.

KIEFER: Yeah.

So how do you balance that at this time?

KIEFER: I approach my work no differently than I approach anything else. I just do everything I can to make it as good as possible, and we've been very fortunate that we've got a fantastic crew, the writers have done a fantastic job, the cast is amazing—not only the regular cast but the day actors that we have come in to do smaller parts—we've just been lucky how fantastic everybody's been. Our focus is on trying to make the best show, period, and we don't worry about the rest of it.

What do you like about Jack?

KIEFER: This character is so complex. What I loved about the character, and what drew me to the character was the fact that he was, so to speak, a hero. But was flawed. There was a real humanity to him, in the way that he was trying to deal with his wife in that first season. I loved that story line. I was trying to save the marriage, and wasn’t successful. I loved that they immediately started structuring the character that was going to have all of those qualities. I think that’s one of the reasons why the audiences have been as supportive of him as they are. I think he’s much more believable than someone who’s got everything going right and does the right thing all the time.

Did you have preparation for the character?

KIEFER: For the character? Yes, but the character doesn’t change. The dynamic of Jack Bauer and everything that you’re going have to see him deal with, is something that we’ve shot either in season one or season two. The brass nuts structure for the character is something that we did at the very beginning.

How long do you think that Bauer can save the world for the first time?

KIEFER: As long as they let him. I think obviously with each passing season, our success is directly connected to our ability to suspend the audience’s disbelief. It's in the nature of our show and audience to say, "Well, obviously this can’t happen and that can’t happen, and that wouldn’t be true". What they are hooking into is the visceral excitement of the situation. And so as long as we can suspend their disbelief and maintain a level of quality, that I think we certainly had in seasons one and two, and believe we have in season three, then we’ll love to keep doing it. And I hope that we’re smart enough when we can’t, to stop.

Are you comfortable right now with the character?

KIEFER: Jack Bauer is going to try and do everything he can, to do what is right. And the fantastic part is that in some instances, what he thinks of as ‘right’ can sometimes have disastrous repercussions, consequences that he has not thought of. Those are the things that he deals with, emotionally, throughout the course of this day. And that’s what I think the writers have been fantastic about creating as well. The structure of this character is very simple. This is a guy who wants to do the right thing all the time. And like any human being, he’s not always going to be successful at that. That’s really who he is.

Do you think that accountability might be something that will inform you?

KIEFER: Absolutely. I also think that the character is going to have to be held responsible for that because I don’t care how much you don’t like someone killing. He was wrong, and he’s going to have to deal with that. It’s been set up like that for that reason. I think he’s going to have emotional problems down the line with the fact that he did it. That he lost control like that, that he let himself get away. And that will be an interesting thing, to see how they can come up with that and how we’re going to play that. The dope problem is another issue as well, where you’re going to have to watch him become accountable for that, and deal with that as well.

Are you going to stop going on about Jack dying?

KIEFER: No. It’s a possibility that that will happen one season. Which one, I don’t know. When I said it, it was certainly nothing that I wanted, but I think all of us are aware that the real star of the show is the time format and the concept, and we actors service that. I’m no different than any of the other actors, and we’re all aware that at some point, to service the show we might get killed. I think with the death of Leslie Hope’s character, my wife in the first season—I think we set a precedent that we were going to break some rules. I think that it’s much more exciting to watch a character like Jack if you don’t think that there’s a guarantee that he’s going to be around forever. Otherwise when he’s in some kind of peril it’s just very boring if you just know he’s going to get out of it every time.

Have you had as bad a day as Jack?

KIEFER: No. No. I think I might have thought I had when I was feeling sorry for myself once or twice, but in reality, no.

How much more can he go through?

KIEFER: Well that’s the big question. I think we’re all feeling very confident about doing a fourth season. It’s something that we’ll really have to see. What I can tell you, which I do believe very strongly, is that the format of the show is too exciting. I think that can go for 20 years. But the cast is going to have to change.

Maybe Jack can be in the office.

KIEFER: He gets corporate? I would be upset with that. I like the running around and being able to be right in the middle of it.

How do you feel about the drug use of Jack.

KIEFER: He was given some drugs to deal with the effects of his DT’s, really. And that’s coming to an end right about now when we’re shooting, and those effects will start to come back. I think it’s a fantastic device. I mean, in the first season here is he struggling with a failed marriage or a marriage that certainly was in trouble. Now he’s dealing with an addiction. I think he’s justified in why he became addicted, but he’s still struggling with an addiction. Those imperfections in his character, and his effort to deal with those imperfections, I think, have been one of the real reasons people have enjoyed the character so much. Because no one’s trying to pretend he’s perfect.

