Actor Robert Carlyle on Kiefer...
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
The actor has also been to South Africa to film a special edition of American television channel HBO's colossally successful drama series, 24, starring his old friend, Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer.
"I had worked with Kiefer 10 years ago on a film called To End All Wars, which we made in Hawaii, and we got on brilliantly. Through the years he had been in touch for me to do 24 and then this script came through in which I play Jack Bauer's best pal," says Carlyle. "I don't watch a lot of television but I saw 24 because Kiefer was in it and I think that it was somewhat responsible for raising the bar of the quality of American TV."
Kiefer Sutherland has attributed the quality of television programmes in the US to the downturn in film production.
The 24 star, who appears in forthcoming horror film Mirrors, said: "I certainly think television has changed dramatically over the past twenty years... we are making less movies.
"When I was starting my career, each studio was making 56 movies a year basically - maybe a little more than one a week to release. Now we're making 20, 22 films a year. Most of those are high concept, very big films.
"So the films that I grew up loving, films like Terms of Endearment and Ordinary People - it's one of my favourite films of all time - those dramas aren't being made certainly in America any more, and if they are they are considered to be very independent films.
"A lot of people don't have access to those because they don't go into the theatres the way the bigger films do and, in a very long-winded answer, I believe television has adopted that."
Kiefer continued: "So, television has been our main source of drama in the last 15 years and by proxy it has risen to the challenge and that has been the real cause that has ultimately effected this monumental shift in television in what we actually deal with and the topics we deal with in television now."
Man, how refreshing is it to have Jack Bauer back in action, even if it is only for a two-hour prequel movie!
Grade: A Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, Robert Carlyle, Gil Bellows, Siyabulela Ramba, Sivuyile Ngesi, Jon Voight, Tony Todd Writer(s): Howard Gordon Director: Jon Cassar Release Date: Airs Sunday, November 23, 2008 Rating: NR
After a routinely uninteresting fall TV season with new and returning shows failing to ignite the kind of excitement that inspires fierce devotion (CHUCK and FRINGE notwithstanding), iF Magazine was fortunate enough to be invited to an advance screening of the two-hour 24: REDEMPTION prequel movie set to air Sunday, Nov. 23 on Fox (and hitting DVD on Nov. 25).
And boy, what a ride. It's nice to know Jack, after a year and half of television inactivity is back in action and ready to kick-ass in whole new package.
24: REDEMPTION is a bridging movie that leads into Season 7. It sets up many of the conflicts and characters that we'll be seeing when the season begins in January.
It's also a rather bold experiment for the show that stayed firmly entrenched in Los Angeles and the CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) throughout the show's run.
It begins in Africa, where Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) has landed after several years travelling the globe, leaving his "saving the world" ways behind him.
Teamed with a former buddy turned missionary Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle), the two of them have been helping out children in Africa through education while a ruthless warlord (Tony Todd) is attempting to overthrow the government while abducting children into his militia.
While Jack wants to keep the peace and slide in and out of this role, when conflict strikes, somewhere down the line Jack's can't help but pull his gun, start shooting and take no prisoners.
Meanwhile in the States, the first woman president Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is taking over the office from the exiting president Noah Daniels (Powers Boothe). This Africa coup is one of the outstanding bits of business the two of them disagree on, and it's the ramifications of Daniels' actions that President Taylor will have to deal with going into the new season.
To give away much more would spoil the surprise for 24 fans. Suffice to say, the movie plays out in real-time over a two-hour period, it retains all the things 24 fans love from double-crossings to high tension. It also sets up a great group of new cast members that should provide an interesting, different season than we've seen before on 24.
I know it's two months away, but man, after you see this movie, you'll immediately want Season 7 to start. With the current economy a mess, and our own presidential race still on, not having Jack around to make things right in a fictional U.S. scenario has been solely missing.
At the end of the two-hour presentation, we were also shown an extended preview of what to expect in Season 7, and it's pretty damn awesome.
Granted, you're talking to one of the biggest 24 fans out there, so I am biased, but when shows like HEROES have struggled to find their way in their third season, 24 consistently (warts and all, including a hit and miss Season 6) is still one of the best pieces of television out there.
Period.
After the network run is over, it's clear Jack Bauer as played by Kiefer Sutherland is a character that will be able to segue into a big budget film franchise with ease.
Jack Bauer is back … now see if you too can wait for the ticking clock when REDEMPTION hits TV and DVD. It's well worth the wait. And that's the fact Jack!
