Kiefer Sutherland Interview at Blockbuster.co.uk

Kiefer Sutherland flexes his comic muscles amid a torrent of mutants and extra-terrestrials. Blockbuster.co.uk's Marshall Julius meets the star of Monsters Vs Aliens.

"There were a lot of reasons that I wanted to be a part of this movie," explains the younger Sutherland. "I believe that, certainly in the English language, [producer] Jeffrey Katzenberg makes some of the best animated movies, and he was part of it, so I wanted to be a part of it too. Also I had worked with Reese Witherspoon before and her voice is on a much higher register than mine, and I thought that would be a nice balance.

"Most importantly, what I liked about Monsters Vs Aliens was that it's geared to young people and tells them it's alright to be different. Not only that it's alright, but also that the thing that might make you uncomfortable or feel weird could actually be your greatest quality. Certainly, when I was growing up there were times when I felt different from other kids and that scared me, a lot. I liked that this film addresses that feeling."

Besides feeling different, Kiefer spent a large chunk of his childhood at the cinema, first watching animated features, followed by everything else he could lay his eyes on. "Whatever anyone thinks of about him, Walt Disney was a very smart guy and he made an animated film for every generation. The film he made for mine was called Bambi. It's still one of the most dramatic films I've ever seen. The mother dies in the first act, and it's a great coming-of-age story about how to be a man. That was my opening to films, and as much as I cried when I first saw it, at the end of the film I was just so amazed at how much I felt, it drew me to see other films. So, animated films for me were the doorway to a genre of entertainment that I fell in love with."

Encouraged to sound much like himself in previous animated outings like The Wild and the tenth Land Before Time movie, Sutherland was determined to come up with something unrecognisable for Monsters Vs Aliens. "For the military aspect of the character, I took the voice of the sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. He was so abrasive and loud and kind of Southern. I knew Reese had a Southern thing going on, so I thought that would fit. Then, to the military side with humour, I added some Yosemite Sam, who was always my favourite character in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. I melded the two and came up with the voice of the general."

Currently shooting the eighth action-packed season of TV mega-hit 24, Sutherland, 42, reveals he'd keep doing the show till he's 60, "...but I don't think anybody would accept it. Really, the greatest burden is on the writers, and it's up to them how long we do it. They're looking tired. It's been a haul. We're a really competitive group though, and even though we took a bit of a beating in season six, what I loved about our group is that they rallied instead of giving up. Season seven was an amazingly positive experience.

"I think all of us believe and understand that our whole experience with 24 has been this giant learning curve because no one before had ever done a show in real time. We really believe the idea is special. We also believe that we're capable of making a perfect season, and I don't think that any of us feel that we've done that yet. So, we'll continue to work until people say 'Stop!' or until we believe that we've made that perfect season."

As for a 24 movie, concludes Sutherland, "It would be cruel and unusual punishment to ask our writers to write the equivalent of 12 films a year and then say, 'By the way, in your off time, could you come up with an unbelievable idea that is so superb we can justify making a feature film out of it?' Instead, we all kind of collectively decided that when the show is finished, that's when we would take on, if anyone still wanted to see it, the idea of making a film. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. Season eight is on its way, and that's our focus right now. With luck, it could be the perfect season we've been aiming to make all this time."

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