FILM INTERVIEW: KIEFER SUTHERLAND

Star of 'Monsters vs Aliens' Discusses Inspirational Movies & Animated Action

By: Emmanuel Itier

March 24, 2009

Emmanuel Itier: What made you want to be a part of the Monsters vs. Aliens?

Kiefer Sutherland: Well, it was a combination of a few things. I believe that certainly, in the English language,  Jeffrey Katzenberg makes some of the best animated movies, so he was part of it. I had worked with Reese Witherspoon before, and her voice is on a much higher register than mine, and I thought that would be a nice balance. Most importantly, I’ve never chosen films because of a specific character. I’ve always chosen something because of what the story is and how if affects me, and this story, specifically, what I liked about it was that it was geared to young people and it told them that it was all right to be different. Not only was it all right to be different, but the thing that might make you uncomfortable or make you feel weird could be your greatest quality. That quality, in the context of our movie, allows Ginormica to save the planet. Certainly, when I was growing up, there were times when I felt different than other kids, and that scared me...a lot. So what I liked about this movie is that it told children and young people that it was all right.

EI: What do you think Jack Bauer [his character on 24] would have done when the aliens came down to eat the Earth?

KS: [Laughs] I think Jack Bauer would have been the first person that the aliens took out. [Laughs] I’m sure he’ll be in the sequel somehow. He would have certainly been unconscious through this film.

EI: Did you watch a lot of animated films when you were young?

KS: Yeah, of course I did. Walt Disney actually -- whatever anyone thinks about him -- was a very smart guy and he made an animated film every seven years for every generation. And my generation, the film he made for us was a film called Bambi. It’s one of the most dramatic films I’ve yet seen. The mother dies in the first act, and literally, it’s the great coming-of-age story about how to be a man. So that was my opening to films, as much as I must have cried... I’m pretending like I can’t remember. [Laughs] As much as I cried when that happened, at the end of the film, I was just amazed at how much I felt. And that drew me to see other films. So animated films, for me, were the doorway to this genre of entertainment that I fell in love with.

EI: How tough is it to do a character voice and not sound like Kiefer? And did you look at any of the military generals that your dad [Donald Sutherland] played in some of his greatest films?

KS: You know, gosh, I wish I had because that would have gone over well during our Sunday night dinner...but I hadn’t. Certainly, all of the animated stuff that I had done before, like The Wild or The Land Before Time and things like that, had always wanted my voice to sound like my voice so that it would be recognizable. So when I came in to do this, I told Lisa [Stewart - producer] and Conrad [Vernon - director], "I have this idea for a character, is that going to be all right?" and they said, "Not only is that all right, but that’s what we wanted you to do." For the military aspect of the character, I love the voice of the sergeant in Full Metal Jacket -- he was so abrasive and loud and kind of southern. I knew Reese was doing a southern thing, so I thought that would fit. Then, to kind of temper that for some humor, my favorite character is Yosemite Sam. In the Bugs Bunny cartoons that he was in, Yosemite Sam was always sitting in some kind of Western salon, and he would start off with a line like, "Bring on the heap of rabbits," and he would go on like that. So I did that voice and the producers laughed, and we started to joke around with melding the two together and we came up with the voice of the general. And we went from there.

EI: Is there any bit of Dr. Strangelove thrown in for good measure?

KS: This is what is so cool. I’ve been to Berlin, London, Madrid, Rome, Paris, New York and here (L.A.), and I’ve gotten that everywhere. That’s the power of the animation, and oddly enough, (Dr. Strangelove) is a [Stanley] Kubrick film as well. We had never seen any of the animation. In fact, the entire time I worked on the film, all I saw was the placard of the character and that was it. When I saw the animation, this is where I think all of the George C. Scott references come from -– the physicality of the character. When I saw the character, he was big. I didn’t think he was going to shrink because of the 49-foot woman, so he’s almost like a bee. He’s kind of square, and physically he reminds me of like Patton and Dr. Strangelove, but the voice references were completely separate. Again, I think the power of the animation and the visual can steer that in that direction very quickly.

 EI: They did a lot of close-ups of your character. Was that you or animation?

KS: No, but you would have to ask the animators. I know that they filmed us the entire time we were doing the voiceovers. How much they actually take from what our mouths are doing and incorporate that into their drawings, I don’t know. I think one of the great freedoms of this is that you, as an actor, get to leave your physicality at the door. I’m limited by my physicality. I’m five-foot-ten, I’m blonde and I look like this, and there is only so much I can do with that. But with this, there is an unlimited freedom, because I am only responsible for the emotional characteristics of the character and the voice, so I am in partnership with the animator like that. It’s a great question, but I’m not the one to answer it because I didn’t do the drawings.