Another Look at the 24 Prequel: Redemption From IGN
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
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October 3, 2008 - IGN was among a group of journalists who attended an early screening of 24: Redemption today. Airing Sunday, November 23rd, the TV-Movie marks the return of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) for the first time since 24's sixth season ended, in May 2007. Thanks to the writers' strike, the seventh season was delayed a full year, until January of 2009, but Redemption serves as a prequel to Season 7, and of course as a way to tide fans over after this unusually long wait.
Minor Spoilers follow: As previously reported, Redemption picks up some time after Season 6, with Jack now living in the African country of Sangala, where he's working as a missionary, alongside his old colleague Carl Benton, played by Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting / The World Is Not Enough). Sangala is under siege by a vicious warlord, who is recruiting local children for his militia. And when that militia targets the kids under Jack's care, well… Let's just say Jack doesn't stand by and let it happen.
Redemption is an interesting experiment for 24 - while the movie does follow the real time format (as Jack tells us at the start, "The following takes place between 3:00pm and 5:00pm), it's obviously not part of the long, 24-hour uninterrupted storyline the series takes place in. There's even a prologue that uses (gasp!) a time jump, as we are introduced to some of the militia during the day, and then cut to their rather horrific initiation of a kidnapped boy at night.
As the story begins, Jack has completely left his old life behind – clearly he has not been spending the time since Season 6 thwarting terrorists. Sporting several days' worth of facial hair, Redemption introduces us to a different take on Jack, as we find him living a peaceful life, while carrying the weight of what he's gone through with him. As always, Kiefer Sutherland is excellent in this role. Some fans might be a bit disappointed that Jack actually isn't featured prominently in the first half of Redemption, but when the action picks up and Jack gets back to doing what he does best, it's definitely a thrill. More importantly, Sutherland nails some genuine moments of pathos Jack goes through, including a wonderfully acted moment where he's clearly fighting back tears, during a time when there simply isn't time to deal with them.
It's also very cool to see Jack in such a different setting - Redemption was filmed on location in South Africa, and this is a very different element for Jack to do his thing in than the Los Angeles settings we've grown accustomed to for the character. It certainly makes us curious what it would be like to follow the character through something even bigger in scope, such as the long-discussed 24 feature film.
There's also a lot of time spent in America in Redemption, where several characters are introduced who will be featured prominently in Season 7. Cherry Jones makes a solid first impression as President Allison Taylor, who we meet on the day of her inauguration. Appearing more briefly is Jon Voight as the mysterious Jonas Taylor, who is firmly established as a villain in his first scene. These characters look to be strong additions, as does Tony Todd (Chuck) as the ruthless warlord. In 24 tradition, there's also some sillier characters, including a sap of a UN representative who first doubts the threat of the warlord, and then turns coward when he realizes it's real. Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal) is saddled with another unfortunate character – an obnoxious government agent who comes looking for Jack.
24 fans hoping to see a lot of the familiar supporting cast should know that Redemption doesn't deliver much in that arena – there's no Chloe, no Buchannan… However, it was nice to see Powers Boothe and Peter MacNicol reprise their Season 6 roles – neither actor is back for Season 7 (at least that we know of), but their characters, outgoing President Noah Daniels and chief of staff Tom Lennox, get to do some nice onscreen passing of the torch as Taylor begins her administration, a rarity in 24 because of how separated the seasons are in the timeline.
Many, including us at IGN, had some big problems with Season 6. It's hard to say if Redemption marks a big return to form however, because it's not truly the next season. It certainly gets things off to a promising start though – this is very much a set up for Season 7, and while the specific story of Jack's attempt to rescue the kids is completed, a lot is left in motion for the series to continue and it's done so in a tantalizing manner.
At the end of the movie, an extended preview for Season 7 was shown. Some of the clips included had been seen before, dating back to the preview that debuted nearly a year ago, when the show was still set to return in January 2008 – including Jack discovering that Tony is alive and apparently a bad guy now. However, there were also many new sequences we glimpsed. There is a lot of action shown in the preview – including gun fights, car crashes and a big set piece involving an airplane. It definitely seems like they didn't skimp on going big this year.
The preview ends with Jack interrogating Tony, demanding to know, "What's the target?" Furious, Jack picks Tony up and slams him against a wall, exclaiming that if Tony doesn't talk, "I will kill you and you will stay dead this time!"
24: Redemption airs Sunday, November 23rd on FOX. Look for IGN's full review then.
