"I've made films that I've given all I had to, that no one has seen. The bottom line is I want to work and I want someone to enjoy it. An actor would be lying if they told you there wasn't a difference between a half full and a full house and what that will do to your performance. The fact that you know that on any given night 20 million people are going to watch what you do makes you excited when you're working."

"My mind went totally blank and my body went numb. It was a very surreal moment....It was a great night. I admit I felt really cocky for about 24 hours, and then I had to go back to work" - on winning the 2001 Best Actor Golden Globe

"It's funny because I'm strongly opposed to the death penalty, and I don't believe in 'acceptable losses'. It's complicated for me to play this character, because, unlike a film, I don't know the end but I want a situation to arise within the show where he's actually confronted with a lot of the things he's done" - on Bauer's trigger-happy nature

“One of the big draws of the show is here’s a guy who is ordinary in a lot of ways but, due to his profession, he’s placed in extraordinary situations that he has to make right with action and with thought. That’s what is appealing about Jack—he takes charge.”

"One thing that moved me to tears was a news clip of three firemen carrying equipment up the stairs of the World Trade Center. They had a look of determination on their faces that was one of the most honorable things I'd ever seen. That unquestioning dedication to duty is something I would love to instill in this character."

"I couldn't figure out or try to justify how insignificant I felt about making movies or television in the wake of that kind of tragedy, especially compared to the firefighters and the police officers and the schoolteachers and the people that actually make our society move. About three weeks after the terrorist attacks, somebody came up to me and said, 'Oh man, I can't wait to see 24" and I almost looked at him and said, 'How could you talk about something so stupid at such a time?' Then I realized - and this took me the rest of the day to figure out - how could you not? You start to look forward to things that will take your mind off of it. So you start again to find your place."

"Stephen Hopkins, who directed 24, has never made television before. I've never made television before. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.We went to the premiere, and they did a fantastic party the night it aired. And we're sitting there watching, and I was like, well, okay, that went well. That played okay. Boom! A commercial came on and Stephen was stilted for a moment. He looked over his shoulder and said [in an English accent] 'I'd like a double Vodka on the Rocks.' And I said, "I'll have what he's having"

ON DIRECTING:

"Directing is an extension of my thoughts of an actor. I couldn't direct a film like Dark City. I don't have the kind of vision that Alex Proyas, or a guy like Spielberg, has. That imaginative, visual scope. They get on a computer and do weirdish shit, and I can't even turn a computer on. The things I like to make are very focused, character driven pieces. Ordinary People, that's a film I would like to make."

"I got beaten up badly on Woman Wanted with Holly Hunter. I was re-cut without my permission, distrubutors didn't do what they promised. The result was a mess after a solid year of my life. It's a nasty world out there. The top end of any industry is cutthroat, without honour. People lie straight to your face, with a smile. Los Angeles is like an adult Vegas to me - eventually you lose. You have to know when to walk from the table, and two years ago I did."

ON THE PRESS:

"There's a lot of conflicts that come along with being in the public eye. One of the great things that's come out of the last half-year of my life, including this last mess, is that I didn't realize how fortunate I was with how I feel about what I do. What's more, I get paid very well to do it. So if I have to take a bop in the face every once in a while from people that I don't even know, then I'II take it."

"Aside from what was printed about me during the breakup with Julia, I've been treated very well by the press. I've done some dumb things, and people have laughed at me. But if I get nailed for something stupid, I'd better be ready to laugh at it or I learned nothing while I was away"

"When Julia and I broke up and I was really scared to go into a market or anywhere because I thought, 'Oh God, everyone must hate me.' And that wasn't the case. People said, 'I'm sorry this happened, man. Are you alright'? They were people I didn't know. Later, I found out that nobody ever really gave a shit at all. They were so glad it wasn't happening to them. It was never as big a deal as you make it in your own head and I learned that. That was a really valuable lesson. The rest, you take it in stride."

"I like chatting with people. If people ask me a direct question, I give them a direct answer and I feel I've always done that with the press"

ON HIS PARENTS:

"She's very smart, very committed and a very tough lady. She was recently awarded the Order of Canada, the highest honor you can receive. My mother's five-foot-two, and I'll be honest with you - she's the only person I'm scared of."

