'Sullivan's Crossing' star Morgan Kohan is more 'protective' of Maggie heading into Season 4
Morgan Kohan stole our hearts as Maggie Sullivan on the hit TV series Sullivan's Crossing, heading into the fourth season of the show, finding that coveted success on a series filmed and set in Canada with international acclaim. Originally from British Columbia and now based in Toronto, Kohan is one of Canada's most skilled and exciting TV leads.
While an impressive actor, dance was her initial love when Kohan was accepted into Randolph College for the Performing Arts in a musical theatre program. As for turning her passion into a career, she said it just "always felt right."
"[It's] funny, because I have not auditioned for theatre, never once after graduating," Kohan told Yahoo Canada.
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While film and TV have seemed to be a great fit for Kohan, she remembers the days, before she had an agent, where she would just work on a ton of student films, taking public transit to someone's house in the suburbs for an audition. Even under those circumstances, she would get "so excited" about having a single line in a student film. Though she admits she got "very lucky," it was a "ride" to get started in the business — from getting into the union, booking roles and getting casting familiar with you.
"It took a little bit, as it probably should, off the top," Kohan said. "I've been very lucky in the progression that I've had, it's felt like a nice ride."
While the actor has landed the lead role in the Nova Scotia-filmed and set Sullivan's Crossing, she actually planned to go to Los Angeles for a few months until the COVID-19 pandemic hit and her plans changed.
"I'm certainly open to it, if it makes sense, but as of now everything's online. You can do everything from home. And ... I love Toronto. I'm very happy here," Kohan said. "It does feel a bit more accessible to be wherever you want to be."
She recognizes that while there are a lot more American productions filming in the country, not every role is equally as accessible for Canadian actors.
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"I definitely have seen with my friends who are auditioning for some of the shows that come up here, and getting really close and then finding out that it keeps going to Americans," Kohan said. "So I definitely think it is both, there's more productions, but I wish there was a way for it to be a little bit more ... open and accessible, to see how many roles really are going to Canadians, and what that size is, and how much effort there really is in casting Canadians when it's up here."
"I know there are such incredible actors here, and yet so many of them aren't working, or are nowhere close to the kinds of roles that they should be booking. And it can be so disheartening to see that too."
While Kohan is on a hugely successful show, both in Canada and abroad, she's an actor that's still growing and expanding her skills by still going to acting classes in Toronto.
"I keep going to class as soon as I'm not working," she shared. "I love it."
"I see it like the gym. ... There's never a place to stop learning. And Sullivan's is wonderful, but ... I want to be able to expand and get better and fail miserably in class with characters I may never book."
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Yahoo Canada's Eh Listers is an interview series with women and non-binary Canadians in film and television, looking back on their careers with unfiltered stories about their greatest projects.
Murdoch Mysteries — 2017
Morgan Kohan in Murdoch Mysteries (CBC)
Kohan's first union job was on an episode of Season 10 of Murdoch Mysteries titled "Master Lovecraft," where Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) meets a young H.P. Lovecraft among a group of death-obsessed teens, which included Kohan's character Sarah Glass.
But a notable political event made the job particularly memorable.
"The second day I was on set was the day that Trump was elected the first time," she said. "So it was quite a vibe. I was like, I don't think this is a normal set right now."
But events outside of the show aside, Kohan recognized that it was interesting to be on the set of a show that is so established and really functioned like a machine.
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"It was already so smooth at that point," Kohan said. "I can only imagine what it's like now too, but I remember from wardrobe, being on set and walking around, everything's all dressed and it was so calm, too, I think because everybody just knew what they were doing."
Ransom — 2018
For some projects it's the characters and the script that really speak to an actor, but for Ransom the talent Kohan got to collaborate with was something that really impacted her.
Kohan appeared on three episodes of the show in Season 2 as Evie Beaumont, but it was the episode directed by Bruce McDonald that was most memorable.
"He was just a legend and the sweetest. Kind, calm and trusting," Kohan said. "If I'd ask a question about something he'd be like, 'Well, what do you think?' And not in a rude way, ... but more in a supportive [way]. Like, what are your thoughts behind this? How would you like to approach it?"
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"And I remember the one episode we did, there was one big scene and he very casually was like, 'Well I'm going to be really cheering for you when you win your first Oscar.' And I'll never forget him saying that to me."
Batwoman — 2021
Jumping forward in her career, stepping onto the Batwoman set for an episode was a real immersion into how a "big show" operated for Kohan, and taking on a character that doesn't necessarily feel the most comfortable.
