British-born actor Kiefer Sutherland is commonly known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer in the television drama 24, but he returns to the silver screen with a role in the hororr movie, Mirrors, which is released in cinemas on Friday October 10.
LWLies: What are your favourite horror movies?
Sutherland: The films I really love in this genre range from my father’s version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Changeling, The Omen, The Exorcist and The Shining. All of these films start off like a drama – and then a horrific element takes place. With films like these, I’m not only frightened because of the music; I’m frightened because I don’t want something bad to happen to these characters and people that I care about. [Writer and director] Alex Aja’s script for Mirrors was the first thing that touched on that balance, and I loved that about it. I care about this family getting together and I care about this guy getting back with his wife.
LWLies: Did any horror actors from the past influence your role in Mirrors?
Sutherland: No, because I really related to my character in Mirrors on a personal level. This was much more personal for me. There have certainly been films in the past where I’ve done that, though. There have been films that I’ve been cast in where I’ve thought, ‘I know the perfect person who should’ve played this role.’ And when that happened, I would think about what they would do with that part.
LWLies: Is Mirrors a character-driven piece?
Sutherland: Very much so. You become invested in my character before any horrific experiences start to happen, which is what drew me to the film. I haven’t seen a script like this in a long time, although I’ve wanted to do something in this genre for quite a while. There are aspects of The Lost Boys and Flatliners that frightened people – and I wanted to do another horror that would do that again. I think this is that horror.
LWLies: Why do you think there are so many Asian horror movie remakes at the moment?
Sutherland: I don’t think I’m up to speed on horror movies because I didn’t know there was an onslaught of Asian horror remakes. But I can tell you what’s happened with horror films in the States. Once we start making parodies of horror films in this country, there’s nothing new and creative coming into it. Whereas, in Asia, something obviously is. There is a group of filmmakers that are making films that are exciting and taking on the genre with a new perspective and a new light. They are making people like Alex and others around the world say, ‘I want to do a movie like that.’ In this country, I know that when we start parodying a genre with a $100million movie, we’re in trouble.
LWLies: Asian horror films are often more internal and thought-provoking when compared to the horror of Hollywood with its many monster movies.
Sutherland: That’s exactly what happened when I did a movie remake called The Vanishing. I worked with the director of the original on that film, but he wanted to try and make a different version. Firstly, it was in English, which was different – but he also wanted to do a different ending. The original movie was a horrific movie and it was beautifully made, but it was much more internal. When the same director came to work in Hollywood, the movie became much more extroverted – and I don’t think it was nearly as effective.
LWLies: Have you ever been surprised by the success of some of your movies?
Sutherland: The movie that most surprised me was Flatliners because I didn’t get it at all. There’s a film called Paper Chase which is about some young legal students in Harvard in the ‘70s. It was quite radical and it was a very smart, cool film. I thought Flatliners was going to be a supernatural film shot in the same way as Paper Chase with these guys being the bright, young scientists of their time – but it wasn’t.
LWLies: What happened?
Sutherland: When I got to the set, Joel Schumacher has a gurney over a grate with steam coming up and loads of weird props. It looked like the ridiculous set of a music video rather than a serious movie and I panicked. I remember saying, ‘I can’t do this movie. Sorry, you’ve got the wrong guy.’
LWLies: Did that go down well with the director?
Sutherland: Well, Joel said to me, ‘Kiefer, you have to understand something about me. I go to bed every night knowing that your future is in my hands and I take that really seriously. You’re going to have to trust me.’ I don’t know if I trusted him completely or just felt that I couldn’t walk off the set – but I finished the film and I was very scared of it.
LWLies: And how did you react when you finally saw the finished movie?
Sutherland: That was the one film I went to and was just caught up with it. Working on that movie and then seeing the finished product was like finding your Christmas presents before Christmas, where you have to pretend you didn’t know what was coming. When I went to see it, the film was so much better than I ever imagined it to be. I remember phoning Joel saying, ‘Thank you for getting me through the movie – I love it.’
LWLies: Was it the same with The Lost Boys?
Sutherland: No, because The Lost Boys was kitschy and fun. I think we both knew that was going to be a fun ride and we were both cool with that. But with Flatliners, I just didn’t get it when we were making it. Joel was very right, though. He created a surreal world that allowed this almost ridiculous idea to take place.