"The most significant piece of advice my father gave me early on about acting was, don't get caught acting. Really believe in what you're doing and then commit to it. Even if it

feels uncomfortable, even if you feel that you're gonna look like an ass. It's all acting, but find the truth in a moment as opposed to just pretending you have and rather than trying to act your way out of it"

"There are a lot of mannerisms that we share. It's an aspect of DNA that I find really spooky"

"I've had some amazing people in my life. Look at my father - he came from a small fishing village of five hundred people and at six foot four with giant ears and a kind of very odd expression, thought he could be a movie star. So go figure, you know? There are pictures of him when he was eighteen or nineteen years old. He didn't look like Robert Redford or Paul Newman, the ideal. The idea that he had the effrontery to go to England and pursue that dream, that's an amazing thing."

"I'm not that complicated as an actor. I have a formula in which I work, yeah. But not like Sean Penn does. Sean is one of the few actors I know who can work like that, actually becoming the character he is playing, and get consistent results. I don't believe you can ever be someone else. You manifest different levels of your own personality to come up with a character. If you play a deaf mute, you pull out that aspect of your personality. If you play an asshole, you pull that out."

"I think all of us thought we were going to be around forever, I've never been a great career planner. As I said, there are a lot of movies I'd like to throw away. That's not to say that I went in with that attitude. Any film I ever started, I went in with all the hope and best intentions in the world, but some films don't just work. If I had thought a little more about what I was getting into, I would have known that. I love to work. I love what I do. But you can do too much."

"After ten years, I began not to wear LA so well, I was tired and unhappy with my work. I made films back to back for two years, 14 hours a day, one day off a week, because of this pervasive fear you don't know how long work will last. Whenever you're fortunate it spawns insecurities that it might all end tomorrow. I was also tired of my behaviour. I don't regret any of it except I should I have spent more time with Sarah (my daughter) There are still moments, after a good night out with the fellas, when I think, 'Stop it. You're too old for this."

"I know the camera only sees a part of me, and how to work that, so when its broadcast you'll forget how silly it look in reality. I hate watching myself because I always think I was doing something different than shows on screen. When I direct a film I'm acting in, my part is the first to get shorter. It flies away."

ON WOMEN:

"I think the most attractive thing (in a woman) is a sense of humour. If someone can make you laugh, you've gotten a lot out of the way"

"I think that the day you've figured out the differences between women and men is the day that you're no longer attracted to women. It's the difference that is so fantastic and frustrating and angering, and really sexy

"I don't rule it [marriage] out. And who knows, the third time just might be the charm. I'm really a hopeless romantic at heart - or maybe I'm just hopeless"

ON HIS DAUGHTER, SARAH:

I could talk about that [fatherhood] forever. From the fear of it, to the joy of it, to the fear of it, to how much it made me laugh, to the fear of it. I was 20 years old when I had a child and I was too young. I remember apologizing to my daughter when she was about 14 and saying, I'm sorry we had to raise each other. She said, 'Dad, it's all right. I wouldn't want it any other way,' and I just lost it outside of Hamburger Hamlet. I was just really lucky. We have always been really close.

"She's listens to what is happening right now in pop, a meld of hip-hop. I listen to Bad Company and AC/DC" he laughs "We went to an Incubus concert together recently and she screamed in a way I never knew she had. That was a wake-up call"

"I once picked Sarah up from school and swore to myself in the car saying 'Oh my God, I'm such an asshole.' I looked back and she was in shock. I said 'Oh honey, I'm so sorry, Daddy sometimes swears' And she said, "You could never be that.' I was like..." and he scrunches his eyes as though about to bawl. "She killed me right there, and she's always been like that. In a weird way we raised each other. But I missed a lot and it takes you a while to realize that you're never gonna make that up."

"It took me a very long time to realize I needed to be a responsible father and make her a major part of my life. I learn new, amazing things about her every day. Once, she made a [ceramic] cup for me, and I realized she had a grasp of sarcasm when she wrote, 'My daddy is a saint.' Obviously she was joking!"

"She's a pretty cool musician, and we play chess a lot too. If I can hang out with her and her friends, then I'm lucky. Life's kind of moving on."

"She is actually a very talented young actor. Though it took me a while to deal with that fact. I can't figure out whether it's my own ego that's saying, 'This is what I do' or if it's a parental fear of 'Please, baby, you don't want to do this; there's nothing but heartbreak'. At a point, you become much better off supporting someone in their desire, whether you think it's right or wrong. She's good at it, and she enjoys it. If she chooses to become serious about it, I think I would be supportive. I hope I would."

[Kiefer's Quotes] - [What His 24 Co-Stars Are Saying] - [What Others Are Saying]

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