Kiefer Sutherland denies rumour he was a bully on set of Stand by Me

Kiefer Sutherland has laid to rest rumours of him being a bully on the set of the 1986 film Stand By Me.

Sutherland, known to many for playing federal agent Jack Bauer in all nine seasons of 24, had one of his first film roles in the coming-of-age drama, directed by Rob Reiner.

As gang leader John “Ace” Merrill, Sutherland, now 57, was an ominous presence on screen and terrorised a group of younger boys, played by Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell.

During an appearance on US chat show The Talk on Thursday (11 April), the Designated Survivor star responded to a viral social media rumour that claims he stayed in character while the cameras weren’t rolling and bullied his younger castmates.

Co-host Natalie Morales asked: “‘Stand By Me fact – to keep in character while off camera, Kiefer Sutherland often picked on Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell.’ True or not true?”

“Absolutely not true,” Sutherland replied, before stating that he didn’t operate that way as a performer.

“First of all, I’m not that kind of actor and I wouldn’t want to be that kind of person. I spent a lot of time with River Phoenix because we both played guitar, and so that was kind of an ‘in’ to him. Even though I was seven years older, we were both beginning, right? And so there was a lot of discussion about ‘How do you develop a character? What is your process?’”

Fellow Stand by Me star O’Connell, 50, was also present as a co-host of The Talk, and Sutherland expressed his regret that they were not able to work together more closely.

“We didn't get to work together,” he said. “I think one of things that's been frustrating for me when I think about Stand By Me, is they always ask me what everybody else was like... we really only had the one big scene at the end where Wil Wheaton pulls the gun and I had to run away like a girl.”

O’Connell then revealed that he felt intimidated by Sutherland due to him being seven years older than he was.

“You were 17 when you did Stand By Me? I felt like you were like 40... I just thought you were the most grown-up person,” O’Connell admitted.

“Now I will say that Kiefer did not bully us, there was no bullying. But Kiefer, I was so scared of you.”

Back in 2021, O’Connell responded to the X (formerly Twitter) post that claimed Sutherland “picked on” his younger colleagues.

However, instead of debunking it outright, the presenter replied in jest, writing, “Yes but we can take him now. Anytime. Any place.”