Kiefer Sutherland recently found himself in a whimsical role, donning blue eyeshadow and a bell boy hat as Buttons, declaring it to be “the best time I’ve ever had.” Yet, it’s not Sutherland himself but his character, Bradley Mack, who makes this declaration. Mack, a faded Hollywood action hero, is compelled to take on a part in a British pantomime in Sutherland’s latest film, “Tinsel Town.”

The movie, a lighthearted Christmas comedy, mirrors some aspects of Sutherland’s own life, drawing parallels between Mack’s dwindling career and the actor’s recent trajectory. This film sees Sutherland stepping into a genre he hasn’t explored extensively, aside from his brief appearance in “Zoolander 2.” It stands in stark contrast to his celebrated roles as the intrepid Jack Bauer in “24” and the decisive President Tom Kirkman in “Designated Survivor.”

“Tinsel Town” is the newest addition to a series of less-than-stellar roles that have marked the past decade for the 59-year-old actor. This comes on the heels of his recent run-in with the law; earlier this week, Sutherland was arrested following an incident involving an alleged assault on a driver, according to reports from the Los Angeles Police Department.

This cheesy Christmas comedy (his first foray into the genre if you don’t count his cameo in Zoolander 2) couldn’t be further from his lauded roles as master sniper Jack Bauer in 24, or US President Tom Kirkman in Designated Survivor.

Tinsel Town marks the latest in a decade of underwhelming roles for the 59-year-old actor, who was arrested earlier this week after reports of a driver being assaulted, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

In fact, Sutherland, who has a handful of industry awards to his name, has appeared in a string of productions so bad that some haven’t even managed to gross enough to be tracked by major box office sites.

So, what happened?

In recent years Kiefer Sutherland has lent himself to productions so bad that some haven’t even managed to gross enough to be tracked by major box office sites

One of his latest roles was Tinsel Town, a Christmas comedy that saw him playing a washed up action hero who is forced to take a role as Buttons in a British pantomime (pictured)

One insider told the Daily Mail: ‘Kiefer has been looking for that one role since 24 that challenges him and takes him on an acting journey, as he has always wanted to have a similar career to his father Donald.

‘He thought he had it with Designated Survivor, but that then ended too, and he thought he was going to have it with roles he inevitably ended up not getting. He doesn’t deal well with loss. He’s been working in Hollywood for decades, but he still struggles with landing roles that mean something to him.’

As the son of the late Hollywood legend Donald Sutherland and late actress Shirley Douglas (whose father was a former Member of the House of Commons in Canada), it was perhaps a given that as an acting nepo baby, Sutherland was destined for the big screen.

He first came to public attention in the 1980s, with roles in movies including The Bad Boy (1984) and coming-of-age hit Stand By Me (1986). Soon followed The Lost Boys (1987), Young Guns (1988), Flatliners (1990), A Few Good Men (1992) and The Three Musketeers (1993).

But real success came in 2001 when he landed the role of Jack Bauer – a Counter Terrorist Unit agent in Los Angeles not averse to using torture to thwart major threats to the U.S – in gritty Fox drama, 24.

Sutherland was TV’s golden boy, tallying up award nominations and wins faster than Bauer did kills. He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal, as well as two SAG Awards, first in 2004 and again in 2006. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was added to the achievements in 2008.

It couldn’t be further from his lauded roles as master sniper Jack Bauer in 24 (pictured), or US President Tom Kirkman in Designated Survivor

‘Kiefer has been looking for that one role since 24 that challenges him and takes him on an acting journey, as he has always wanted to have a similar career to his father Donald,’ a source told the Daily Mail (pictured with his father in 2008)

‘He thought he had it with Designated Survivor, but that then ended too, and he thought he was going to have it with roles he inevitably ended up not getting. He doesn’t deal well with loss’ (pictured in Designated survivor)

By 2009 he was America’s highest paid TV actor, allegedly raking in $550,000 per episode of the anti-terrorist thriller, which he also executive produced, in a $30 million three-season deal, signed with 20th Century Fox Television in 2006.

Not a bad stint for someone who very nearly quit during the first season when filming was interrupted by 9/11, and surely the perfect springboard for Sutherland to compete with Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Not quite.

Aside from a role in Lars von Trier’s Melancholia in 2011 and the lead in Netflix’s political thriller Designated Survivor, Sutherland has struggled to land big roles in the last decade – something of which he is painfully aware.

‘After 24, I thought I would just naturally have a bunch of opportunities staring me in the face,’ he told the Independent in December. ‘But the truth is, if you don’t create those opportunities, they’re just not there. As someone who likes to work, there have been times when I haven’t worked for a while – because I didn’t do a lot of the planning that’s required.’

He added: ‘I’m sliding into 60 years old at 100 miles an hour and I’m acutely aware of the fact that people cared more about what I thought when I was 30 than they do now.’

Tinsel Town, which had no cinema release in the US and went straight to TV in the UK, reportedly took just over $30,000 worldwide, while action thriller, Stone Cold Fox, in which he starred alongside a bunch of nobodies by Hollywood standards, didn’t gross enough to be tracked by major box office sites. Both were released in November.

Other less successful hits include 2023’s They Cloned Tyrone and The Contractor – a box office bomb which grossed around $2.1 million worldwide against an estimated $40-50 million budget on its release in 2022. Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 45 per cent, with an average rating of 5.8/10.

