It’s not unusual for actors to work with co-stars they’ve never met before.
What is unusual? Getting to know the new colleague by singing to him during a car ride.
But then again, Diesel vom Burgimwald isn’t your average co-star. He’s an almost three-year-old German shepherd who stars with human actor John Reardon in Hudson & Rex, debuting Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv.
Reardon — a Halifax-born actor known for shows like Arctic Air, Continuum and Van Helsing — met Diesel about four days before they were to begin shooting in St. John’s, N.L.
Reardon, 43, plays Charlie Hudson, a St. John’s major crimes detective who’s partnered with former K9 unit dog Rex, who was scheduled to be euthanized after his human partner died.
Mayko Nguyen (Killjoys), Justin Kelly (Between) and Kevin Hanchard (Orphan Black) co-star.
Since the human-canine partnership is the heart of the series, it was important that Diesel feel comfortable with Reardon, particularly since this is the dog’s first show business job. That’s where the car rides came in.
“The first part was spending those four days in just getting time with him, working with him, having him know that I’m somebody that he can trust,” Reardon said of Diesel.
“We slowly built up to me taking him for drives just by myself. I sang him the songs that I sang to my son.”
Such as? The Irish song “On Raglan Road” and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”
“I don’t have the best voice,” admitted Reardon. “I’m not sure if he liked it or not … he didn’t run away — but he was in a car, he couldn’t — but he did settle down. Maybe he just wanted me to stop.”
There’s a famous quote from 1920s and ’30s actor W.C. Fields: “Never work with children or animals.”
Reardon did the latter in part because of the former.
His 16-month-old son with Victoria, B.C.-born actress Meghan Ory is, coincidentally, named Hudson.
Returning from Los Angeles to Canada to make Hudson & Rex meant Reardon’s parents and other family members in Nova Scotia could spend more time with the boy.
And being an animal lover who grew up around German shepherds at his uncle’s property in Annapolis Royal, Reardon was keen to work with Diesel.
It’s not his first time acting opposite an animal. He had a pig as a sidekick in the TV show Merlin’s Apprentice (which is where he met his wife), worked with a polar bear in Arctic Air and a Great Dane in a TV movie called Love on the Sidelines.
“He’s my favourite,” Reardon said of Diesel.
“I mean, what he can do is really special and I also have a real bond with him … I think now we are really starting to, you know, not finish each other’s sentences but the equivalent of that.”
It turns out show business is in Diesel’s blood. He’s descended from the shepherd who starred in the 1990s Austrian show Kommissar Rex, which Hudson & Rex is based on.
“He’s 15 generations from the original Rex,” said Diesel’s owner and trainer Sherri Davis.
And speaking of relations, Diesel’s two stand-ins, Izzy and Iko, are his nephews. Iko takes on some of Diesel’s stunts and “when we need a kiss, Izzy often does it because Izzy would lick you to death if he could,” Reardon said.
They are as green as Diesel when it comes to film and TV work.
Davis, who has been in the entertainment business for more than 25 years, had just adopted Diesel when producing company Shaftesbury came to Ancaster where she trains, boards, grooms and provides refuge for dogs, looking for an animal to cast as Rex.
“Adam Haight from Shaftesbury was out at my house and he was looking at one of my other dogs and it was like, ‘What about that one?’” recalled Davis.
“I was like, ‘Oh lord, he doesn’t know anything. He’s never been in film … We got a lot of work ahead of us, buddy.’”
In fact, Diesel, a former Canadian Kennel Club grand champion, was earmarked to become a mobility dog when fate came calling.
“The cards just fell into place and he has taken to the work. He’s fabulous,” Davis said.
The proof is onscreen where Rex is fully integrated into the series, accompanying Hudson just about everywhere and interacting with multiple cast members.
“It’s really quite amazing,” said Reardon. “We really don’t want to shoot a show where it’s just, you get one frame of the dog off in the corner … He’s with us; you see him coming with us following commands and that has been a real priority in the shooting.”
