On the day of the premiere of season six of FOX's 24 series, here a few quotes about the acting and performance ethics of its star Kiefer Sutherland.

"He is absolutely adorable and generous. There was this one incident that sums up his character completely. We were shooting in Long Beach - that's where the assassination attempt on Dennis (Palmer) takes place - and some of the actors and crew stayed over because it's a bit of a schlep from where we usually shoot. Someone was looking for Kiefer because we were all hanging out and enjoying each other's company. He was finally found in the laundry room with the maids... folding laundry. He was having a great time just hanging out with the entire help - the maids and the busboys. That's him. He's cool."
-- Penny Johnson Jerald (Sherry Palmer)

"Kiefer's great. He's so professional on the set and he's so much fun off the set. He sets the bar for the cast and crew. We all look to him to set the standard. It's the best set I've ever worked on and I think a lot of that is due to Kiefer. He comes in - even if he's not supposed to be on camera that day - and does off-camera work with the actors. A lot of actors won't do that, especially if they're... well, Kiefer. It's really funny, because you read what's posted on all of these websites and you'd think they'd have to have smelling salts on the set to revive all the "ladies" but it's not like that at all...I'd actually never seen any of his movies. Or what I'd seen, I'd seen so long ago. But I knew he was a really good actor. Although I had no idea how good he was until I got this job and started working with him."
-- Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler)

"I had to shoot up until Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so there was no way I was coming home for Thanksgiving. Kiefer's last scene was before lunch, but mine didn't happen until the very end of the day. My last two scenes were my two phone calls that Alberta had with Jack. It's about 6 o'clock, I go onto the set and get ready to pick up the phone, and Kiefer walks in. I'm like, 'What are you doing here?' And Kiefer says, 'I'm doing my phone calls with you.' I was like, 'Kiefer, you know I really appreciate it, but if it were me, I would be on that airplane outta here,' because he lives in Toronto with his family. And he said, 'No, you wouldn't.' So we did the scenes together, even though his part was off camera and the script girl could have easily stood in for him - which I despise, but that's what happens. After we wrapped, he got into his car, drove to the airport, and flew home. After that I said, 'Nobody can give me the excuse that they can't be off camera with another actor ever again. That is a class act."
-- Tamara Tunie (Alberta Green)

"On screen, he certainly has an edge, and he has a dark side to him. He's played a lot of villains. You get a guy like that and you put him in a role that's essentially heroic and he naturally takes on the heroism of the role. But Kiefer brings that sort of dark side with him and it's a tremendous sense of three-dimensionality and layers and complexity. He's a good guy, you root for him, but you know he has demons."
-- Robert Cochran (executive producer)

Trevor -

Thanks for posting these testimonials. They're refreshing.

- David