EI: There are a lot of Canadians on this production.

KS: We are slowly taking over.

EI: Did you add any Canadian characteristics to the character?

KS: [In character’s voice] No, because I forgot to say, "Ay." [Laughs] Why are there are so many Canadian actors? You could say that about 24. At one point, I think the cinematographer and the director for 24 were Canadians. The woman who played my wife, Leslie Hope, is Canadian; Elisha Cuthbert, who played my daughter, was Canadian; I’m Canadian, and why I have to go to Toronto to the Four Seasons to meet every American actor I know is bizarre to me as well. [Laughs] But it never crossed my mind. With regards to this character, I was focused on two quintessentially American voices, and I focused on that.

EI: Your appearance on The Simpsons was really funny. Since you play someone as dramatic as Jack Bauer, many people forget that you can do comedy. Do you just not look at doing live action comedies?

KS: I really don’t look at doing it. I mean, all of us can be funny at a dinner, but the gift of timing and the training of the great comedians of our time, or of any given time, is not light. It’s a real talent. Speaking of Canada, I used to watch Martin Short do these Bloch camera commercials. He was unbelievable. I was 15 years old and I watched those commercials and knew, "you better be very good at drama," because comedy… It was not something innate in me. I don’t have that kind of gift. I think, to my own detriment, I get quite self-conscious very quickly, which a comedian cannot have. I’ve also been drawn to drama -- that is the aspect of storytelling and the human dynamic that I’m most interested in. It would make perfect sense that, in an effort to be funny in a movie, it would be an animated film, because I could leave all the other stuff behind.

EI: Many 24 fans are still reeling from the death of one of the main characters...

KS: Which death? Because I don’t know which episode you’re on... 

 EI: I wasn’t going to spoil it, but the death of Bill Buchanan. How was it decided he would sacrifice himself, and how can you top a shootout in the White House?

KS: It’s really funny -- the end of 24, this season -- the most I can tell you about it is that it’s not going to end because someone cuts two wires and the clock on a bomb stops. It is going to end because a few of the characters are going through a very difficult emotional dilemma and it is going to end on a much more dramatic level than it is going to be a physical or action-oriented sequence. Also, in saying that, I believe that it’s the most powerful, important ending we’ve ever had. I think one of the most difficult things about 24 has been developing the relationship with actors and the trust with actors -- this family that we have created -- and losing them from Leslie Hope in the first season, right down the line -- Dennis Haysbert, Carlos Bernard...twice. [Chuckles] It’s really hard, and as much as I know it services the story and it’s exciting for fans and dramatic for fans to do it, it’s been very difficult, as an actor, to get into a rhythm with someone and let them go. So it certainly wasn’t my choice. I think that it was very powerful. But certainly for all of us, for James himself, it was a sad day when that happened.

EI: What’s the status of the 24 movie?

KS: Again, we thought it would be cruel and unusual punishment to ask these writers to write the equivalent of 12 films a year and say, "By the way, in your off-time, come up with an unbelievable idea that is so superb that we can justify making a feature film out of it." We all collectively decided that, when the show is finished, we would then take on -- if anyone still wanted to see it -- the idea of making a film.

EI: Several of your co-stars have mentioned the guy that you all read with in the studio, and they said he was an incredible mimic. Did he do you?

KS: He was amazing. I only knew him as Paul and he never did my voice. You would have to ask Lisa who did that. I only worked with him once and it was extraordinary, because it was actually quite clever the way they did it because it was the first session I did, so I got a sense of working with another actor. I think the hardest transition, for all of the freedom of just doing the voices, is...I have a philosophy in life that nothing is free -- you have to pay on some level, and the payment is having to work by yourself. So the first time I did a session, I got to work with him and he was extraordinary. He’s like Mel Blanc’s grandson. He was quite something else. But my favorite voice of his that he did was his imitation of Hugh Laurie doing Dr. Cockroach. He was even more insidious and, I call it, British-bothered -- it’s kind of upper-crust British, and that voice he did was fantastic.

EI: What season of 24 do you have coming up?

KS: We’re starting the eighth season in May.

EI: You are at the top of you game right now with what people are calling the best season of 24, but a lot of musical bands say that they will stop after making their 12th album, or others keep doing it until they are 60. How much longer can you do 24?