Kiefer Dishes on the New Season of 24
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Kiefer Sutherland On 24: 'The Best Is Yet To Come'
Kiefer Sutherland assures us that he has no intention of quitting hit real-time drama 24 any time soon, despite seven long years (or should that be days?) of protecting the president.
In an exclusive interview with Entertainmentwise, Kiefer - who plays tireless CTU agent Jack Bauer - insists he has left any initial doubts he had about revisiting the character year upon year far behind.
He says, "One of the great fears that I had is you sign a contract, it used to be minimum of five years and then it became a minimum of seven.
"You start thinking 'OK, I'm 33 years old and I won't be finished with this until I'm 40′.
"So I'm sitting there thinking, 'what's it going to be like to have to play the same character over that long a period of time?'
"It wasn't until the second or third year that I thought to myself 'what an arrogant thing to say…because it's not the same character – every year informs the next year.
"When I first started playing him he had a wife and a daughter, by the time I started playing him the next year, the character had changed, just like a human being changes over time."
And the former brat packer is confident that the upcoming season of the hit show will be the best so far, despite having to work around last year's writers' strike.
"Disappointing as the writer's strike was, it allowed us to make what I believe is the best season of 24 we've ever made, which I'm very excited about," he says.
Be sure you check back for our full interview with Kiefer, coming soon.
Full Pix of Kiefer Having Lunch on Sept 21, 2008
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Thanks to the folks over at Celebutopia for these great HQ Pics
September 21, 2008: Kiefer Sutherland spotted grabbing a smoke while dining outside with a friend at Sant Ambroeus in the West Village, New York City, New York.
Opening November 10th, 2008 and showing for 3 months after that will be a special photo exhibit highlighting pictures taken in Africa during the filming of 24:Redemption. The show will consist of appx 50 photographs printed by Digital Fusion. The pictures were all taken by 4 crew members and 1 actor. The photographers are Jon Cassar Director, Michael Klick Producer, Rodney Charters Cinematographer, Kelsey McNeal Unit Photographer and Kiefer Sutherland Actor. Its a good variety of images of Africa itself and the making of 24. The Paley Center for Media is in Beverly Hills at 465 N. Beverly Drive, CA, 90210 . The show ends Jan 11, 2009 and then may move to New York.
We are in the last week of prep for episodes 19 & 20. We go to camera next Thursday, October 9th. Michael Klick is directing. He is usually our line producer but will be putting on the directors hat for the first time. Michael was a First Assistant Director for years on shows like X-FILES, SHE SPIES, 24, and THE PRETENDER where he also directed 2 episodes. Michael also directed 2nd Unit in Africa for me. The scripts benefited from the writers break that we took and they are a great launching pad for the last 4 episodes. Brad Turner will be directing 21 & 22, and I will be directing the last two 23 & 24.
The 41-year-old actor has had a colourful 25 years in Hollywood to say the least and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down even if he may at last be settling down. Having started 2008 in the news for a drink driving conviction, for which he was sentenced to 48 days in jail, Kiefer is making headlines in the latter half of the year for all the right reasons.
Professionally he is on a high with the return of hit show 24 which opens for a seventh season with a big-budget feature length episode. He also has Mirrors, a chilling horror movie that is set to get pulses racing at Irish cinemas this weekend.
Q: You are so well known for 24 now. Does that make it harder to disappear into a movie character?
A: "No, I think actually easier. I think 24 exists in such a strong backdrop, it's very easy to counter balance something against it. This character is obviously very different. I'm still trapped in my own physical body, with my own voice, and my sense of interpretation. There are going to be similarities in everything that I do. But, I think the fact that 24 is such a strong backdrop of where I am in my career right now, this film was a great opportunity to show another part of a reflected image."
Q: How excited are you about 24 coming back?
A: "Very. There is a two-hour movie that we just finished shooting about almost two months ago now. It was in Africa. As difficult as it was for us to take the break, because of the strike, and I think the audience was affected the most. It was something that no one wanted to do. I don't think the writers wanted to do it, the actors didn't want to do it, and (Jon) Cassar didn't want to do it. It happened nonetheless. I think Fox made a very smart decision with regards to 24 because I think it is at its best when it's released continuously so you can watch all 24 episodes in a row. So we waited 'til January. The one benefit if you are looking for a silver lining is that it gave the writers an unbelievable amount of time to really craft this season. We as actors had scripts available to us, which we've never had in the past six years of making the show. I believe it's the best work we've ever done. The stuff we did in Africa is really some of the stuff I'm the most excited about in regards to 24."
