For Morgan Kohan, the journey to becoming an actor was a process.
“It kind of slowly creeped up on me, really! I had done some theater in college,” Kohan said. “There we were studying singing, acting and dancing. It was kind of my first introduction to acting. By the time I graduated, I felt like I had found my thing.”
Many will recognize Morgan for her work on the Hallmark Channel. In 2019, Hallmark debuted “When Hope Calls.” The series was a spinoff of the popular Canadian-American television drama series, “When Calls The Heart,” inspired by Janette Oke’s book of the same name from her Canadian West series, and developed by Michael Landon Jr.
“When Hope Calls” follows Lillian and Grace, two orphaned sisters who open an orphanage in a small northwest town. The period piece is set in 1916 in the western Canadian town of Brookfield.
Morgan portrayed the character Lillian Walsh. The older of the two sisters.
Fans of the series have waited for official word of a renewal for a second season, but so far, no information has come from the network on the fate of the show.
“The show hasn’t been canceled to my knowledge, but hasn’t been renewed yet either,” she said. “It’s kind of just in limbo as far as I know. Given this industry, literally anything could happen. I wouldn’t count against it [a renewal], but not sure at this point!”
Morgan found the experience to be one she really enjoyed.
“It was a great experience! I really enjoyed it! I think it was just kind of the timing with covid and everything.”
Working in period pieces can often bring challenges for an actor between the wardrobe and the differences in societal norms for the period.
“It was so much fun and it was special as well! Our set on ‘When Hope Calls,’ of Brookfield, had an acreage that they built the set on,” Kohan stated. “It wasn’t like being on a soundstage. You walked into ‘Brookfield’ when you went to film. The orphanage was just outside of town and Tess’ [Wendy Crewson] ranch was just over the hill. It felt like you were going into a new world everyday on set.”
In 2021, Morgan had the opportunity to appear as the DC comic book character Stephanie Brown on the CW series “Batwoman.”
“That was such a cool experience,” she exclaimed. “This was different because the cast and crew had been working together for a while, so it was like a well oiled machine. Everyone enjoyed being on the show, so it was just so much fun! It was a cool world to step into. Totally different from what I had done before. The sets were incredible!”
Appearing on any series that’s connected to DC’s Batman means the likelihood of having the caped crusader’s headquarters, the Batcave, present on the show.
“Even though I didn’t have a scene in the Batcave, I was able to take a tour of it and the Batmobile! It was insane! It was so cool!”
The character of Stephanie Brown has appeared as various heroes in the DC comics multiverse including the Spoiler,Robin and Batgirl.
“I wasn’t familiar with the character at all,” Kohan explained. “It’s funny because when I auditioned for it, the character was just named Stephanie. I didn’t know until a bit after I booked it that the character name was Stephanie Brown. I Googled the name to see if she was in the comics. I was like, Oh my God! I had no idea! That was a really fun surprise!”
For Morgan, some of her influences have helped shape her as an actor.
“I continue to be drawn to Olivia Cooke,” she said. “She has such an ease to her work and so much ability. There’s so much nuance! Also, in her interviews it’s just like, cool! I so want to be friends with her! I’m really drawn to her work!”
When she’s not acting, Morgan has numerous things she does to keep busy.
“I really enjoy reading! I’m also good at not being great at fixing things, if that makes sense! At our place, I’m the one to put up shelves and I have sort of a makeshift patio that’s now finished! It’s a nice way to get my hands and my brains working! It’s always hilarious because of all the things that go wrong before it can go right!”
Oftentimes when portraying any character, the actor will put a little bit of themselves in each role. Morgan has found this to be true for her in her work.
“I identify with each of them in different ways! I had a chance to sit with Lillian longer, “ she stated.“That’s the character I got to work on for the longest period. Naturally, they become a bit of you and you become a bit of them. Every character I find a bit of myself in.”
With two TV movies done so far this year in UPTV’s “A Romance Wedding” and “A Whirlwind Wedding,” Morgan has continued to stay busy through a period that saw a pandemic hit the entertainment industry hard.
For her it’s been about having fun in the roles she gets and celebrating the small victories in each role booked.
[…] “It kind of slowly creeped up on me, really! I had done some theater in college,” Kohan said. “There we were studying singing, acting and dancing. It was kind of my first introduction to acting. By the time I graduated, I felt like I had found my thing.” Click here to continue reading […]