Kiefer Sutherland: My Pompeii Character Is A Parody Of My Father (exclusive)

Kiefer Sutherland, the villain in new disaster flick ‘Pompeii’, says he drew inspiration for the conniving Senator Corvus from somewhere very close to home.

His father, Donald Sutherland.

Yahoo was keen to learn where Corvus’ camp, theatrical voice came from, and he was happy to share as you can see in our exclusive video above.

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“I think I did a parody of my father. Whenever you go to something that kind of intimidates yourself, it usually has to do with your family,” Kiefer explains.

“I think I mimicked my dad a little bit [In ‘Pompeii’]”

Set against the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, ‘Pompeii’ is the story of Milo (Kit Harrington ), a slave-turned-gladiator who fights to save Cassia (Emily Browning), from the clutches of Sutherland’s corrupt senator Corvus, as the world around him falls apart. Think ‘Titanic’ meets ‘Dante’s Peak’.

[Hollywood offspring out to emulate their parents' success]

Sutherland describes his character as “deliciously evil”, the kind of part he relishes playing because they give him more to sink his teeth into.

“As much as I’ll tell you that I will always choose [parts based on] the story, rather than the character, the ‘bad’ characters are often written more interestingly,” he tells us.

It seems villainy runs in the family, as Kiefer’s father Donald Sutherland is currently enjoying a late resurgence in his career thanks to his role in the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise.

He plays the evil President Snow, the man obsessed with taking down the insurgent Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence.

‘Pompeii’ hits cinemas Wednesday 30 April, in eye-popping 3D.