Giles Matthey revealed some interesting news in a recent interview with 24 Live Another Podcast – he claims that Kiefer Sutherland was heavily involved in the writing process for the final two episodes of 24: Live Another Day!
“Kiefer Sutherland wrote the last two. He took a long time writing those episodes, that’s a bit of info for you there. He played a large part with the writing.” (17:10)
Very interesting! As far as I know Kiefer Sutherland isn’t credited as a writer on those episodes (Evan Katz is credited with the finale). It’s unlikely that Kiefer was inside the writers room actually banging out scripts with the rest of the crew. Giles probably means that Sutherland provided a lot of input into the direction of the story or perhaps his character in particular.
Kiefer Sutherland has been an executive producer on the show for several seasons now. Back In April, Variety reported that “Sutherland had input in the tone of the new episodes, right down to influencing the image projected on the key art.”
Other interview tidbits:
Kiefer kicks ass: “When we used to go out after shooting, he’d take us out and we’d have a drink and he’s a very funny charming guy. When he’s on set, he is razor sharp, he is Jack Bauer on set. He’s a different guy […] You know when he’s on set, here’s there to work and kick ass.”
On whether he watched the series: “I wouldn’t say I was a fan, no. I was aware of it and aware of how popular it was. I didn’t get into it, I couldn’t because my friend was so far ahead and I couldn’t be bothered to sort of go back from episode 1. When I got this role I went back and did a lot of watching.”
Doing the show justice: “You have to make sure that you do justice for the fans and the show cause it’s such a great show that you don’t want to dissapoint and let down the show that’s giving you a chance. So the pressure was through the roof for me at least, not probably as much for the other actors who were more experienced than me, but I really felt like I want to do 24 proud if you know what I mean. I wanna do the fans proud even if I’m a goody or a baddy, I want to do justice for the show. So there was a real sense of responsibility as well. Trust me, I lived and breathed it.”
Regarding talks of Jordan replacing Chloe: “You can’t replace Chloe, you just can’t do it. She’s brilliant and so individual.”
Keeping quiet: “If you say anything publicly about what’s going to happen, you can genuinely get sued. It’s in your contract. You can get sued, a lot of bad stuff will happen to you. It’s not worth it.”
Favorite non-Jack character (not counting Live Another Day): “I really like Tony Almeida, he’s cool.”
What Jordan Should’ve Done: “I think what he should’ve done is shoot him in both shoulders and his kneecaps, so therefore he’s literally lying there but he’s not going to die.”
This is just a small sample of the interview; check out the entire 40 minute long interview with Giles at the link below. He seems like a very nice and down to earth guy.
38 Comments
Comments ClosedBrad
June 25, 2014 at 8:37 am24 Spoilers
June 25, 2014 at 8:47 amIf I remember correctly, Kiefer wrote and/or improvised that angry Jack and Heller scene near the end of the sixth season finale, which was excellent in my opinion.
Brad
June 25, 2014 at 9:30 amXAM
June 25, 2014 at 10:04 am– Jack out of action/being miserable
– Those muslim brothers coming out of fucking nowhere, being completely irrelevant to the days events and giving us a lesson in tolerance we never asked for.
– WAY too much of the Taylors – especially Olivia
– Sidelining Hodges and Starkwood, essentially making Redemption irrelevant to the final act.
– Kim in trouble again.
– Stretching out the Palmer assassination conspiracy further.
boring, boring, boring. I appreciate LAD all the more thinking about it.
Usually people who hate 7 hate it because of the direction they took Tony, I’m not one of those people, in fact I don’t think they did enough with him.
Brad
June 25, 2014 at 10:12 amI thought the final hour of Day 7 was stellar though.
24fan24
June 25, 2014 at 10:27 amThose first 13 episodes alone still put Season 7 in second place for me.
Brad
June 25, 2014 at 10:48 am24 Spoilers
June 25, 2014 at 11:33 amEpisodes 14-18 felt more like transition episodes to me and didn’t make good use of all the cast members: Ethan resigned, Chloe was absent, Renee was sidelined in holding, Jack was sidelined due to his infection, Senator Mayer was killed off, Janis got pretty much no screen time (not that I’m complaining about that one!), Sean was written out after being revealed as a mole, the Olivia Taylor stuff was not interesting, etc.
Still a lot of things to like about those episodes. But it wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders like the previous ones.
Brad
June 25, 2014 at 11:51 am24fan24
June 25, 2014 at 11:52 amOf course there were other times where Jack was undercover, like in Seasons 1, 4, and 5, but I don’t really count those because they lasted only around one episode.
