Actor Talks ‘Huge Responsibility’ in Portraying George Washington

Ian Kahn isn’t too heartbroken over saying goodbye to George Washington.

Kahn stars as America’s first president in AMC’s Revolutionary War drama, “Turn: Washington’s Spies.” The fourth and final season is currently airing.

“You know, I’m surprised I’m not sadder that it’s over,” the 45-year-old told Fox News.

[lz_ndn video=31191216]

“It was such a huge responsibility playing the role,” said the actor. “And carrying that man wherever you go, going through the challenges that he was going through — it’s very hard. So it’s a great sense of relief. I’ll miss the camaraderie with the crew and cast. I’ll miss playing such an immense human being because he really was that. But so far, I’m OK and I’m very excited to see how life moves forward.”

When the series first premiered in 2014, Kahn didn’t just slip into period costumes to portray the founding father. He sought the help of Washington impersonator Daniel Shippey, of California’s Breed’s Hill Institute — a non-profit organization that aims to educate Americans on the country’s history.

Shippey served as Kahn’s historical adviser on the show.

“For the last four years, every day at work, I would ask myself, ‘What would George Washington do in this moment?'” said Kahn. “I learned a lot as a human being, as a man, and certainly as an actor.”

Related: Sorbo: Being Christian Conservative in Hollywood Can Be a Death Sentence

Kahn said Washington became a part of his life even after cameras stopped rolling.

“When I first thought of George Washington, I would always imagine the man on the dollar bill looking kind of [grumpy] and displeased all the time,” he said. “But what I didn’t know was that he was an amazingly charismatic man. He was beloved by his soldiers. He also struggled immensely [with] his political problems during the Revolutionary War … But he handled things very beautifully.”

Kahn’s journey into American history has taken him a long way from the time he once wooed Sarah Jessica Parker on HBO’s “Sex and the City.” (go to page 2 to continue reading) [lz_pagination]