Kiefer Sutherland Reflects On DUI Arrest

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Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland's booking photo, December 5, 2007

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FIRST PUBLISHED: July 16, 2008 2:44 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: July 16, 2008 3:24 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Kiefer Sutherland has said he was “lucky” to get back to work, following his DUI arrest and jail sentence last year.

Sutherland, the star of “24,” was arrested in September 2007 on suspicion of DUI. The actor later pled no contest to the charge and spent the holidays behind bars.

At a Television Critics Association conference in Beverly Hills earlier this week, the actor told reporters he knew he was lucky to be able to return to work.

“I made a really dumb mistake, and to be able to go back to work, which is something I feel comfortable doing, it’s a safe place for me, I was grateful to have that opportunity,” he told the press, according to People. “I’ve had very good friends that have made similar mistakes and have not been that lucky. So, I was very aware of how lucky I was to have that opportunity.”

Sutherland’s jail sentence coincided with the writer’s strike last year.

“It made what I had to do – obviously a very stupid thing that I did – it made that easier because I could go and the show was not affected by it,” Sutherland said.

Sutherland is set to star in a special two-hour prequel to the seventh season of “24,” airing on Fox November 23. Season 7 of “24” returns to Fox in 2009.

In related news, Wired reported that Sutherland has been confirmed as the voice of one of the main characters in “Call of Duty: World At War,” an Activision video game.