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






Continued from page 1

Is 24 hours enough in one day?

KIEFER: Doesn't seem to be. (laughter) We're working on it.

Do you get tired of living the same day during one year?

KIEFER: No, because they have a lot of stuff going on in that day. I think some of the girls get a little frustrated because they have to wear the same clothes all the time, but it doesn't bother me at all.

As an actor can you talk about what you’ve been through with the show?

KIEFER: I went and did a very small part in a movie with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke. I did that in the break. Those guys have it easy! They have it so easy. So from that respect, as an actor, when you're working ten and a half months on a show like this, 14-15 hours a day, that’s as physical as it gets. You get tired. Then all of a sudden you work on a movie, and it takes four months to make a two-hour film. It’s a cakewalk. I guess to some degree I’ve been toughened up by the show.

How do you feel about the Screen Actors Guild and television?

Kiefer: Really humbled. I feel really, really humbled. When you look out on that room and you see so many fantastic actors. I know so many fantastic actors that haven’t had the same kind of breaks that I’ve had, and weren’t in the right place at the right time. I was very fortunate. You know, anytime something like that happens, you just feel so lucky. That SAG award specifically. I was very touched by it, and it does mean a lot. Because I want to be a good actor, and there were so many great actors in that room. It was a very nice moment for me. Thanks a lot, thanks you guys. Very much. Cheers, take care.

What about the price of fame?

KIEFER: I go out. I’ve been recognized for 20 years. It’s no different to me. It’s nice when you go out and someone actually has something to say to you as opposed to “Wow, in the 80’s I really liked the film you did.” It’s a little nicer now that someone talks to you about something that’s current.

Is your father proud of you?

KIEFER: I think he’s very happy for me. But I think he was proud of me before. He’s very happy for me. We have a running joke because when he gets an award he’s very witty and kind of graceful and very funny. And we joke that I’m not. I get very shy very fast. He’s going to help me with that one day.

What does your father think about it?

KIEFER: He likes watching it in Europe a lot more than he does here because they don't have commercials. He gets very frustrated when he's here, because he likes to watch the show but he gets very frustrated by the commercial breaks.

Do you like the fact that people many times compare between you, because you also look very much alike?

KIEFER: They compare us on that level. You're talking about one of the greatest actors in film, period. He's the real deal, my dad. He's it. You know. I will work very hard over the course of my career to try and be as good as I can be. But from my perspective, he's an icon. You take a look at the variety of work, from ORDINARY PEOPLE to FELLINI'S CASANOVA to 1900 to DAY OF THE LOCUST, and just take a look at the difference in all those characters, it's staggering. EYE OF THE NEEDLE. DON'T LOOK NOW. You're talking about some of the most important work in cinema.

Is it frustrating, as well?

KIEFER: For what?

To have such a high role model.

KIEFER: Oh my God, no, it's fantastic. My God. Most people would be very lucky to even meet him, and I have him as a dad.

Would you work with him?

KIEFER: If we ever found the right piece, yeah.

Are you guys close? I mean, personally.

KIEFER: We don't see each other a whole lot. He lives in France and I live here. And that's hard. I grew up in Canada when he lived here, and so we’ve never been able to spend as much time together as I think both of us would've liked. But I have a huge respect for him and I believe that's mutual. I care for him a lot.

Would you bring him in as a guest star on 24?

KIEFER: I wouldn't even dare, no.

Why?

KIEFER: I don't think that. He's an icon. You wouldn't do that to that kind of an actor.

I heard that your grandfather was a very famous minister?

KIEFER: He was a Minister in the Canadian government.

So it’s a true story then.

KIEFER: Yes.

Would you like to be a politician?

KIEFER: Politician? I have a very strong political point of view. Obviously, having a grandfather who was, you know, he was the Minister of health care in Canada and…

He created Medicare I heard.

KIEFER: Yes, and the Medicare system that he created, which was adopted in the late ‘60s by Pierre Trudeau on a federal level, was the envy of health care systems throughout the world. Twelve years of conservative politics in Canada has done a lot to harm it. It’s actually on the mend. Obviously, with that kind of legacy, I have a very strong political point of view. But I’ve chosen to do something different and yet try to live my life by virtue of those political values. So no, in answer to your question, it never occurred to me to follow in his footsteps.

Maybe one day, it’s never too late.

KIEFER: We’ve worked very hard on developing a script. I’d like to make a movie about him.

Oh, really.