Some of Diesel’s skills, like picking up items or closing doors, are things he already learned in his mobility training, but he also had to learn how to do whatever is required by the scripts with just hand signals and body language since Davis can’t talk over dialogue or give him treats in the middle of scenes.
“It’s really neat because not only does he have to take all the cues from me, he’s also got to look as if he belongs to Johnny Reardon, who is Charlie,” Davis said.
“He’s got to look like he’s a police dog. He’s got to take eye lines to everybody and, meanwhile, I’m in the background pointing who to look at or what to do … It takes a lot of concentration from a dog and special dogs to do it.”
Reardon does have one ace up his sleeve or, rather, in his pocket.
“I usually have a big bag of roast beef in my pocket so he’s particularly interested in me,” Reardon said.
“He’s like, ‘I know where the meat is so I’m gonna stick close to that guy.’”
Shooting takes place five days a week and the other two, Davis continues Diesel’s training. But don’t worry: Diesel takes lots of naps, often conking out in the middle of a busy studio full of people when he’s not needed on set.
“He’s got a cook, he’s got a chauffeur, he’s got a spa (session) once a week. He’s got a better life than I do,” Davis laughed.
“He gets this little strut when he goes to the studio and on location, and he goes and says hi to all the cast and all the crew, which by the way are absolutely phenomenal … He gets his morning bum rubs and his scratches so he looks forward to going to work. The tail’s wagging and he gets out (of the car), like, ‘Aha, I’m here!’”
Reardon is perfectly at ease with Diesel hogging attention on and off set although his own reasons for doing the show haven’t all gone to the dogs.
He had never played a police officer in a procedural — he was a sheriff in the TV movie The Philadelphia Experiment — and as someone who grew up reading Sherlock Holmes and other detective stories, he jumped at the chance to play one.
Charlie’s “fascinating, he’s really interesting,” Reardon said.
“What I really do love about the scripts is both Rex and I have our own sort of strengths and mine is deductive reasoning, and then he has these senses that a human detective wouldn’t possess … I love watching him on camera too. He’s very regal, he’s very poised.”
What is unusual? Getting to know the new colleague by singing to him during a car ride.
But then again, Diesel vom Burgimwald isn’t your average co-star. He’s an almost three-year-old German shepherd who stars with human actor John Reardon in Hudson & Rex, debuting Monday at 8 p.m. on Citytv.
Reardon — a Halifax-born actor known for shows like Arctic Air, Continuum and Van Helsing — met Diesel about four days before they were to begin shooting in St. John’s, N.L.
Reardon, 43, plays Charlie Hudson, a St. John’s major crimes detective who’s partnered with former K9 unit dog Rex, who was scheduled to be euthanized after his human partner died.
Mayko Nguyen (Killjoys), Justin Kelly (Between) and Kevin Hanchard (Orphan Black) co-star.
Since the human-canine partnership is the heart of the series, it was important that Diesel feel comfortable with Reardon, particularly since this is the dog’s first show business job. That’s where the car rides came in.
“The first part was spending those four days in just getting time with him, working with him, having him know that I’m somebody that he can trust,” Reardon said of Diesel.
“We slowly built up to me taking him for drives just by myself. I sang him the songs that I sang to my son.”
Such as? The Irish song “On Raglan Road” and the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.”
“I don’t have the best voice,” admitted Reardon. “I’m not sure if he liked it or not … he didn’t run away — but he was in a car, he couldn’t — but he did settle down. Maybe he just wanted me to stop.”
There’s a famous quote from 1920s and ’30s actor W.C. Fields: “Never work with children or animals.”
Reardon did the latter in part because of the former.
His 16-month-old son with Victoria, B.C.-born actress Meghan Ory is, coincidentally, named Hudson.
Returning from Los Angeles to Canada to make Hudson & Rex meant Reardon’s parents and other family members in Nova Scotia could spend more time with the boy.
And being an animal lover who grew up around German shepherds at his uncle’s property in Annapolis Royal, Reardon was keen to work with Diesel.
