24 Season 3 – Q&A with Kiefer Sutherland

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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.
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.

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