One of the most memorable involves a role he declined on the hit series “24,” despite the chance to work alongside his son, Kiefer Sutherland. As previously informed by ScreenRant, Donald turned down the opportunity because he objected to the father-son dynamic at the heart of the storyline.
The Canadian actor, who died on June 20, 2024, built one of the most celebrated careers in film history, appearing in classics ranging from “MASH*” and “Don’t Look Now” to “Ordinary People” and “The Hunger Games” franchise.
Donald Sutherland Didn’t Want His First Major Collaboration With Kiefer to Be an Enemy Role
By the sixth season of “24,” Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer had become one of television’s most recognizable protagonists. When the series introduced Bauer’s father, Phillip Bauer, Kiefer reportedly hoped the role could be played by his own father.
Donald Sutherland was open to the idea at first. However, after reading the script, he discovered that Phillip Bauer was not a sympathetic father figure but one of the season’s principal villains. The character ultimately becomes involved in a conspiracy that puts Jack Bauer’s life at risk, turning the relationship into a bitter conflict rather than a family partnership.
According to accounts of the casting process, Donald suggested a different direction for the characters. He reportedly liked the idea of appearing opposite Kiefer but envisioned a relationship closer to the one shared by Sean Connery and Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” where tensions existed but father and son ultimately worked together.
The producers chose to keep Phillip Bauer as an antagonist, and Donald declined the role. The part eventually went to James Cromwell, whose performance became a key component of the season’s storyline.
The decision remains one of the more revealing anecdotes from Donald Sutherland’s long career. Although he later appeared alongside Kiefer in the 2015 revisionist western “Forsaken,” he was unwilling to make their first major father-son pairing revolve around a parent plotting against his own child.