It’s not his first time acting opposite an animal. He had a pig as a sidekick in the TV show Merlin’s Apprentice (which is where he met his wife), worked with a polar bear in Arctic Air and a Great Dane in a TV movie called Love on the Sidelines.
“He’s my favourite,” Reardon said of Diesel.
“I mean, what he can do is really special and I also have a real bond with him … I think now we are really starting to, you know, not finish each other’s sentences but the equivalent of that.”
It turns out show business is in Diesel’s blood. He’s descended from the shepherd who starred in the 1990s Austrian show Kommissar Rex, which Hudson & Rex is based on.
“He’s 15 generations from the original Rex,” said Diesel’s owner and trainer Sherri Davis.
And speaking of relations, Diesel’s two stand-ins, Izzy and Iko, are his nephews. Iko takes on some of Diesel’s stunts and “when we need a kiss, Izzy often does it because Izzy would lick you to death if he could,” Reardon said.
They are as green as Diesel when it comes to film and TV work.
Davis, who has been in the entertainment business for more than 25 years, had just adopted Diesel when producing company Shaftesbury came to Ancaster where she trains, boards, grooms and provides refuge for dogs, looking for an animal to cast as Rex.
“Adam Haight from Shaftesbury was out at my house and he was looking at one of my other dogs and it was like, ‘What about that one?’” recalled Davis.
“I was like, ‘Oh lord, he doesn’t know anything. He’s never been in film … We got a lot of work ahead of us, buddy.’”
In fact, Diesel, a former Canadian Kennel Club grand champion, was earmarked to become a mobility dog when fate came calling.
“The cards just fell into place and he has taken to the work. He’s fabulous,” Davis said.
The proof is onscreen where Rex is fully integrated into the series, accompanying Hudson just about everywhere and interacting with multiple cast members.
“It’s really quite amazing,” said Reardon. “We really don’t want to shoot a show where it’s just, you get one frame of the dog off in the corner … He’s with us; you see him coming with us following commands and that has been a real priority in the shooting.”
Some of Diesel’s skills, like picking up items or closing doors, are things he already learned in his mobility training, but he also had to learn how to do whatever is required by the scripts with just hand signals and body language since Davis can’t talk over dialogue or give him treats in the middle of scenes.
“It’s really neat because not only does he have to take all the cues from me, he’s also got to look as if he belongs to Johnny Reardon, who is Charlie,” Davis said.
“He’s got to look like he’s a police dog. He’s got to take eye lines to everybody and, meanwhile, I’m in the background pointing who to look at or what to do … It takes a lot of concentration from a dog and special dogs to do it.”
Reardon does have one ace up his sleeve or, rather, in his pocket.
“I usually have a big bag of roast beef in my pocket so he’s particularly interested in me,” Reardon said.
“He’s like, ‘I know where the meat is so I’m gonna stick close to that guy.’”
Shooting takes place five days a week and the other two, Davis continues Diesel’s training. But don’t worry: Diesel takes lots of naps, often conking out in the middle of a busy studio full of people when he’s not needed on set.
“He’s got a cook, he’s got a chauffeur, he’s got a spa (session) once a week. He’s got a better life than I do,” Davis laughed.
“He gets this little strut when he goes to the studio and on location, and he goes and says hi to all the cast and all the crew, which by the way are absolutely phenomenal … He gets his morning bum rubs and his scratches so he looks forward to going to work. The tail’s wagging and he gets out (of the car), like, ‘Aha, I’m here!’”
Reardon is perfectly at ease with Diesel hogging attention on and off set although his own reasons for doing the show haven’t all gone to the dogs.
He had never played a police officer in a procedural — he was a sheriff in the TV movie The Philadelphia Experiment — and as someone who grew up reading Sherlock Holmes and other detective stories, he jumped at the chance to play one.
Charlie’s “fascinating, he’s really interesting,” Reardon said.
“What I really do love about the scripts is both Rex and I have our own sort of strengths and mine is deductive reasoning, and then he has these senses that a human detective wouldn’t possess … I love watching him on camera too. He’s very regal, he’s very poised.”