XAM
June 25, 2014 at 1:50 pmThere is literally nothing shit about episode 14/
Gerry Mander
June 25, 2014 at 9:19 pmI thought Season 7 was very strong from beginning to end… and Season 8 was even better again…
Brad
June 25, 2014 at 11:31 pmGerry Mander
June 26, 2014 at 12:23 amJason
June 25, 2014 at 9:34 amMj
June 25, 2014 at 12:18 pm24fan24
June 25, 2014 at 12:29 pmXAM
June 25, 2014 at 2:09 pma: Jack had been captured by the Chinese at the end of season 4 instead of 5.
b: Heller gave Jack the “stay away from my daughter” speech
c: After exposing Logan, instead of being captured he goes to have the confrontation with Heller.
d: season 6 never happens
Then you’d have the greatest finale of all time.
24Nathan
June 25, 2014 at 7:42 pmKiki Vanderway
June 26, 2014 at 7:43 amX
June 25, 2014 at 8:51 amThe reason this is happening is because they are asking Kiefer how he wants to see his character end and what his character should do to feel satisfaction and what he wants and needs to take his life back.
Very excited.
I hope the final episode has no threats, violence, or urgency. Just Jack starting the first day of the rest of his life and letting that set in.
24fan24
June 25, 2014 at 10:24 amMj
June 25, 2014 at 12:17 pm24fan24
June 25, 2014 at 12:32 pmshafagh
June 25, 2014 at 2:23 pmBrad
June 25, 2014 at 2:51 pmTeks
June 25, 2014 at 3:21 pm24fan24
June 25, 2014 at 3:23 pmMy point is that I don’t want Jack to die because 24 is very different than most serialized TV dramas, and killing Jack just doesn’t really fit the series in my opinion. He should finally be able to retire in peace with his family. Many people have pointed out that this ending is actually inconsistent with the series and isn’t realistic with this character. And where I can agree with that to some degree, I also don’t really care. Jack Bauer deserves the girl and the daughter for a change.
Kiefer has said recently that he doesn’t want ‘Jack Bauer with a walker,’ and I can understand that, but I also think Kiefer’s being a little whiny when it comes to age. He’s 47 years old, 15 years younger than Liam Neeson, whose action career has just started to skyrocket. So my whole point is that I hope age isn’t a factor in whether or not Jack lives or dies.
With all that said, I don’t really understand why you want me to go to hell lol.
Kiki Vanderway
June 25, 2014 at 8:45 pmThat being said, no one– truly no one– knows this character like Kiefer and hopefully Cassar provides some ballast. Jon Cassar not only understands 24 but gets TV as a medium. They spent a good chunk of last summer together filming Forsaken and I am sure there were plenty of discussions on 24 and how to do this justice. Therefore, I have some level of confidence that the ending will be authentic and fitting– I may not like it in all respects but I think it will resonate and live up to the overall brilliance of the series.
Of course, this series delights in torturing its audience and has made some spectacularly WTF decisions — sometimes the motto is “why just do when you can overdo?” (or “Just OverDo It”)
In the end it will at least be satisfying to see what Kiefer and Jon thought a fitting end would be (aside from Jack Bauer goes outside, grabs a cigarette, lights it and then boom is gone in the blink of an eye, no further explanation — an ending I sincerely hope Kiefer recognizes is a mad bad sad way to go).
Fringyrasa
June 27, 2014 at 2:12 pmBrad
June 27, 2014 at 10:37 pmGerry Mander
June 27, 2014 at 11:16 pmI think what Fringyrasa meant was that Season 8 didn’t really give Jack a proper conclusive ending, which is true, and certainly something which the writers are mindful of with regards to ‘Live Another Day’ which I hope has not just an ending but a very definite and conclusive ending with a pronounced and palpable sense of very real finality about it.
Joshua
June 29, 2014 at 1:21 amGerry Mander
June 29, 2014 at 2:30 amGerry Mander
June 29, 2014 at 2:40 amOne last thing though; the reason why it was the Iman from earlier who showed up in the closing moments of the season finale was a direct continuation from that earlier episode, in the SUV when the Iman suggested Jack draw closer to God and Jack essentially stated he was beyond redemption. Jack never struck me as a particularly religious person, but when faced with his own impending mortality, his thoughts turned to matters spiritual and that earlier conversation with the Iman evidently came to Jack’s mind and thus it was him that Jack reached out to in his final moments.
Gerry Mander
June 29, 2014 at 4:20 amJoshua
June 29, 2014 at 4:29 amcaviar
July 16, 2014 at 11:51 amAnd I think this is a BAD ending! Why not just give Jack a happy ending he deserves!! Mr Sutherland really should stick to acting and just leave writing to others.