Rossif Sutherland’s next project will be dedicated to the memory of his late father Donald Sutherland.
Murder in a small townFox’s upcoming detective drama based on LR Wright Karl Alberg The book series will be dedicated to the late actor — but not for the reason fans think.
When Rossif, 45, landed the lead role in the series, he was unaware that his father, Donald, had been working for decades to bring the story to life with a film adaptation.
While speaking with Deadline, Rossif recalled telling Donald the happy news and revealed that he had been working tirelessly for 30 years to “get the movie version off the ground.”
Donald Sutherland (left) and Rossif Sutherland.
Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage
“I described his character to him, that detective who wasn’t going to do his job with the tropes of scaring people with his badge, his gun, his uniform, but instead extracted the truth from people with his humanity, he’s someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and isn’t possessed by demons ,” he said to that newspaper. “When I told this to my dad, he asked me with some excitement what project it was. I said it was this thing called the Alberg Series.”
“He made friends [producer] Nick Orchard and Ian Weir, the writer, and tried to produce it,” he continued. “Unfortunately, it never happened.”
Weir also told Deadline that Donald fell in love with the book series after reading his original script for the film. During 30 years, The Hunger Games The alum campaigned to play George, the main suspect in the first book of the series, The suspect.
William Baldwin says Donald Sutherland was ‘a true original’: ‘I’ve never known anyone remotely like him’ (Exclusive)
Although Donald never got to play George on screen, series producer Jeff Wachtel revealed that the late actor helped develop the character. Before his health deteriorated, Donald was due to appear as George.
“Now Donald is old, though [George] was a guest role, that’s a significant guest role,” Wachtel explained. “His health was impaired, so he had to withdraw from the project, but we still liked him.”
In the end, the role went to James Cromwell, but Donald was supposed to make a cameo as the man who gets killed in the series premiere.
Despite their plans, Donald was unable to “travel” due to his deteriorating condition. Sadly, on June 20, PEOPLE confirmed that Donald passed away at the age of 88 after a long illness.
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Donald Sutherland. Arnold Jerocki/Getty About Kiefer Sutherland and his late father Donald Sutherland: pride, love and distance
Now, Murder in a small town will be dedicated to the Hollywood legend for his long-lasting contribution to bringing the story to the screen.
“People were asking what they could do to honor Dad and, because Dad had such an intimate relationship with the birth of this project, I suggested they dedicate it to him,” Rossif said. “He was so happy when he knew I was going to play this man and I’m sorry he left, because he would have loved to see it.”
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Murder in a small town premieres Tuesday, September 24 on Fox.
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Source: HIS Education