Can you even call yourself a Canadian actor if you haven't been on Murdoch?

If you can name a Canadian actor, there is a good chance that they have appeared at least once on Murdoch Mysteries. What regular Canadians might not know, however, is that a role in our nation's longest-running hour-long drama has become a rite of passage in the thespian community.

Sure, an actor might be going into her 15th season at Stratford or headlining Just For Laughs, but can she even call herself a Canadian actor if she hasn't had a five-second cameo calling after Yannick Bisson, "The knickers thief went that way, detective!" while dressed as an inebriated early 1900s brothel madam?

(For the record, I am allowed to ask this question, as I, a Canadian actor, have not yet been cast on Murdoch Mysteries. I am haunted by this fact every time I gaze upon my parents' disappointed faces at Thanksgiving.)  

A rite of passage

Comedy icon Colin Mochrie took an unusual approach to land his Murdoch moment. He once tweeted at the Murdoch Mysteries' Twitter account, "Asking if I was the only Canadian actor who hadn't been on it yet. It worked."

"I don't know how many times I auditioned for it," exclaims actor Tony Nappo (Pretty Hard Cases and Strays), who filmed his second episode this year. "I finally got on the show, and it was delightful. Your mom's gonna see it, or your grandma's gonna see it. People watch it! People watch that show! It's an institution."

Indeed, Toronto actor and comedian Dave Barclay claims that his performance on Murdoch "[Gave] me a lot of cred with fans of the show who I happen to know, like my next door neighbour, a grandma who I talk to over our backyard fence." 

Clare McConnell, who plays Murdoch's spirited Effie Newsome, affirms there have been unexpected perks to being a regular on the famous Canadian program. 

"I haven't renewed my passport in years," she says. "I just show border patrol my demo reel and they say, 'Welcome home, Ms. McConnell,'" and then, "'again, you're under arrest.'"

And Sharron Matthews, well-known for her work on Frankie Drake Mysteries and Mean Girls, credits her nanny role in Season 3 as the fulfilment of a life goal. 

"HELL YEAH, I wanted to be cast on that show. Murdoch was a rite of passage and I believe it still is. It's very cool to be a part of something that continues to be so successful, that launches or is the origin tale of so many Canadian careers. 

"I sat with Arwen Humphreys, who plays Margaret Brakenreid, in the 400-degree heat, wearing a corset and sweating an ocean of water thinking, 'This is it. I DID IT.'" 

McConnell agrees: "A confession scene in Station House 4 is like an initiation rite into classic Canadian TV. I am unbelievably lucky to make a living by playing pretend with my friends on TV."

"Canadians are great to work with, period," adds Nappo, "and with Murdoch, the folks are all Canadian. They're all great. When you get to (the Murdoch set), even when you're new, it's like going to your aunt's house, or your grandma's house; there's just this sense of family." 

And as for me? I can only hope one day to tread in the footsteps of my artistic brethren: both to immerse myself in the legacy of a show so embraced and loved worldwide, and also so that my relatives will stop asking me, "So, when are you going to be on it?"