Q: When will there be a 24 movie?
A: "We have this prequel movie coming out for TV in August but we really don't want to entertain the notion of a theatrical release film until after the show is over. The demand on the writers to keep the show going is so great we really couldn't take them out of that."
Q: When does Jack or any of the other characters take a pee?
A: "(Laughs) Actually we did shoot a scene where Jack raids an office and runs into the washroom in the lobby and comes out nine seconds later a lot happier. But they cut it out! Our stock answer is, whenever they cut to the Whitehouse, Jack is in the bathroom. And not only is he taking a leak, he's having a drink and getting something to eat."
Q: Let's talk about this new movie. What drew you to Mirrors?
A: "Horror films, for me growing up certainly, there wasn't a genre of film that could give you any stronger a visceral reaction through watching it. I had always heard that as an actor that is something that would draw you to a genre film. You can actually affect an audience that powerfully, and that quickly, so the genre was something I was really interested in. Alex had made The Hills Have Eyes which was a film that really kind of harkened back to the 70s horror films. They dealt with things in most film that I think were much more different than what we now term as slasher films. Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, The Omen; those films all had character-driven plots that made you invested in the characters. The horror was really a combination of the affection that the audience had with a character, combined with the horrific circumstances that the character was put in. For me, I remember at the very first meeting I had read the script and loved it for the same reason." To play hope and fear at the same time was something that was a real challenge for me."
Q: What is your favourite horror movie?
A: "This is going to be kind of embarrassing. I think the one that scared me most was not The Exorcist. I know that is it for so many people. It was not The Omen. There was a film made in 1972 or 73 called The Car. The irony of this is that I lived on a 14th floor in an apartment complex in Toronto called Crescent Town. The Car in the movie was basically possessed by the devil, and it was a black Lincoln, with yellow windows. It went into this small town and ran everybody over. This car could go through houses. The only place it couldn't go was a graveyard or a church. Every time the car came into town the wind would start to blow and music would start to go. I don't think I've ever been scared by anything more in my life. I lived on the 14th floor and I was still scared that this car was going to manage to get through, get up there, and run me over. I wasn't that young either. I think I was 12-years-old. I should have known better. It stayed with me for months."
Q: When you look back at Lost Boys and Stand By Me then you see yourself now in this film, what has the journey been like? What's the growth and lessons learned along the way as an actor?
A: "Well, the lessons learned never stop. It's a really deep question. Stand By Me was the first film I got to do in the United States. I remember when I first went to go see that film I thought my career was over. Then the film became the success that it was and certainly at that time it was a part of American film history. I realized the first thing was that I should probably not watch my work again. The best thing for me to do was to just make it and the audience would be the judge. That has served me quite well. The journey from there to now, has been an unbelievable experience for me. I think that acting is almost like working out. It's a physical exercise that one has to go through. The more that you train it and the more you use whatever that instrument is - your body, your brain, your voice, and all those things combined. I hope I still approach each project with the same kind of youthful exuberance that I did with something like Stand By Me or Lost Boys."
Q: Do you discuss the business much with your father?
A: We don't talk about it a whole lot. We don't get to see each other enough anyway, so when we do, he wants to know about my daughter. We talk about my brothers. We talk about him and Francine. Our family stuff. He's been very supportive – apparently he likes 24 and he's very funny about that. But the work itself, we don't really talk about it at all.
Q: Looking back, do you feel like you have missed out on anything because you worked so hard when you were younger?
A: "In a way because in some respects, I've done all my growing up backwards. I mean, I dropped out of school at 15 so I missed out on graduation or going to college. I'd never had buddies and, in a way, I didn't even know how to deal with people my own age because from the time I was 15, the youngest people I was around were 30. Then, when I was 19, I married a 33-year-old woman, and had a baby of my own by the time I was 20,"
Q: You still have quite a reputation for going wild on those rare times when you have a break from work. A few drunk and disorderly arrests along the way? Why are you such a rebel?
A: "If you work as hard as I do, you should be allowed to reward yourself by going over the top from time to time."
accomplished
excited
The 41-year-old actor has had a colourful 25 years in Hollywood to say the least and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down even if he may at last be settling down. Having started 2008 in the news for a drink driving conviction, for which he was sentenced to 48 days in jail, Kiefer is making headlines in the latter half of the year for all the right reasons.