Do you feel responsibility for the atmosphere?

KIEFER: Yeah, I do take a lot of responsibility for that. I care about one thing, and that’s we make the best possible show. We have a hundred people here that work very hard and are at the top of their game. And it would be ridiculous to think that people don’t get upset. There are days when combinations of the weather and something that we needed to shoot with doesn’t arrive and people get angry. We work 16 hours sometimes, and our days go by incredibly quickly. And they go by incredibly quickly because there is a relentless focus on trying to make every scene as good as it possibly can be. Our whole crew is involved with that. That’s something that our director, our cast and our crew has, and it’s a common goal. I think when the product is finished and we’re happy about that, that’s when we feel very good about that. But yeah, I am in one of those positions that can have a very serious effect on how our show is run. And in that context I do the best I can with it.

You lose a lot of cool cast members.

KIEFER: Yeah, and it’s very funny when we get together and have a party. One of the nice testaments about how wonderful being on the show is, people that have died two or three seasons ago are still showing up to the parties. Yeah, we’ve managed to form a really tight group.

How hard was it to kill off Leslie’s character?

KIEFER: For me it was really hard. She was an actor that I really, really loved working with, and for very selfish reasons I love spending time with her—she’s a great friend of mine. I also think she added such a fantastic dynamic to our show. So, for all of those selfish personal reasons, that was very difficult. For the show, it set a precedent, and it was really important and I think it was very effective.

Were more people upset with you kissing Nina than killing her?

KIEFER: That’s a very funny American thing isn’t it? (laughs) We don’t care that you killed her, but what did you have to kiss her for?

Why were you nervous before series three?

KIEFER: Season one, it was all new, we had done a show with the time format and kind of blew through by the seat of our pants. Season two was an effort to maintain a level of quality that we felt season one had. By season three, the success of the show was measured by the degree with which we’re capable of suspending an audience’s disbelief. And each season down the line, that’s going to be more difficult. I believe very strongly that if you’re not going to be able to maintain the quality and the excitement of the previous seasons, then you shouldn’t be doing it. You just don’t know until you’re in the middle of making it. So it’s a real leap. I’m constantly amazed with how clever I think the writers have been in being able to spread this out.

Are you kept in the dark like everyone else?

KIEFER: If they’re in the dark, I’m at dusk. I probably get a little more information than all of them. But there’s nothing that you can do. I mean when the writers are still working on the last four episodes right now in their head, I don’t know what they don’t know. It’s one of those very weird circumstances that’s very different from a film. That you just never know what your ending is until you’re actually almost shooting it.

This seems to have done great things for your movie career as well. Were you expecting that as a sort of spin-off from it?

KIEFER: No. I think of the show that I’m doing and when we were shooting the pilot, I was thinking about how to make the pilot. And when we’re doing the season, I’m just trying to figure out what we can do to make the season good. When we start season four, I’ll be worried about that. I did a very small part in a film with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke. When I was doing that, I was thinking that about that. Unfortunately, I’ve never been one of those actors that’s had some kind of great foresight about how to shape a career. And I’ve been lucky that it’s gone as far as it has.

Were you expecting it to be as successful, as good as it’s been?

KIEFER: No. I was hoping for a good script. I was reading a bunch of scripts and 24 was in the middle of a pile. When I first started reading it, I didn’t know it was a television series. I thought it was a film. I liked it, and went for it from that vantage point. I was aware though, that in the last five years the onus that had been placed on television as being a negative place for actors has certainly changed. WEST WING is fantastic. And ER was the beginning of really changing television. NYPD BLUE, and then you have the fantastic HBO shows—everything from SIX FEET UNDER to THE SOPRANOS. And SEX IN THE CITY and so on. The movie industry has changed dramatically. Each studio used to make 50, 60 movies a year. Now they’re making 20. The movies that I liked to watch and that I like to make aren’t being made anymore. The ORDINARY PEOPLE’s and films like that, they just don’t exist. They’ve moved into television. So I just go where the work is.

Are you never disappointed when you read the script?

KIEFER: It's a constant process. There'll be things that I won't like in a script. Generally if I don't like something and Jon, one of the directors, doesn't like something, and one of the writers doesn't like something, we'll change it. It works like that. I didn't want Leslie Hope to die. I thought that that was not great, but it ended up being one of our signature moments, you know. It certainly doesn't stop me from having an opinion about it. And whether they take it or not is up to them.

Continued on page 2


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