Rossif Sutherland helped fulfill his father Donald Sutherland’s lifelong wish — to see a screen adaptation of the Albergue book series — when he auditioned and landed the role of the lead detective in a series soon to air on Fox. Now, he’s using his next project to honor his late father.
Fox’s upcoming detective drama Murder in a Small Town, based on Canadian author LR Wright’s Carl Alberg book series, will be dedicated to the late actor. The reason for this dedication is a touching story in itself.
When Rossif, 45, was cast in the series’ lead role, he initially had no idea that his father had been working to bring the story to life on the big screen for decades. Speaking to Deadline, Rossif opened up about his new role as Donald and then learned that his father had been working tirelessly to get the “film version” of the story off the ground for 30 years.
“I told him about his character, this detective who was doing his job not with the tropes of scaring people with his badge, his gun, his uniform, but with his humanity to get the truth out of people. He’s someone who speaks his heart openly, and he’s not possessed by demons,” Rossif told the outlet. “When I told my dad this, he asked me what this project was, with some excitement. I said it’s something called the Elberg series.”
Describing his father’s journey with the project, the actor revealed that Donald Sutherland befriended (producer) Nick Orchard and writer Ian Weir and they tried to get it produced. Unfortunately, the project never took off.
Weir also told Deadline that Donald fell in love with the series after reading his scripts and then reading the books. Over the past three decades, the Hunger Games alumnus has campaigned to play George, the main suspect in the series’ first book, The Suspect. According to Vachsell, before his death, Donald was set to appear as George in the series, but his declining health and eventual death on June 20 at the age of 88 robbed him of that opportunity. The role is now held by James Cromwell.
“People were asking what they could do to honor Dad, and since Dad had a very close connection with the birth of this project, I proposed they dedicate it to him,” Rossif said.
Murder in a Small Town premieres Tuesday, September 24 on Fox.