KIEFER: Yes, because I don’t think this country is fully aware of its foreign policy and what that foreign policy really is. I don’t believe that they know what’s done in their name a lot. But the American Medical Association, during the Winnipeg general strike, sent over huge numbers of people—union busters, to try and stop the Canadian health care system from working. They physically attacked doctors, they did horrific things. I would like to do a film about why the American Medical Association seems to go so far out of its way to make sure that universal health care cannot be provided for its citizens. I’d really like this country to know that that’s the biggest obstacle they have in the way of health care in this country—the American Medical Association. That is criminal, and I would like to make a movie about that.

Talk about becoming a producer.

KIEFER: I am a producer of the show. The star of this show is the format. And the time component in the thriller genre. All of the actors service that. And I’m no exception. I think that it’s very important for an audience to know that at any moment I can get killed too. Otherwise you’re just watching a guy who, every situation he gets into, he can get out of. I think one day Jack’s luck might run out. I would like to do the show as long as possible. But if they think there needs to be a change…I’m going to read a script one day and go, “Oh, shoot!” just like everybody else.

How do you deal with fans/fame?

KIEFER: I live my life the way I live it, which is pretty open and I do what I want to do. I think for the most part I’ve been very fortunate. I still take the subway all the time, I do what I consider to be very normal things. For the most part, I’ve made a real effort to try and treat people with the kind of respect that I hope to be treated with. People have been really cool with me. So I’ve never had a real issue with it.

Do you find on the streets people associate you with Jack Bauer?

KIEFER: I really don’t. I still ride the subway everywhere in my neighborhood. I’ve been really lucky. People have been fantastic to me. So I really don’t run into that kind of problem. Obviously the show is what’s current for me right now as an actor, it’s what I’m doing. And people will talk to me about that, which is actually very nice, compared to someone having to go back to 1989 when they saw me in a film they liked. It’s something kind of current right now. People are associating me with the show. I’m obviously known for the show right now, and I’m very glad for that.

Do you modify your behavior in any way when you get recognized?

KIEFER: Probably I should, but I don’t. No.

You don’t?

KIEFER: No, I haven’t. No, I am who I am and I do what I do.

Do people expect you to be a kind of tough guy in real life?

KIEFER: No. There was a very funny moment, I was skiing, and a guy who actually worked for the CIA was sharing the chair lift with me. (laugh) And he looked over and he said, "I ought to hit you." And I said, "Why?" He said, "Don't tell anybody this, but I work for the CIA and I'm an operative, and my mom is a huge fan of your show, and we all are too," and I said, "Well, trust me, we know that it's a fantasy show and it's not--" He said, "Yeah. Anyway, I was in Europe for like four months, my mother was getting' upset because I wasn't coming home and she said, ‘You should be more like Jack Bauer and get it done in a hurry.’" He laughed so hard. I think for the most part, people realize that it's a television show.

When you won your award you thanked Sean Penn.

KIEFER: Sean Penn?

Yeah, why?

KIEFER: Well, it was funny because I had to go up to him later. Sean gave me my first job in the United States. He gave me a small part in a film called AT CLOSE RANGE.

Are you close with him?

KIEFER: I have a huge amount of respect for him but why I really wanted to thank him was not for that job. And I had to go clarify that. He and Timothy Hutton changed the business with regards to younger actors. Their work in ORDINARY PEOPLE, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, TAPS, FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN—their performances were so fantastic that all of a sudden 15, 16 and 17 year old actors were getting to play 15, 16, and 17 year old characters. Whereas before them, you’d have John Travolta at 34 years old playing a high school student in GREASE. They changed all that. They broke very, very serious ground for a lot of serious young actors. I was thanking him for that, because a lot of the opportunities that I had, that have made my career, really came when I was young. So I owe both of those actors a lot.

What will you do for the mission of the industry now?

KIEFER: Well, he opened up doorways for other actors with really great work. I try very hard to do the best work I can. If that were ever to have any positive effect for someone coming up behind me, they would have to tell you that. I think I just focus on trying not to take for granted how fortunate I am. How fortunate all of us on this show, and actors who are lucky enough to work, are. Just try and do the best you can with that.

Do the gossip stories about you bother you at all?

KIEFER: Does it bother me? It comes with the territory. I do the acting for free and they pay me to deal with that. You know what? I’ve done enough stupid things—look, there’ve been times where I’ve asked for it. I know what the game is. I’ve been doing this for a long time. And sometimes I just screw up and, you know, I’ve got it coming.

Do you know when you’re about to screw up?

