'Murder in a Small Town' crew played a prank on Rossif Sutherland (exclusive)

Rossif Sutherland takes his craft very seriously, but he says there's still room for some fun on set.

Speaking to PEOPLE about promoting the September 24 premiere of Murder in a small townSutherland and co-star Kristin Kreuk reveal what went on behind the scenes – and the prank that everyone on set saw through and that went to Sutherland's head.

“[Sutherland’s] son loves pigs, and he had a dream about a pig too,” says Kreuk. “And Aaron Douglas, who plays Sid Sokolowski, started teasing him about it. And he bought about 50 tiny little squeaking pigs, like those rubber ducks, but in the shape of pigs, and he hid them in [Sutherland’s] Bag.”

Sutherland then laughs and says he had “no idea” where the toys came from or that it was a joke.

“I wasn't sleeping and people were pretty worried that I was…” Sutherland says, before Kreuk interjects, “that he was losing his mind! They were popping up everywhere. They were everywhere and you could hear people squealing when they found little piggies.”

Murder in a small town, Sutherland said it was dedicated to his late father, Donald Sutherland. is a crime series on Fox that is “set in an idyllic seaside town.”

“It's about two characters – a detective who thinks outside the box, who dances to his own tune and manages to get the truth out of people through his humanity and not necessarily through intimidation,” Sutherland explains. “And Cassandra, this fierce, independent woman. And these characters fall madly in love with each other, and the show explores what it means to be madly in love in the middle of your life, if you're lucky.”

“People with their stories, their broken hearts, trying to keep this very fragile and very special thing alive,” he adds.

The two say it was easy for them to portray their characters' love because there was such great natural chemistry between them during filming.

“Apart from repeating our lines a few times, there was a certain magic between the two of us,” says Sutherland of how they prepared for these roles. “She's wonderful. But it was easy. Sometimes it happens, sometimes you have to have acting chemistry. It was there.”

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The Canadian-born actor reveals that writer Ian Weir worked on the show for 30 years, so it was “a joy” to “breathe life” into his character – and Kreuk agrees.

“Yes, there are normal acting processes you go through to develop a character, but as he says, once you're on set, everything changes,” she says. “Everyone brings something different to the table and you move with it.”

She continues: “I think acting allows you to be flexible. That's really part of the fun. Like you said, it was easy and fun and didn't require a lot of heavy lifting, which was a joy.”

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Murder in a small town airs Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox.