{"id":158473,"date":"2025-11-28T19:02:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T19:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/158473\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T19:02:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T19:02:08","slug":"oh-yes-he-is-kiefer-sutherland-dives-into-the-world-of-panto-kiefer-sutherland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/158473\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh yes he is! Kiefer Sutherland dives into the world of panto | Kiefer Sutherland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-odd years ago, I binged a TV series on DVD for the first time. At my mate\u2019s house in a village outside Harrogate, I was glued to Jack Bauer<\/a> shooting his way through 24<\/a>. We probably only made it to episode six before surrendering to sleep for school the next day.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the start of this year, and photos are all over the local news of Kiefer Sutherland<\/a> out and about in nearby market towns Knaresborough and Wetherby. The real Jack Bauer in Yorkshire! He and Rebel Wilson are in the area making Tinsel Town, a British Christmas film about pantomimes. By March, I am invited to a Leeds studio, where they are filming, and find Sutherland dressed as Buttons on a stage. His glittery eyeshadow shimmers as he smiles and dances to Katy Perry\u2019s Roar with the Cinderella cast. He repeats this showstopper scene about 15 times. It\u2019s a surreal full circle moment; I half expect him to pull a pistol out on the ugly stepsisters.<\/p>\n

Sutherland is in Paris when I explain the connection later. \u201cThat\u2019s very funny,\u201d the Canadian laughs down the phone. \u201cI ended up loving it; Leeds is a fantastic city.\u201d Locals might have spotted him on weekend walks around the university, or at the pub he filmed in. \u201cThey had regular customers in, and they were just being really nice.\u201d He also continued his obsession with Greggs sausage rolls, which started on tour with his band \u2013 \u201cit was like the heavens had opened up\u201d \u2013 and arranged for the bakers\u2019 van to visit the set. Does he have a gold card? \u201cI did for one tour. It was great, but I didn\u2019t use it. I could afford my own sausage roll and a Steak Bake!\u201d<\/p>\n

Setting the stage \u2026 Sutherland with Savannah Lee Smith and Lucien Laviscount in Tinsel Town. Photograph: Sky UK<\/p>\n

Tinsel Town is a feelgood family comedy, directed by Chris Foggin (Bank of Dave<\/a>, Fisherman\u2019s Friends<\/a>). Sutherland gamely leans into a meta role for it: Bradley Mack, a washed up Hollywood action star who thinks a stint in the West End will save his career. Except, when he arrives in England, he realises his stage debut will be in a small theatre production of Cinderella in a northern town called Stoneford. \u201cIt\u2019s funny to watch his descent into actor hell,\u201d says Sutherland. But it\u2019s moving, too, as Bradley realises he needs to get himself together for his semi-estranged daughter. \u201cIt\u2019s a lesson to a lot of parents out there who might actually be the children in that relationship. Certainly there were times where I could definitely say the same thing about myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, this is a very sweet call to arms to save pantomime \u2013 and a \u201cbooo!\u201d to anyone who sneers at it. The ensemble boasts stage icons such as Derek Jacobi<\/a> and Meera Syal<\/a>. \u201cMy first glimpse of theatre was attending panto at a little church group \u2013 there was nothing else to do in the village I grew up in,\u201d says Syal, taking a breather in her trailer on set. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget the feeling of the lights going down, the music starting, the actors coming on.\u201d She played Fairy Mermaid (\u201cobviously\u201d) in Birmingham Hippodrome\u2019s production of Peter Pan in 2018. \u201cWearing a fishtail three times a day \u2013 you really had to work out the toilet breaks. It\u2019s really hard work. But you get that joy of seeing kids absolutely spellbound. It\u2019s very life-affirming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panto isn\u2019t just about tradition \u2013 it keeps the arts financially afloat. \u201cThe revenue from those pantomimes keep those theatres going for the whole year,\u201d says eight-time Olivier award nominee Maria Friedman<\/a>. \u201cI haven\u2019t got enough time to tell you how dismayed I am about where the arts are \u2013 it\u2019s just terrifying.\u201d Friedman starred in Chicester Festivals\u2019s 1982 production of Jack and the Beanstalk with \u201cgreats of comedy\u201d Frankie Howerd and June Whitfield. In Tinsel Town she plays the fairy godmother. Her version of the classic panto goodie? \u201cShe loves a drink, she loves a joint, she\u2019s permanently on heat. She really feels she\u2019s in with a shot with Brad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Man and van \u2026 Sutherland with Rebel Wilson in Tinsel Town. Photograph: Matt Squire\/\u00a9 Sky UK<\/p>\n

