Kiefer Sutherland Interview, Monsters vs Aliens

Kiefer Sutherland is a fabulous guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new movie as well as the latest on “24”:
Q: WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THIS MOVIE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF IT?
SUTHERLAND: It was a combination of a few things. I believe that in the English language Jeffery Katzenberg makes some of the best-animated movies. He was a huge part of this. I had worked with Reese [Witherspoon] before and her voice is in a much higher register than mine. I thought that would be a nice balance. It's in a much higher register than mine. But most importantly I've never chosen films because of a specific character. I have always chosen films because of what the story is and how it affects me. This story specifically 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 also the thing that might make you uncomfortable or 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. That scared me a lot. What I liked about this movie was that it told children and young people that it was all right.
Q: WHAT DO YOU THINK JACK BAUER WOULD HAVE DONE IN THIS SITUATION?
SUTHERLAND: I think that Jack Bauer would have been the first person that the aliens took out. He would have survived somehow for the sequel but he would have been certainly unconscious through this film.
Q: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DECISION TO DO A CHARACTER VOICE AND NOT SOUND LIKE YOU? DID YOU LOOK AT ANY OF THE GREAT MILITARY GENERAL PARTS THAT YOUR DAD HAS PLAYED?
SUTHERLAND: Gosh, I wish I had. That would have gone over well for our Sunday night dinner. Almost all of the animated stuff that I have done before, like 'The Wild' or 'The Land Before Time' and things like that had always wanted my voice to sound like my voice. That way it would be recognizable. When I came in to do this, I had told Lisa [Stewart] and Conrad [Vernon] that I had an idea for a character. I asked if that was going to be all right. They said 'Not only is it alright but that's what we wanted you to do.' So, for the military aspect of the character, I love the voice of the sergeant in 'Full Metal Jacket' because he was so abrasive, loud, and southern. I knew Reese was going to have a southern thing going on so I thought that would fit. Then, to temper that for some humor, my favorite cartoon character was Yosemite Sam. Have you ever seen the Bugs Bunny cartoons? Yosemite Sam used to start off the cartoons he was in, he was always sitting in some kind of western saloon and he would start off with the line ‘I hate rabbits.' And he would go on like that, so I did that voice and the producers laughed. We started joking around with melding the two together. That's how we came up with the voice for the General, which is actually not very different from what I just did, and we went from there.
Q: Full Metal Sam, huh?
SUTHERLAND: That's very cool, I like that.
Q: THEY DID A LOT OF CLOSE UPS ON THE GENERAL'S MOUTH. WAS THAT YOU?
SUTHERLAND: Nope. You would have to ask the animators. I know that they filmed us the entire time when we were doing the voiceovers, but how much they actually take what our mouths are doing and incorporate that into the drawings, I don't know. I think one of the great freedoms of this is that as an actor you get to leave your physicality at the door. I'm limited by my physicality. I'm 5'10, I'm blonde, I look like this, and there is only so much I can do with that much.
Q: ON '24' I'M STILL REELING FROM THE DEATH A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
SUTHERLAND: Which death? I don't know what episode you are on.
Q: BILL BUCHANAN. HOW DID YOU DECIDE HE WOULD SACRIFICE HIMSELF? THERE ARE STILL SEVERAL HOURS LEFT. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TOP A SHOOTOUT IN THE WHITE HOUSE?
SUTHERLAND: It's really funny. The end of '24' this season, the most I can tell you, is that it's not going to end because someone cuts two wires and the clock on a bomb stops. It's going to end because a few of the characters are going through a very difficult emotional dilemma. It's going to end on a much more dramatic level than it is going to be a physical or action oriented sequence. In saying that, I believe it's the most powerful and important ending that we have ever had. I think one of the most difficult things about '24' has been developing the relationships with actors, the trust with actors, and this family we've created, and then losing them. From Leslie Hope in the first season right down the line, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, Carlos Bernard twice. It's really hard. As much as I know that it services the story, it's exciting and dramatic for fans to deal with, it's been very difficult as an actor to get into a rhythm with someone and let them go. It certainly wasn't my choice. It was very powerful but for all of us and for James [Morrison] himself, it was a sad day when that happened.