"I remember hearing about Javicia [Leslie's] schedule and what she'd be doing, rehearsals, stunt rehearsals, costumes, ... I don't know how she was able to to do that," Kohan said.
"It was very cool to to be a part of, but so foreign for me too. I remember I had a friend, RJ Hatanaka, who was on When Hope Calls with me. He was also filming Nancy Drew ... at the same time in Vancouver. I remember meeting up with him and being like, 'I don't know what I'm doing. I think I'm really bad. ... I don't think I can make it feel good.' But it's just the world of what that show is, you just have to lean into what that world is. But that world does not feel good naturally in my body. Once you decide that you've just got to go with it, then it's fine. But at first it was very much like, I don't know what I'm doing here."
When Hope Calls — 2019 to 2025
Like many Canadian actors, Kohan has been a fixture in Hallmark projects. She was given the opportunity to lead in the show When Hope Calls, a spinoff of When Calls the Heart, playing Lillian Walsh. But the spinoff wasn't a sure thing, meaning that Kohan had a lengthy waiting game to play to see what her future could hold.
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"It was from a guest star to number one on a show. It was crazy," she said. "I'm very, very grateful for that show."
While Kohan highlighted how much fun it was to step onto the set created for When Hope Calls, and getting to wear the period costumes, she also understood the expectation of being on a Hallmark project.
"I think I did very much approach it in being aware of the channel that it's on and what people want from it," she said. "But also I do always try and keep things to what I would like to do with the role too, and try and keep it as grounded and as real for me as I possibly can. I think I was very lucky [they allowed] me to do that too."
Sullivan's Crossing — 2023 to 2025
Kohan's most notable lead role yet has been in Sullivan's Crossing, playing Maggie Sullivan, the doctor who goes back to her hometown in Nova Scotia, reconnecting with her father.
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When the show was first announced, there was a big emphasis on the fact that the cast includes One Tree Hill, Freaky Friday and A Cinderella Story star Chad Michael Murray, and Gilmore Girls alum Scott Patterson, even though Kohan is ultimately the star of Sullivan's Crossing.
"It was very exciting," she said. "I think there was almost pressure in both ways, it almost took the pressure off, because all of the focus was on those two, because everybody knew them and were excited about them. But then also, there is the self-pressure, really, of ... wanting to hold my own."
"Chad, especially, has always been so in my corner, and so supportive. And if ever people were kind of focusing on him when it came to decisions or talks or anything, he'd be like, well this is Morgan's show, or this is our show. ... He really is so wonderful at keeping me a part of it too, because it is a balance. I mean, I feel like I've definitely found my footing more so now after a couple seasons, but that first one, ... you definitely question yourself too. I have feelings about this, I feel like this is the right decision, ... but people don't know me, and maybe aren't going to listen in the same kind of way. When to speak up and when not to, it's an interesting thing."
Sullivan's Crossing fans know Season 3 ended with a massive cliffhanger, as we discover that Maggie has been married this whole time to Liam, who she initially described as a "fling" from a Europe trip. And now he's unexpectedly at the Crossing.
"I think I started laughing," Kohan said about the season's final moment. "I did know that Liam would eventually show up at the beginning, we didn't quite know when, how soon in he'd show up."
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"It's the 'Hey Red.' That's so familiar and intimate in a way too. It says so much."
Playing Maggie for three seasons now, soon to be four, Kohan has become more "protective" of her character.
"I've gotten more protective over her, because I feel like I know her so much more now," Kohan said.
"I learn so much every season. ... The confidence builds as you go and it is an interesting thing too, to have been given a note, and maybe first off you're like, I don't agree with that, but I'll take it, I'll do it, and then maybe they use that. And after I'll be like, I was right. That doesn't work, and I should have listened to my gut. And then other times it does work out. So it is an interesting balance of trying to listen, but listen properly. ... I think people also now will trust me a little bit more, because it has been a minute now."
The actor is also particularly supportive of Maggie's arc where she gets to a place of understand that she doesn't have to give up her career to stay at the Crossing. The reality is, having Maggie leave her career behind to live with Cal isn't that romantic.
"I think that's where she needs to end up," Kohan said. "I feel the same way when I see those storylines, I'm like, it's cute, but also, no they love their job, they love what they're doing. Sure, that's beautiful and romantic and picturesque and whatever, but like, you're leaving a part of yourself, and that very much is a part of her. So I'm very happy this is where she's headed now."
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