He first came to public attention in the 1980s, with roles in The Bad Boy (1984) and 1986 coming-of-age hit Stand By Me (pictured) which was directed by his friend Rob Reiner

But roles have been notably underwhelming, especially in the last decade. Tinsel Town, which had no cinema release in the US and went straight to TV in the UK in December 2025, reportedly took just over $30,000 worldwide

TV miniseries The Fugitive in 2020 also failed to ignite with an approval rating of 20 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes 

His 2020, TV miniseries, The Fugitive, also failed to ignite with an approval rating of 20 per cent on the review site.

Online discussions about his career trajectory suggest he was ‘typecast’ and has never showed ‘any real range.’ Others have suggested he would have had more success rebranding as a voice actor: ‘He could have done very well to do what Mark Hamill did and rebrand himself as a premium voice actor. Imagine him in Invincible, a Batman series, etc.’

According to our insider: ‘He’s had amazing opportunities and is very thankful for them, but he has always thought that he would have had so much more. That has been a grind for him to deal with lately. Accepting the lows of a career that has had many highs has been challenging. 

‘He’s pitching himself for various films, looking to do more TV, having meetings and is listening to anything that comes his way. He isn’t desperate to just do anything but would do a favor movie to get to do something he would want to, but he is being selective. 

‘The only worry he has right now is that he would like things to be a little more consistent but offers aren’t nonexistent. He’s also one who can’t believe he’s almost 60 years old. Life moves fast and he is realizing that increasingly each day.’

His latest arrest will do little to help any plans to reignite his waning career, with Sutherland no doubt keen for the attention to subside before he starts promotion on Luc Besson’s Father Joe, in which he stars with Al Pacino, and Hour of Reckoning which will see him take the lead.

The twice married actor and father-of-one who is now engaged to Cindy Vela, was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning on suspicion of criminal threats after reports of an ‘assault involving a rideshare driver.’

He was released after seven hours on a $50,000 bond, according to LA Sheriff’s Department records seen by the Daily Mail. An initial court date for the case has been set for February 2.

The actor, who has three birds tattooed on his right arm to represent each of his stints behind bars, has spent years juggling his career with multiple run-ins with the law.

Sutherland has spent years juggling his career with run-ins with the law. He has been arrested multiple times for DUIs, and was sentenced to 48 days in jail for one of them in 2007 (pictured with a Golden Globe in 2004)

He was arrested for DUI and carrying a loaded weapon in January 1989. He pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving, leading to the weapons charge being dropped.

In January 1993 he pleaded no contest to a DUI charge, resulting in a violation where he chose over 200 hours of community service instead of a short jail sentence. History repeated itself again in 2004 when he was arrested for a DUI in California, pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge, resulting in five years probation, 50 hours of community service and an alcohol treatment program.

Come September 2007, he found himself arrested for DUI again, violating the terms of his probation. He pleaded no contest that December and was sentenced to 48 days in jail. He served his sentence at the Glendale City Jail, where he was reportedly assigned to laundry and kitchen duties. He also received five years probation, was fined and ordered to complete an 18-month alcohol education program and attend weekly therapy sessions.

He turned himself into the NYPD in May 2009 for headbutting fashion designer Jack McCollough at a nightclub in New York City. Weeks later Sutherland and McCollough issued a joint statement, through Sutherland’s attorney, in which he apologized. Misdemeanor assault charges were then dropped.

In 2020 he was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence after police said he made an illegal U-turn in Hollywood. The outcome was not made public.

The exhaustive list highlights his ongoing battle with alcohol, something he has talked openly about in the past.

‘It’s something I’ve always enjoyed,’ he told Entertainment Weekly in November 2016. ‘I was never the guy if something was wrong in my life I didn’t go drown my sorrows I was the other one and trust me I’ve had an extraordinary life and one of the things I like to do is go out with my friends and tell stories and have a bunch of drinks. 

‘Having said that I can also look back on my life and tell you very squarely that the only bad things that have ever happened to me in my life have been because I like to go to bars and have drinks with my friends so that’s kind of been a push and pull all of my life.

‘I would rather work really hard so I could still have some of those times than to just simply stop and that’s a choice I’ve made and I live with that choice.’

Keeping off the bottle is an ongoing battle for Sutherland, who has also struggled with his father’s death in recent years (he died in 2024) and the shock death of Rob Reiner, a dear friend and mentor who directed him in Stand by Me.

The body of the prolific filmmaker and his wife Michele’s were found with ‘multiple sharp force injuries’ at their Los Angeles home on December 14. Their son Nick Reiner was later arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and has since appeared in court.

‘Keifer’s had his issues with alcohol and it is something he fights every day,’ our insider said. ‘That challenge gets harder when life throws difficulties – the passing of his father and he has been hurt over Rob Reiner’s death, who was such a mentor and guiding light for his life and career. Plus getting older is just not fun.

‘It is not all doom and gloom for Kiefer but he’s been going through it and it hasn’t been the New Year he was anticipating but, once all the details come to light with the incident with the rideshare driver, he’s confident that he’ll come out of it all.

‘Kiefer is intense, but he is a very loving guy and most people that cross his path only have kind words to say about him.’

Perhaps in the coming months the veteran star will want to draw on his Tinsel Town alter ego who, Sutherland said, is ‘not a bad person.’

‘He’s just behaving badly and there’s still a chance that, in the right circumstances, surrounded by the right people, he can find his better self.’