By Christina Radish
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Kiefer Sutherland at the Fox Summer Party held at the Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel Horseshoe Gardens in Pasadena, Calif. on July 25, 2006. |
Jack Bauer (played by Emmy Award winner Kiefer Sutherland) knows what it’s like to have a bad day. For six seasons now, on the hit Fox television series 24 -- in which each season takes place within a 24-hour period -- Bauer has had days that are worse than anything imaginable.
This season, upon being handed back to American authorities after 20 brutal months in Chinese custody, Bauer learns that, for the previous 11 weeks, the country has gone through a series of horrific terrorist attacks. With over 1,000 civilians dead and no suspects in custody, there is no end in sight, unless CTU gives Bauer up to the terrorists. As things escalate, it will no doubt be intriguing to see what actions Bauer will take to save himself and the country.
The show’s co-executive producer and star, Kiefer Sutherland, recently talked to MediaBlvd Magazine about what it’s like to play such an intense character, how grateful he is to have such a devoted fan base, and whether the big screen version of 24 will ever happen.
MediaBlvd Magazine> Is the show different in tone this year?
Kiefer Sutherland> The show is political. It’s not that the show has not been political, but I think last season it became political because people observing it drew a political angle from it. I remember Joel Surnow, the writer, saying it’s really quite amazing to have the right wing adopt the show the way they have, and then have the left wing, like Barbra Streisand and so many people, adopt the show for themselves as well. The show has managed to run this mutual political ground, while having very strong political aspirations within the context of the show. This year, there’s a couple statements that are very political. They are on purpose from the writers, who chose to address a really interesting situation in our society.
MediaBlvd> How hard to find new aspects to Jack’s character every year?
Kiefer> It’s imperative. It’s the one thing that makes it challenging and interesting. The great fear of starting a show, after doing films, is the potential of playing the same character over a long time. The great experience that I’ve had has been, instead of making the broad choices of doing a film like Dark City, and then being able to go do a film like The Vanishing, which are night and day, that you end up having to make 15 to 20 small changes to a character, over the course of a year. That’s taught me more about acting than anything I’ve ever experienced -- to actually be able to focus on minutiae, and have the time and the faith to do that. It took me three years to even get into focusing on those kind of small changes, and that’s been really exciting.
MediaBlvd> What were last year’s changes?
Kiefer> A small example was the whole re-introduction of Audrey (Kim Raver) as a character. Every scene that I had with her, I wanted to really play how much he loved her and how much he wanted to be with her, but also show that he can’t. I know it sounds really simplistic, but it’s not an easy thing, to keep that meter in your head. It takes me a minute to get into that groove. It was just the complexity of playing two things at the same time.
MediaBlvd> Do we need people like Jack Bauer?
Kiefer> I think we already have a lot of people like Jack Bauer. Obviously, this is a television show and it’s told in a very fantastical way, but from every law enforcement agency across this country, including the people that are in special forces, we have a lot of men and women that are doing the work that is combined into this one character. We have men and women all around the world doing incredibly hard work. We do not hear about all the things that have not happened, as a result of those people’s work.
MediaBlvd> Are you surprised that people accept Jack’s excesses and consider him a hero?
Kiefer> I think one of the things that’s really important to understand about this character is that he wears the burden of those things. A little piece of him gets taken away, every time. This is not how he likes to conduct his business, but he’s done a very unique thing, in that he cuts through bureaucracy. He gets to the point. How many times, in a public trial, have we seen what seems to be so obvious, turned around and convoluted, derailed and distracted. But, you have to remember that it’s a television show. In no way, shape or form am I saying that we should abandon due process and our civil liberties. I think those are the great qualities of this country that make it a unique place, and make it the special country that it is. But, I think that there is a frustration with the level of bureaucracy, and Jack Bauer certainly is a character that manages to go through it, as opposed to around it.
MediaBlvd> Could you ever see Jack becoming the villain?
Kiefer> One of the fantastic things about our writers is that the options are always open for anything. One of the discussions about 24 that’s been interesting is that some people have a serious moral dilemma with some of the things that Jack Bauer has done. So, that rides a very fine line, already.
MediaBlvd> Do you think the political climate affects people’s interest in the show?
Kiefer> Absolutely. I think escapism is a very broad word. I think all entertainment, on some level is, allows you to escape from reality, but it can also be. It was uncanny, the timing of us coming out with our show and the terrible events of 9/11. It certainly awakened a ear in this country, regarding terrorism, that I don't think was as pervasive before. I think the world has changed incredibly since that terrible day, and our show certainly deals with aspects of that.
MediaBlvd> Have you ever thought about just going right into the next day and calling the show 48?
Kiefer> I think we get too much grief over staying up for 24 hours, which I’ve always made fun of. There’s always at least one day a season, where we will stay up 24 hours, trying to complete an episode. Generally, it’s the 23rd or the 24th episode. Imagine the adrenaline rush with the stakes that are involved for people that are dealing with counter-terrorism. The numbers show that, if they do not find a suspect within the first 48 hours of a homicide, then the trail will go cold immediately. They show these cops and they’re not sleeping in a 48 hour period. So, I think it would be fantastic to go immediately into the next day, but I think we’ve asked our audience to take such a leap of faith, in so many other areas of our show, it seems to be smarter to spread them apart.