KIEFER: No. It just kind comes. I take it with a grain of salt. In the end, I’ve got one life and I’m the one living it, and if I do something wrong, or if I upset someone, I apologize for that. If I don’t feel like I have to, then I don’t.

Many actors don’t take it with a grain of salt. They get a bit haughty about things.

KIEFER: Well, there’s the old adage, if it’s bothering you that much, stay home, you know?

It’d be boring ‘cause you’d have to stay in all the time.

KIEFER: Yeah. There are so many fantastic positives. I’m doing what I want to do for a living. Which so few people get to do. I’m grossly overpaid for it.

Could you be more grossly overpaid for it?

KIEFER: Sure could.

So what is your greatest fear?

KIEFER: My greatest fear? That’s a very big question. I’m always worried about something happening to one of my children.

Didn't you take this job initially so you could actually spend more time with her?

KIEFER: It was an added bonus. I took the job because I liked the character. But one of the great bonuses of it is, I've got a regular job and I'm here.

Having her around though, do you have to be on your best behavior all the time?

KIEFER: She has a forgiving heart. (laughter)

Is there any sign of your daughter wanting to become an actress?

KIEFER: Yeah, I think so.

How do you feel about that?

KIEFER: Well, she’s getting older and as I’m starting to realize that that might actually be the reality, I’ve phoned both my parents and apologized to them because I now know how they must have felt when I was starting out. It’s not an easy way to live. In the position I’m in now, it’s fantastic. But to get to that position, there are a lot of things you have to go through. An incredible amount of rejection. And that is painful. When you put yourself in such a vulnerable spot in an audition, when you’re trying to do a scene and give it everything that you’ve got and for someone, you know, to answer the phone in the middle of your scene or start laughing at you when you didn’t want them to laugh or all of those things—it’s fine for me to go through that but when I think of someone doing that to my daughter I want to kill them.

What’s worse for her, being an actress or dating an actor?

KIEFER: Oh, I don’t know. You’d have to ask her that. I don’t think all actors are that bad, so…

There are some quiet, home loving ones?

KIEFER: I’ve heard there are.

In the series, Jack's working with his daughter. Could you actually work with your daughter in real life?

KIEFER: She worked on this show. She was a production assistant and an A.D. for a little while.

For this season?

KIEFER: Yeah, this season. We start up in July. And so July and August, before she went back to school in September, she worked for the summer on the show.

And so were you bossing her around?

KIEFER: No. No, there was a funny moment. On set, there are people that'll stand around and they'll call out "Rolling" so that people outside know to be quiet and things like that. For some reason, every once in a while someone will call "Rolling" in the middle of a take and they won't be aware that we've actually been rolling for a while. And I was in the middle of a scene, and right in the middle of the scene I hear this voice: "ROLLING!" I went "Who the...? Oh no. (laughter) That's my daughter, isn't it?" The whole crew just fell apart laughing. She kind of ran the show for a while.

Were you quite protective of her when she was here, like say if some guys come and talk to her, were you like "Get away from my daughter"?

KIEFER: It's my initial instinct, but no. We were shooting two units, and I made sure she kind of worked on another unit. I really wanted to see how she did, and stayed away. I was really impressed. She made very good friends with people, and she actually worked really hard, which I was very impressed with as well. I try to stay out of her way.

Do you think Jack will get married again? Do you think you will get married again?

KIEFER: Don't know, don't know. (laughter)

What has to happen, for either?

KIEFER: I think you have to fall in love. (laugh)

I read that -- don't know if it's true -- you said that this show doesn't actually leave you time for romance.

KIEFER: I never said that. Someone might've written that, but I never said that. No, I have ample time to have a personal life. But right now, my energy is focused on this show. I love making it. I think there's room to make it better and more exciting, and we're all working very hard to try and figure out how to do that. This is just where my energy's at, what I'm focused on.

Thank you.

Question & Answer Text Copyright of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Q&A with Dennis Haysbert (as President of the United States of America)
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Q&A with James Badge Dale (as Chase Edmunds)
Q&A with Reiko Aylesworth (as Michelle Dessler / Almeida)
Q&A with Joel Surnow (executive producer / creator / writer), Robert Cochran (executive producer / creator / writer) and Howard Gordon (executive producer / writer)
Biography: Kiefer Sutherland
Biography: Dennis Haysbert
Biography: Elisha Cuthbert
Biography: Carlos Bernard
Biography: James Badge Dale
Biography: Reiko Aylesworth
Biographies: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon and Brian Grazer

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