LOS ANGELES -- Can Kiefer Sutherland continue to play a badass in his new show, Touch, even though he's showing signs of serious mellowing?
The head-butting, drunk-driving, growling Sutherland of yesteryear matched his intense, win-at-all costs Jack Bauer persona on the long-running cancelled Fox show, 24.
But it has been a full three years since the 45-year-old Canadian has got into a public fight -- or, for that matter, been in any sort of trouble with the law. Rather, he seems to be actively avoiding trouble.
Last week, at his favourite watering hole in L.A., Sutherland drove up in a chauffeured car. He went inside, drank about three beers with some pals, and then came out, getting quietly into the waiting car.
"Kiefer doesn't drive himself any more," said a valet at Madeo's. "It's been a long time. He always has a chauffeur."
What's surprising about that, you ask? Well, Sutherland has his driver's licence back. It was reinstated a year ago after his 2007 drunk driving conviction, his second in three years, landed him in jail for a 48-day stretch.
After his first California DUI conviction in 2004, one of the first things Sutherland did when his licence was reinstated was hop into one of his sports cars.
Between 2004 and 2007, Sutherland was spotted several times by fans and paparazzi peeling out of restaurants and bars -- where he'd just been drinking for hours -- despite still being on probation.
"He used to drink and get into his car, yes," said the valet. "He used to get a little loud, too, maybe. But, no more. No more. Kiefer doesn't do that now."
Sutherland's 2007 conviction and jail time -- plus Fox executives leaning on him to get his act together for the final season of 24 -- seems to have had a lasting effect.
Fox has just hired him back -- for a similar Jack Bauer-save-the-world role.
Sutherland will play the father of an autistic, mute boy who can predict events before they happen. Kiefer's job in the series, Touch, will be to make sure nothing bad happens to anyone.
Fox agreed to air 13 episodes -- which have yet to be made -- sometime next year.
He starts working full-time on Touch in January, when he'll be finished starring in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a film being directed by Mira Nair and co-starring Kate Hudson and Liev Schreiber.
There are two things Sutherland fans need to ask:
Will Sutherland's notorious "bad boy" streak re-emerge with the pressure of playing another larger-than-life character in Touch?
Or, if it doesn't, will he be able to play a convincing hero?
Me? I'm guessing that Sutherland has it under control.
This is the longest Sutherland has kept out of trouble in recent memory.
That means he may have realized that playing macho doesn't mean having to play with fire.
Linda Massarella, a Canadian writer in Los Angeles, writes every Sunday about notable Canadians living in L.A.
More Artists
