Kiefer Sutherland, who won an Emmy for his masterful portrayal of Jack Bauer in the US thriller series 24, has revealed that his father, legendary actor Donald Sutherland, never told him he gave a "great performance." The show, which aired from 2001 to 2010, won 20 Emmys, and critics widely credited Kiefer's brooding performance as a federal agent thwarting terrorist plots as central to its success.
Speaking to The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service, Kiefer, 59, shared that his father, who died in 2024 at age 88, did express enjoyment of the show. "He did tell me that he really enjoyed 24, and he was excited for me for its success," Kiefer said. However, when asked if his father ever complimented his acting directly, he admitted: "No, not that." Donald Sutherland, star of The Hunger Games, The Dirty Dozen, Ordinary People, and M*A*S*H, received an Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2017.
Early Influences and Family Ties
Born in London, Kiefer's parents separated when he was three. He moved to Toronto with his mother, actress Shirley Douglas, who died in 2020 at age 66. He left school at 15 to pursue acting. Despite his massive success, Kiefer craved approval from both parents. "I certainly think, you know, my parents would be the first to tell you that they didn't think that they were the greatest parents. I can certainly tell you I was not the easiest son, but at the end of the day, they're the people that I was trying to impress," he said.
His first film role came at age 13 or 14 when his father invited him to work on Max Dugan Returns alongside Marsha Mason, Jason Robards, and Matthew Broderick. "He said, 'do you want to come with me and work on this film and you can do a couple days and they'll pay you and you'll have a line or two?' I was like 13 or 14. I said, 'sure.' And I went with him. I had two lines in the movie," Kiefer recalled. The paycheck was more than he would earn for an entire seven-week play in Canada, prompting him to pursue film acting.
Breakthrough Role and Father's Guidance
Kiefer's breakthrough came in the 1986 film Stand By Me, playing teenage bully Ace Merrill at age 17. He credited his father for helping him transition from stage to screen acting. Describing the character, he said: "He [Ace] was just going to be an awful human being. You need to hit that hammer over the head. And I think that really comes from watching my father's films and me believing very strongly that what he did was right with those characters. And so, Ace Merrill was absolutely that. He was going to be that [awful] from the beginning to the bitter end."
Kiefer believes playing Ace influenced subsequent roles, particularly the 1996 film Eye For an Eye, where he played the antagonist Robert Doob, who rapes and murders a teenage daughter. Despite the film being widely panned, Kiefer valued working with director John Schlesinger, who had directed his father in The Day of the Locust (1975). "I think that cost me some jobs over the years, but I really wanted to work with John Schlesinger because he had worked with my dad," he said.
Personal Life and Ongoing Career
Twice married—to Camelia Kath and Elizabeth Kelly Winn—Kiefer has a daughter, actress Sarah Sutherland, and a stepdaughter, Michelle Kath Sinclair. He is now in a long-term relationship with actress and model Cindy Vela, 47, and lives on a 73-acre rural retreat in New York's Hudson Valley. He also balances acting with a music career, having released his fourth studio album, Grey, and recently completed a UK tour titled Love Will Bring You Home.
Reflecting on his father's death, Kiefer said: "When you do something that you would really like to have shared with them, and it doesn't just have to be work, but it can be something that my daughter's done. That's when the missing becomes kind of sharper."
This interview was adapted from The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service and can be heard in full on BBC Sounds.