KS: Well, I’d love to do it until I’m 60, but I don’t think anybody would accept it. I think it’s a great analogy to compare it to a rock band, because they have to write their music. So the harder question is really to the writers, and the greatest burden of the creativity is really to them. They are looking tired -- it’s been a haul. We’re a really competitive group, though, and we took a bit of a beating in season six, and what I loved about our group is that I believe they rallied instead of giving up. I think all of us believe and understand that our whole experience with 24 has just been this giant learning curve, because no one has really done a show in real-time. We really do believe that the idea is so special. We also believe that we are capable of making a perfect season, and I don’t think any of us have felt that we have done that. Every year, we learn something and go, "Oh God, I wish I could go back and fix that or do that better." Certainly, going into our eighth season, there were a couple of things, even from the second season, which we are immensely proud of, that we feel we can make better. So we will continue to work until people say "Stop!" or until we believe that we’ve made that perfect season.

 EI: But you are more like the lead singer -- you have to go up there and do all the thrashing around and all the physical labor. Are you up for more?

KS: I should do a Met[Life] commercial. [Laughs] Physically, I feel fine doing it, and the character...if you look at Jack Bauer from season one to season seven, 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 effects 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 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.

EI: Do you think Jack will find love again? And this season, what are your feelings about the President’s daughter, who they are calling one of the series biggest villains?

KS: Oh, I wouldn’t want to ruin that for anybody. [Laughs] Well, 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 are 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. She’s also one of the most gracious people you’ll ever meet. I knew that if didn’t pick the right one, she would never tell me, which made me even more nervous. [Laughs]

EI: Will Jack find love again?

KS: Well, I think he’s kind of in the process of it now, in his own kind of speedy way.

EI: It seems like your character in Monsters vs. Aliens really like the monsters he’s keeping captive.

KS: That was one of the aspects of the character that I liked. That was written, certainly, before my involvement. I think he has the responsibility to run this prison and hold the monsters in the way he does, but I think he feels a great deal of sympathy for them. I think that sympathy comes out when he puts Ginormica in her cell and gives her a new name and she starts to cry, and that affects him. I think he understands clearly that these monsters are not dangerous or vicious or mean, and he says it: "We don’t believe society will understand, so we have to keep you put away." I think he feels very sad about that, but I certainly think that he understands and feels…and he’s very proud of those monsters. I believe in the speech, when he goes to present the idea to the president, that they can take on the aliens. It’s with an enormous sense of pride when he refers to them and describes them. So no, I wasn’t scared of that aspect of him at all. That was an aspect of the character that I really liked.

EI: During the presidential election, there was a lot of talk that 24 make 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?

KS: First off, Barack Obama is completely responsible for Barack Obama. Contrary to anything anybody has said, none of us are taking 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, ten 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 gonna happen. It’s just a question of time. So absolutely, I think Chekov wrote in the opening of The Seagull, in the opening monologue describing actors, "I watch these high priests of a sacred 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.

EI: What do you do in your free time? Do you make other films?

KS: Yes, I have two-and-a-half months a year to make a film. What is really difficult is finding a film that you want to make that happens to be going in the time slot that would allow you to do it. This year, I did not do one. Three years ago, I did not do one. Mirrors was a specific project because it was Alex[andre Aja]’s and it was a job that I really wanted to do with him, and he made it work in that time slot. It’s certainly not like it would be if I wasn’t doing 24 and I had the time off that I could actually develop a film and go and work on it whenever I could. So no, it’s vastly limiting in that, but I have no problem with that because I’m really enjoying what we’re doing on 24.

EI: Do you have a hiatus coming up?

KS: No, this is it. We start up in May, so we are quick back to work this time. But this is the choice I want, this is what I choose to do and I’m going to finish it out, and then, hopefully, I will have time for that.

EI: Do you think there is any way Bill Buchanan is still alive? Fans will really miss him.

KS: [Smiles] I will pass that along to the writers and I will certainly call James and let him know that you were this concerned.

EI: Would you do a sequel to Monsters vs. Aliens, if there is one?

KS: Sure, I would love to.

EI: Are there any of the big blockbuster movies that you are looking forward to seeing?

KS: I don’t even know what they are. I’ve been on the road so long…

EI: There’s Star Trek, Wolverine, Terminator: Salvation, G.I. Joe…

KS: I would have to think about that. Again, I’m not so much the big blockbuster guy as I was kind of… I love films like Ordinary People, Terms of Endearment or James L. Brooks’s As Good As It Gets. Those are the kind of movies I look forward to.