What would other people consider to be your greatest virtue?
I would hope it would be honesty. I’m pretty straight. In Hollywood it might be a detriment but certainly in life it counts for a lot.
Which book have you read most often?
To Kill A Mockingbird. I like everything about it: its main point, which was just confronting the lack of equality certainly in the context of African Americans in that book, but also her descriptive talent as a writer. The opening of that book, and I’m paraphrasing: you can see the mirage of heat coming off the black pavement as the black dog walks across the road. Instantly I’m in Georgia – I can feel the summer and the humidity from the descriptive tone of her writing.
What is your greatest fear?
It’s certainly not dying. I think probably being a disappointment, whether it’s someone who I’m close to or… period. That’s a constant fear every day, either of failure or disappointing or letting someone down. I’ve had that as long as I can remember.
Why do you not fear death?
It comes with the territory doesn’t it - it’s the one common denominator that we have regardless of faith, regardless of colour, regardless of gender. No-one gets out of this alive. It’s just a lot easier to accept that and then it’s just a question of when, and you try to make it last as long as you can. I’ve understood that as well from a very early age. It’s not something I concern myself with a lot.
That sounds liberating.
I do remember thinking as a kid that the ultimate control would be to pick the day and then you have this schedule – a timeframe within which to accomplish certain things. When I was quite young I picked 27. I remember when I was 26 I was going oh god I wish I could take that back. I love life, make no mistake about it, but on some level it is liberating just the acceptance and the knowledge that there is no getting around that one.
What is the strangest rumour you’ve ever heard about yourself?
It wasn’t a rumour but the strangest experience I’ve had with that was there was a female DJ in Boston who had her boyfriend calling up the radio station and broadcasting that he was me and that we were having an affair. That kind of pissed me off, because the guy was pretending that I didn’t like my kids and all this kind of stuff. They were a couple and they were just doing it for airtime – I had a couple of number one films out at the time. So I had to put a stop to that.
I was looking at your IMDB earlier - you’ve done over 100 things…
I discovered early in life that if I’ve got too much time on my hands, I will fuck up.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Guitars. At one time I had close to 100 guitars; now I’m down to about 20. I have two 1954 Les Paul Juniors which are really valuable, one’s a TV Yellow, one’s a sunburst. A ‘59 Strat – it’s very valuable. I think guitars would be it. When I was younger, in my early twenties, I liked cars. Nicest car I ever had was an Aston Martin, a DB7 and a DB9. Now I just have an old Bronco. The guitars are my favourite thing.
How come you slimmed down the guitar collection?
Because if you can’t play them all, you’re an ass, and I couldn’t play them all. I got down to four that I take on the road and the others I use for recording, but I actually use them all.
Who owes you an apology?
[Laughs]. Oh gosh, I’m going to have to come back to that one.
What was the most memorable phone call of your life?
I made a film called I Trust You To Kill Me, which was a documentary about a band that I had signed to Ironworks, a label that I had. In that documentary I was the tour manager and it was not the most flattering look at either myself or road life or anything like that. So I was quite nervous about putting it out. I got a call from someone in the states that it had been reviewed really well in the Hollywood Reporter. The relief of that was quite something. I remember it led to a lot of day drinking and a very funny train trip from Paris to London.
What’s the first song you want played at your funeral
Paul McCartney, "Don’t Let Me Down".
When was the last time you were in a police station?
Probably easier to say the last time I was in jail. So that would have been 2008.
What was that experience like?
Well, it’s designed not to make you want to go back, so it sucks.
Being well-known in that context - did that make it difficult or was that helpful?
They don’t want anything to happen to you so you get your own cell at least, so that’s kind of good.
But then you’re on your own a lot. Is that hard?
No. I did, the last time, three months. You just kind of feel stupid for why you’re there in the first place [drink driving] and try and learn from it and try and do better, but you’ve got three months to feel really stupid.
Did you give yourself a ‘project’ for while you were inside?
I did, I thought I’d get in shape because you always see everybody get in shape in prison. It’s bullshit. You can’t. I remember trying to do a push-up in my cell and it didn’t matter what angle I was at, your head ends up in the toilet. I got some reading done. And again it was so stupid why I went, and I was so stupid for screwing up, it just gave me some time to put some things in perspective and try and use that time for something positive and figure out how to not do that again.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Roadwork. Fixing potholes in California on the Pacific Coast Highway, and that’s just not fun at all, with tar and all that shit. I was 19 – I had gotten in trouble, I was working for the county for the summer. It wasn’t great.
If you had married your childhood sweetheart, how would that have worked out?
I actually think about that a lot. I have such fond memories of her and that time period. I had met her through my brother, who was dating her sister, and she and I went out for a couple of years. I think we would have done well. I often think if I had just stayed home and got a regular job, that certain things in my life would have actually worked out maybe better. But I didn’t. I often think about her and that question, and I think we would have been good.
Are you still in touch with her?
No.
If you hadn’t gone into acting and music, what would you have done?
I know for a fact. I left school when I was very young so I’d be laying phone cable in Northern Ontario. That would have been about the best job I could have got.
Have you ever had a recurring dream?
The only recurring dream that I’ve had and I finally figured it out, is that I would be in a fight and every time I went to punch the other person my punch was just so soft and inadequate. I realised I was sleeping on my hands.
What is your most unpopular opinion that you stand by?
Disco sucks.
What does the future hold for Kiefer Sutherland?
Season three of Designated Survivor is coming out in June, and right now I’m just going to tour until Christmas.
Kiefer Sutherland's new album Reckless & Me is out now