Rebel Wilson cheerily walks on set at the end of the day in a green jumpsuit, charming the crew around her. She plays choreographer Jill, who champions the performance from the stage wings. And yes, she attempts a Yorkshire accent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Yorkshire accent is hard,\u201d Wilson admits to me later. \u201cBut I tried to do my best!\u201d (Last year, she confessed<\/a>: \u201cI don\u2019t think my Yorkshire accent is that great.\u201d) Her favourite bit of dialect? \u201cMy classic Yorkshire line was, \u2018Hiya luv!\u2019\u201d. She got into the local spirit by joining Sutherland in loving the local delicacies: \u201cI can\u2019t go past a Greggs sausage roll but I also like their doughnuts any time of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jill helps Bradley to embrace theatre life. \u201cIt was fantastic working with Rebel,\u201d says Sutherland. \u201cObviously her comedic skills are world renowned but she also brought real heart to the film. I don\u2019t want to speak for her, but I think it was exciting for her on that level.\u201d As well as singing a lively Christmas number for the first time in a film (a good use of his country music success), Sutherland shares a schmaltzy waltz with Wilson: \u201cIt was a bit foreign for both of us but I think we had fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson is no stranger to pantoland: \u201cI have fun memories of seeing pantomimes in Australia when I was a kid. They were on at our local Returned and Services League club \u2013 my relatives fought in the wars. My mum also said that when I was two, she took me to my first pantomime in Sydney. They asked for volunteers from the audience and I ran up on stage and sang a song. She was shocked. I was normally so shy.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was working with Hollywood stars in Yorkshire like for the rest of the British cast? By all accounts: lovely. \u201cKiefer actually told us about a great pie shop [in Wetherby],\u201d says Ray Fearon, who plays the baron. \u201cThe funniest moment was a scene with Mawaan<\/a> [Rizwan] driving a VW minibus,\u201d adds Lucien Laviscount<\/a>, who plays Prince Charming. \u201cKiefer was in the front seat \u2013 Mawaan hadn\u2019t driven manual for a good few years and tried to get the car started. We\u2019re all in stitches in the back and Kiefer\u2019s just breathing down his neck saying, \u2018More gas! More gas!\u2019 He stalled it about eight times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Worst fighters\u2019 \u2026 Sutherland fights Danny Dyer in Tinsel Town. Photograph: Sky UK<\/p>\n

However, the best scene for viewers is undoubtedly the pathetic scrap between Sutherland and Danny Dyer<\/a>, who plays Jill\u2019s troubled hard-man ex. \u201cDanny, I absolutely adore him,\u201d says Sutherland. \u201cHe\u2019s known as a tough guy in his films; I had 24 in my back pocket. It was just like, look, the way this is going to be funny is that these two guys really can\u2019t fight very well at all. They\u2019re the worst fighters on the planet but it ended up being one of my favourite fight sequences ever in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It was a bizarre moment for Foggin to direct: \u201cEveryone has to work with Danny Dyer: the love and enthusiasm he brings is just brilliant. Them two got on straight away. We filmed some scenes at [a] Wakefield theatre and in between rehearsals they would go off and fight with a stunt coordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foggin speaks from his Hertfordshire home over Zoom. After 2022\u2019s This Is Christmas, Tinsel Town is the second festive film from the director, who was born in Sunderland and grew up in Durham. Is he the northern Richard Curtis? \u201cHe\u2019s the reason I wanted to make movies. He\u2019s a bit of an idol to me,\u201d Foggin smiles. \u201cWhen I think of Christmas, I think of Love Actually. I always wanted to make something \u2013 and who knows if this is going to be that film \u2013 like that: without looking at the TV listings, no matter what happens, Love Actually is always replayed at some point in the Christmas period, and the whole family still gets together to watch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Always on the go \u2026 Sutherland as Jack Bauer in 24. Photograph: 20th Century Fox\/Allstar<\/p>\n

Sutherland was the first choice, says Foggin, and he immediately got the assignment: \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of [British] sensibilities.\u201d It makes sense: he was born in London and his grandparents were Scottish (his Falkirk-born politician grandfather, Tommy Douglas, went on to become the \u201cfather of universal healthcare\u201d in Canada), which means he\u2019s been back and forth all his life. Wilson, meanwhile, has spent a lot of time in the UK recently. Responding to reports that she has relocated to the Cotswolds, she says she remains rooted in LA. \u201cMy family and I love London,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve been getting into UK TV shows like Slow Horses and Downton Abbey (yes, I know I\u2019m a bit late) and the Celebrity Traitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

But hold on. Sutherland\u2019s transatlantic background makes an earlier revelation he made even more shocking: \u201cI\u2019ve never seen a pantomime. I was so bummed. We arrived in the first week of January. I dropped my bags off, went for a walk around town, and one of the first things I saw was a big poster for a pantomime. I got so excited: \u2018Oh my gosh, I\u2019m gonna go see the panto tonight!\u2019 It was a big part of my research. Of course, it had closed the night before.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always this year though, right? \u201cThat I will be able to do.\u201d First though, it\u2019s business as usual in Paris: \u201cI\u2019m about to go to a fight rehearsal for this film I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tinsel Town is on Sky Cinema from 5 December.<\/p>\n