By Scott Campbell
Morgan Kohan loves filming Sullivan’s Crossing on the East Coast of Canada.
“It’s been such a dream,” she said on a phone interview. “It’s so beautiful out there. It is such a character of the show itself, you know?”
“To get to be there, immersed in it, is magic. There’s nothing like it. The community is wonderful. The people, the humour, the beauty, the landscape.”
A CTV drama, Sullivan’s Crossing is set around the fictional town of Timberlake, Nova Scotia. CTV notes production takes place in communities like Halifax, Hubbards, Sackville, Mount Uniake, and Mi’kmaq First Nations territories.
“We film in like a forty-minute radius of Halifax,” said Kohan, “We get to see all the sights. Anywhere outside is my favourite place to film.”
A 10-episode season, she added, takes at least four months to four and a half months to complete.
Sullivan’s Crossing is an adaptation of the novels by author Robyn Carr. The same team is behind the popular Netflix series Virgin River, another show inspired by a different set of Carr’s books.
For those unfamiliar, Sullivan’s Crossing begins with neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan (Kohan), whose life takes an unexpected turn in Boston. She returns to her childhood home, Sullivan’s Crossing, a Nova Scotia campground run by her estranged father, Sully. There, Maggie meets newcomer Cal Jones (Chad Michael Murray).
Murray is not Canadian, of course, he grew up in Buffalo.
“I’m as Canadian as an American can get,” said Murray.
He named Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey as his favourite Canadian actors. Kohan grew up listening to Alanis Morissette.
“My mom played her in the car all the time,” she said.
Kohan also grew up in Summerland, British Columbia. She said her first union job was on CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries.
“First off, I love filming in Canada,” said Murray.
He noted that CW series Riverdale was filmed in Vancouver and says his first-ever acting role, which took him to work in Canada.
“I could be wrong,” he quipped.
He’s snowboarded in Whistler, visited Edmonton, Toronto, and now Nova Scotia.
“And Halifax,” he said, “I do have to say is my favourite at this point, and I don’t want to pick favourites, but it just feels like home.”
Season 4 brings out some new additions to the show, which Kohan said she was excited for the audience to see. There’s Jonathan Silverman, Glenn Gold, Colby Frost, Marcus Rosner, Emerson McNeil and Fuad Ahmed.
They join Tom Jackson and Andrea Menard. Rosner plays Liam, Maggie’s ex-husband, who stirs things up while Cal questions his motives for being in Nova Scotia.
“Cal’s put in a really difficult position this year,” said Murray, “Having to deal with something that no matter how comfortable you are, you’re always gonna be affected by an ex-lover or husband in the picture.”
Kohan empathized with Maggie and her story from the very beginning, and has a love for the small-town community aspect of the show.
“It’s been such a wonderful surprise,” said Kohan, “in how much it’s exploded and how many people it’s reached. To see the growth of it…and kind of the range of people that reach out and who really resonate with the show.”
Sullivan’s Crossing’s fourth season premiered on March 22. Production company Fremantle has sold the series internationally into more than 180 territories. It debuted #3 on the Netflix Global English TV Top 10 list, and airs in the U.S. on The CW.
“It’s so cool to know that we set out with this little show,” said Murray. “…meeting people now all over the world who are watching it and taking it in. Bringing these characters into their home and everything like that. That’s why you do it. You want to do it, so that you can share with people.”
“I wanted a show that didn’t feel like it was too gratuitous,” he said. “That families could watch all around the world, that people could connect to…”
Season 4 of Sullivan’s Crossing airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on CTV and streams the next day on Crave.