Kiefer Sutherland in TV Guide Magazine: “we’re going for closure”

Kiefer Sutherland made the cover of TV Guide Magazine this week and we’ve got his interview here (along with behind the scenes photos from 24: Live Another Day’s 200th episode airing on Monday).

“I’ve spent a third of my career playing Jack Bauer,” Kiefer Sutherland says on the London set of 24: Live Another Day. Heading into the show’s 200th episode (6/16, 9/8c, Fox), the actor remains fully invested. “Jack is heroic for the reasons he’s always been–he’s completely committed, he’s got enormous integrity and he still slams through windows and doors to protect what he believes in.”

And he’s had plenty to contend with recently: a goth Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub), the return of ex Audrey (Kim Raver), the exposure of CIA honcho Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt) as a mole and a new terrorist mastermind (Michelle Fairley). The final four episodes will be just as challenging for Jack, Sutherland says. “We left Season 8 open-ended. Now we’re going for closure. And let me tell you, it ain’t gonna be tied up with a bow.”

1. “I have my opinions about Jack Bauer, and sometimes the writers and producers are gracious enough to listen,” Sutherland says. “Then again, sometimes they’re not.”
2. Outing Bratt’s character as the mole was “100 percent brilliant, says Sutherland (with Bratt). “It’s not in Ben’s persona–he’s the nicest guy in the world. But he plays evil to the hilt.”
3. Together (mostly) since Season 1, executive producer Jon Cassar and Sutherland share a shorthand. “We live these characters” Sutherland says. “But it’s a role I absolutely love–or I wouldn’t be doing it.” (His own favorite TV heroes as a kid? Batman and Speed Racer.)
4. The actor, preparing to swing through a window on a rope, compares the physicality of 24 to motorcycle racing. “It’s not a matter of if you’re going to get injured. It’s when. Luckily, we have an amazing stunt crew.” This season, he’s kept his injuries down to just a few bruises.
5. “After the equivalent of 100 feature films, Jack Bauer is still tough, but I’m a little sore,” says Sutherland, recording dialogue in the studio.

You might also be interested in watching Kiefer Sutherland’s video interview.