Sullivan’s Crossing already has Us rooting for Maggie and Cal’s romance — and it all has to do with Morgan Kohan and Chad Michael Murray‘s onscreen chemistry.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Kohan, 29, discussed her experience working with Murray, 42, to bring the fictional romance to life.
“It was great. Chad is just such a kind and down-to-earth person,” the actress shared. “I really [have to] thank my parents for not allowing me to watch much TV growing up. So I didn’t have my Chad [freakout] when I first met him. It was really cool.”
Kohan continued: “It was like, ‘OK, here’s another actor who comes with such a history and knowledge.’ Knowing that I’m going to get to learn a lot from both [Chad and Scott Patterson] along the way was exciting. It was really exciting.”
Sullivan’s Crossing, which is based on a book series by Robyn Carr, follows neurosurgeon Maggie (Kohan) who must return to her hometown in rural Nova Scotia. She ends up reconnecting with her estranged father Sully (Patterson) while forming a bond with his coworker Cal (Murray).
After getting off to a rocky start, Kohan hinted that Maggie and Cal still have plenty of ups and downs ahead of them.
“That’s the thing I like about them is you can’t help but go, ‘Get it together guys!’ Clearly there’s something going on here. There’s chemistry there — whether it’s tense or not. Whether it’s friendship or romantic, it plays through it all,” she continued. “So we have to really kind of see how that journey builds — and it isn’t smooth. But I mean … Chad is on our cast, so we know it’s going somewhere.”
In addition to Maggie’s blossoming connection with Cal, she must also face her complicated history with Sully. The father-daughter duo must learn to rebuild their relationship after becoming estranged following Maggie’s move from Canada to Boston.
“The wonderful thing about these two is that they have such a community of people around them that only want the best for them. They want them to figure things out and come together because they had such a beautiful relationship when Maggie was young and he was a fabulous father,” Kohan noted. “So everyone knows where it could be.”
According to the Hallmark star, Season 1 will explore Maggie and Cal as they “fight” to pave a new way forward. “But they aren’t the best communicators. A relationship like that isn’t going to solve itself overnight, so they’ve got to work at it and they do throughout the season,” Kohan teased. “So we get to see how that progresses and all the missteps and bumps and building blocks along the way with that.”
Kohan praised Patterson, 65, for the energy he brought to set — on and off screen.
“Scott is a jokes guy. He’s a funny guy. He just wants to have fun. So it was really light and easy to build a relationship with him. But it was also perfect because we are playing being estranged from each other and we don’t know each other well,” she detailed. “So you can kind of just come into it as you are of being like, ‘Who are you? I don’t know you. What’s this going to fit me?’ And so we really got to bring the reality of our situation into it and obviously added the history and the tension and all that as well too.”
Outside of her personal relationships, Maggie must also face various issues in her professional life.
“Maggie really is at a crossroads in this first season. She is coming from this life that she’s built for herself that is so fine tuned and put together. And she’s also coming back to this history and version of herself that she’s pushed aside for so long,” Kohan explained. “So it’s really her at a crossroads of trying to figure out who she is and if both of those parts of her can live at the same time. Or who she truthfully is and wants to be. That can be a tough challenge to figure out — easy from the outside to see [but] harder from the inside.”
The upcoming series has already established a following after being released on Canada’s CTV earlier this year. Kohan, however, is excited to see more people develop a love for Sullivan’s Crossing as it starts to air stateside on The CW.
“It feels like an extended start to this journey. We are also filming [season 2], so we’re also in the middle of something and being excited to see where it started from and knowing what’s to come for the people who do stick around for the whole thing because it’s worth it,” she told Us before hinting at what she would like to see happen. “I really hope to see more of a built out relationship with Maggie and Sly. I really want to be able to see her surrounded by people that truthfully see her at the core of who she is and that she can see the people around her for what they are as well.”
Kohan concluded by adding that she would just love to “keep doing scenes” with Murray and Patterson and the rest of the cast.
Sullivan’s Crossing premieres on The CW Wednesday, October 4, at 8 p.m. ET.
