Kiefer Sutherland calls DUI a dumb mistake, plans “24” TV movie with Jolie dad Jon Voight
By Brian Frederick for Hollywood Today

BEVERLY HILLS, CA (RUSHPRNEWS) 7/16/08 – – “I was grateful to have had that opportunity,” said Kiefer Sutherland. Sutherland, 41, spent 48 days in jail during the writer’s strike for DUI. The sobering Sutherland said, “It was a dumb mistake.”

Sutherland is in town at the Television Critics Association (TCA) to promote the hit TV drama, ‘24’ which restarts the series on November 23 beginning with a two hour movie ’24: Exile.’ Sutherland stars as the stories protagonist, special agent Jack Bauer for the Counter Terrorist Unit. The movie sets the foundation for the seventh season which begins in January.

The two hour special plays-out on civil war factions in Africa who recruit children to fight. Children as young as seven are taught to shoot machine guns and kill. Jack, while looking for a place to be at peace, finds himself in Africa. While in Africa, Jack is subpoenaed by the Senate but doesn’t want to go. Producers struggled with filming most of the story in Africa because they could not easily explain any time lapse for Jack’s return to Washington.

Sutherland was said by his colleagues on the set of ‘24’ that Kiefer “was looking healthy and fit and was eager to be back at work.”

Kiefer met with several reporters in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hilton while at the TCA. “I made a really dumb mistake and to be able to go back to work is something that I feel comfortable doing and it’s a safe place for me…ah… and I was grateful to have that opportunity and I’ve had very good friends that have made similar mistakes and have not been that lucky. So I was very aware of how lucky I was to have had that opportunity,” said Sutherland.

Angelina Jolie’s father, Academy Award winner, Jon Voight, 69, will star as the main villain in season seven of ’24.’ ’24: Exile’ brings seasons six and seven together with the back-story of Jack brought to trial for his unjust actions as a special agent for the TCU. Don’t look for Jack to be working for the TCU anymore since it was eliminated by the government in season six. The new season brings the first female president to the series and Jack Bauer saving the world without the TCU.