Kiefer Sutherland Monsters vs Aliens Press Conference
But you are more like the lead singer, you have to go up there and so all the thrashing around and all the physical labor. Are you up for more 24 action?Kiefer Sutherland: "I should do a Met commercial. [Laughing] Physically, I feel fine doing it and the character, if you look at Jack Bauer from season one to season seven, it is a very different guy, so the character continually evolves. It’s a serialized show so unlike something like Law and Order where there is a beginning, middle and end, this guy continually grows. So from season one when he loses his wife and then his daughter, that affects the character through season two. And then when he loses Kim Raver and finds hope and love, that affects him through season three. And then when he loses her in season five it affects him, and right down the line. So the character continually grows, so he is very different, not very different, but there are things that are vastly interesting for me to play from season to season. So with regards to that, creatively it’s continually growing."
How is working with Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor?
Kiefer Sutherland: "Cherry Jones is probably one of the few actors that I’ve ever been really scared about working with. You are talking about an extraordinary talent. And we work at such a fast pace that when you get a scene and work with someone like Cherry, there’s easily five different ways to play it, and three different ways to play it just in volume alone. I was very nervous about picking the right one to start off with, and I wanted to earn her respect, and she’s also one of the most gracious people you’ll ever meet. [Laughing] I knew that if didn’t pick the right one, she would never tell me, which made me even more nervous."
Will Jack find love again?
Kiefer Sutherland: "Will be find love again? Well, I think he’s kind of in the process of it now in his own kinda speedy way."
During the presidential election there was a lot of talk that 24 made people think that a black president could be possible. Do you think movies and TV shows can have a big impact on the general public’s way of thinking? What role do you think art has in shaping public opinion?
Kiefer Sutherland: "Well, I’ll give you my answer to that. First off, Barack Obama is completely responsible for Barack Obama. Contrary to anything anybody has said, none of us are taking not even the slightest iota of credit for what that man has accomplished. But by saying that, I don’t want to undermine the power of television, film and all of it. I can go back to All in the Family and you take a look at a character like Archie Bunker, and through humor and this older, bigoted, racist character, we completely, as a society, in the early '70s, changed our perspective and behavior on what was acceptable in regards to integration, race, love, hugging, homosexuality. I think they changed the social landscape through that television show."
"I also believe if you show on television or in films, for instance, as we did, an African-American president, 10 years ago people would have said it will never happen. If you start to show people it’s a potential reality, then people will start to accept that. I could say the same thing about season seven (of 24). We have a female president and I guarantee you that’s going to happen. It’s just a question of time. So, absolutely, I think Chekhov wrote in the opening of The Seagull in Treplef's opening monologue describing actors, ‘I watch these high priests of a scared art depict the way that we will eat, drink, walk, make love, wearing our clothes,’ basically telling us that these actors were teaching people how to live. I believe that. So, I think there is a huge responsibility in that. And certainly I know that in my lifetime, I believe I’ve been a part of projects that have lived up to that responsibility and have been a part of projects that have taken advantage of that responsibility."