MediaBlvd> What’s the closest you’ve come to a day like 24 in real life?
Kiefer> Never. Maybe the day my daughter was born. I was shooting Young Guns and my wife, Camelia, went into labor early. We were going to have a C-section. I was on a horse, and I was getting ready to shoot some guy. They pulled me off the horse, got me changed, threw me on a plane, flew me back to Los Angeles and I got there within 20 minutes of having the baby. That was the biggest rush I’ve ever had, and I think I still had blood all caked on my ear from filming. I remember when I walked into the hospital, at first, they thought I needed care, as opposed to looking for the maternity ward.
MediaBlvd> How do you feel about all the attention and nominations that the show gets?
Kiefer> We love making the show and, once we start to make the show, that really is all we think about. The attention helps us get an audience. It helps everything. I’ve always talked about the fact that, had it not been for the kind of attention everyone gave 24, we wouldn’t have been picked up by Fox. It was really on the fence. The critics had such a great response to it that they went with it. It’s a real life-line for us, and it has been from the very beginning. This has been one of the most amazing experience of my life, and certainly the most amazing of my career, to date. I’m really grateful for it.
MediaBlvd> Are you worried that all the new serialized shows will eat away at your audience?
Kiefer> I don't think people like the show because it’s serialized. I think people like the show because the characters are working and the writers do a fantastic job creating a world that they’ve found entertaining. I can’t tell you how lucky that is. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’ve never had an experience like this in my life. And, I know I could have worked for another 20 and never had it. I think it comes down to creating a situation that is interesting for an audience and, ultimately, about creating characters that you care about in that situation.
MediaBlvd> Are you working on anything else?
Kiefer> We started this production company with Fox, and there’s a couple things we’re very excited about, in that area. We’re in the process of getting that on its feet. This summer was the first summer that I didn’t take a film. I really wanted to take some time to anchor myself. Every year, we’ve always noticed the first four episodes get more difficult to really make work, and I wanted to work with co-executive producer John Cassar, and the writers, as much as they were available, so that we could really have as much of a head start as possible, when we started filming.
MediaBlvd> Is there a type of project you’d like to do?
Kiefer> It really is what strikes my fancy, at the time. I’ve been really fortunate, over the course of my career, to be able to have a lot of different opportunities. Why I would choose a film like Dark City was really because of my mood that week. Why I would then choose to go do The Glass Menagerie for six months was another mood. It’s generally whatever I think I’ve got a shot at doing well.
MediaBlvd> How do you feel about film vs. television these days?
Kiefer> I feel like television’s been getting better for a long time. The $20 million movie disappeared. Films like Ordinary People have become very rare. The major studios realized that it was much better for them to spend $100 million on a movie and make it an extravagant thing, rather than risk it on a $20 million film that was story-oriented. They just didn’t have faith in that anymore. All of those dramas went to television and, literally, you could see its progression, from E.R. and NYPD Blue, to those great shows on HBO, like The Larry Sanders Show, The Sopranos, Sex and the City and The Wire. On television, you had fantastic writers, actors and directors, if you want to be involved in drama. There was this huge opportunity waiting for you in television, that had absolutely been shut down in the theatrical release, or film, world.
MediaBlvd> Have you gotten any feedback from your revealing Rolling Stone interview?
Kiefer> For the most part, I was being really honest about stuff. My only disappointment with the article is that we talked for two days, and that was, maybe, representative of an hour of our conversation. But, they’ve only got so many pages and we weren’t writing a book. I’ve never not answered a question and I’ve never not been honest about it. I’ve certainly seen what happens if you’re not honest, and that scares the life out of me.
MediaBlvd> What’s your must see TV?
Kiefer> It’s very hard with the work schedule I have, but the shows that I have always been a huge fan of are things like The West Wing. I’m very sad to see that not continuing on. I’m a huge fan of The Sopranos, like everybody else. I just started to watch Deadwood. And then, one of my favorite shows, that I’m just amazed doesn’t get more attention, is The Wire. I just think it’s beautifully written, and so superbly acted and filmed. There’s a reality to that show that I find extraordinary.
MediaBlvd> Are there any charities that you work with?
Kiefer> Most of the charities are things that are coordinated with Fox. We tend to do a lot of auctions and on-set things. I think the one that I’ve been most personally focused with is the Make-a-Wish Foundation. I don’t want to complain about the schedule, because we love the job, but it’s just so time consuming that it’s very hard to be consistent with anything else, from having a social life to being able to take advantage of your celebrity and do some good work with charities.
MediaBlvd> Is the 24 film still going to happen?
Kiefer> It’s something that we really want to make. The real key difference would be that the 24 film would be a 2-hour representation of a 24-hour day. It would be the first thing that we didn’t do in real time. You have to understand that we’re making two episodes every three weeks. With the film, we would have three months to make two hours. To actually be able to do a film that really has a conclusion, would be really exciting, not only for us to make, but for an audience as well. And, the thing that I’m most excited about is that we’re going to make it within the context of still running the show. Everybody compares it to the X-Files the movie, but that show was done, at that point. I believe that the film and the show can actually co-exist. Once that starts to happen, the dynamic between television and film will really change, in a major way.
MediaBlvd> How many more days like this can Jack handle?
Kiefer> That’s up to an audience. I love doing it and I’m glad that they’ve let me do it as long as they have.