Q: WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE MOVIE?
SUTHERLAND: Again, it would be cruel and unusual punishment to ask these writers to write the equivalent of 12 films a year and then say 'By the way, in your off time, come up with an unbelievable idea that is so superb we could justify making a film out of it.' We all collectively decided when the show was finished we would then take on the idea of making a film. That's if anybody still wanted to see it.
Q: WHAT SEASON WILL BE THE NEXT OF '24'?
SUTHERLAND: We start the 8th in May.
Q: IN ROCK STAR YEARS THAT WOULD BE LIKE HAVING EIGHT ALBUMS OUT. HOW LONG CAN YOU DO '24'?
SUTHERLAND: I would love to do it till I was 60 but I don't think anybody would accept it. It's a great analogy to do a rock band because they have to write their music. The harder question is really to the writers. The greatest burden of the creativity is really to them. They are looking tired. It's been a haul, but we are a really competitive group though. We took a bit of a beating in season six. What I loved about our group is that I believe that they rallied instead of giving up. I think all of us believe and understand that our whole experience with '24' has been a giant learning curve. No one has ever tried to do a show in real time. We really do believe that the idea is so special and we also believe that we are capable of making a perfect season. I don't believe that any of us has felt that we've done that yet. Every year we have learned something that was 'Oh God, I wish I could go back and fix that, or do that better.' Certainly, going into our 8th season there were a couple of things from the previous season, which we were immensely proud of, that we feel we can make better. We will continue to work till people say stop or until we've made that season.
Q: DO YOU THINK JACK WILL FIND LOVE AGAIN? AND THE PRESIDENTS DAUGHTER MIGHT BE THE WORST TV VILLAIN EVER?
SUTHERLAND: Well, I wouldn't want to ruin that for anybody. Cherry Jones is probably one of the few actors that I've ever been really scared about working with. You are talking about an unbelievably extraordinary talent. We work at such a fast pace. When you get a scene and go to work with someone like Cherry, there is easily five different ways to play it, three just in volume alone. I was very nervous about picking what I thought would be the right one to start off with. I wanted to earn her respect. She's also one of the most gracious people you'll ever meet. I knew that if I didn't pick the right one she would never tell me. That made me even more nervous. She was fantastic.
Q: WILL HE FIND LOVE AGAIN?
SUTHERLAND: I think he's in the process now in his own kind of speedy way.
Q: THE GENERAL GROWS A LITTLE AND BECOMES PROUD OF THE MONSTERS AT THE END. WERE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT MAKING SURE THE MILITARY GUY WASN'T GOING TO COME OFF TOO MEAN?
SUTHERLAND: No, that was one of the character’s aspects that I liked. That was written before my involvement. He has a responsibility to run this prison, and hold the monsters the way he does, but I think he feels a great deal of sympathy. I think that sympathy comes out when he puts Ginormica in her cell and gives her a new name. She starts to cry and that affects him. I think he understands clearly that these monsters are not dangerous or vicious or mean. He even says it: 'We don't believe that society will understand so we have to keep you away.' I think he feels very sad about that, he feels proud of those monsters. I certainly believe in the speech when he goes to present the idea to the President that they can take on the aliens, he has an enormous sense of pride. I tried to play that when he refers to them and describes them. I wasn't scared about that at all. That was an aspect of the character that I really liked.
Q: DO YOU HAVE A HIATUS COMING UP?
SUTHERLAND: No, this was kind of it. We start up in May. We are quick back to work this time. This is what I chose to do and I'm going to finish it out, hopefully properly, and then I will have time for that.
Q: CAN'T BILL STILL BE ALIVE?
SUTHERLAND: I will pass that along to the writers. I will certainly call James and let him know that you were this concerned.
Q: WOULD YOU PLAY THE GENERAL AGAIN IF THEY DO A SEQUEL OF THIS ONE?
SUTHERLAND: Yeah, I would love to.
More of this interview on:
http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_16558.html