Rossif Sutherland reveals on-set injury and fatherly connection on Murder in a Small Town
Actor broke his arm filming Season 2; the accident influenced the storyline and deepened his bond with his late father
Rossif Sutherland revealed that he broke his arm while filming Season 2 of Fox's Murder in a Small Town, continuing to shoot for several days before seeking medical attention. He described the incident as a 'silly accident' that happened on a rain-soaked Vancouver porch as he chased a suspect. 'I flew,' the actor said, noting that as a middle-aged man, his bones didn't survive the fall. He did not realize the arm was broken at first, only that he couldn't move it. Season 2 premieres Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. on Fox.
With only a couple of scenes left to complete and the production facing a location issue, the team kept filming. Sutherland continued to act with a broken arm, sitting with the limb resting on a table while engineers or others prepared the next shots. The set later wrote the injury into the script, giving Karl Alberg, the Chief of Police in Gibsons, British Columbia, a broken arm and a new vulnerability.
The injury, the actor said, had a silver lining for the character. 'In make-believe land, we found solutions,' he explained. 'Karl, this person who is always the fixer, the solver, always in control, was vulnerable and needed to rely on others.'
Beyond Murder in a Small Town, Sutherland reflected on his father, Donald Sutherland, who died in June 2024 at 88. He credited his father with steering him toward acting: 'I wouldn’t be an actor if it weren’t for my dad. That is the ultimate gift that he gave me.' He said his path into the craft began during philosophy studies at Princeton when he made a student film; his father noticed a talent and encouraged him to study acting. 'One thing led to another, and I ended up falling in love with the craft.'
On screen, Sutherland plays Karl Alberg in Murder in a Small Town, a series based on a book series and set in Gibsons, British Columbia. The Fox drama follows the town's chief solving crimes and balancing work with a local romance between Karl and librarian Cassandra Lee, played by Kristin Kreuk.
Donald Sutherland's legacy remains part of Sutherland's on-screen approach; the actor said he feels his father's presence on set, especially when donning the costume. 'My relationship to the work started with watching my father do it. So whenever I'm starting my day and putting on the costume, my dad's there with me.'