“I am so grateful to be part of such an awesome show, Hudson & Rex, as a police officer since day one season one,” he said. 

“The actors are so down to earth to work with each and every day as we punch 12-plus hours most days yet it flies by in no time. ”Sherri Davis is Rex’s (Diesel’s) trainer and is so amazing to watch on set,” he adds.  

“The things she is able to get Rex (Diesel) to do is just short of mind blowing. Most don’t get to see the many hours of hard work behind the scenes it takes training Rex to do each and every scene to near perfection. What they accomplish can only be described as incredible,” he said. Everyone from the cast, crew, hair, makeup, wardrobe and transport are all rock stars and he “loves them all,” Morgan added with a smile. 

We ask Morgan what he’s been  up to besides Hudson and Rex. 

“I’ve been a police officer in the popular show Departure, season three slated to air on Global late this Fall. I started off early spring in a TV show called The Canoe Project where I play a camera man in one episode and then shortly after that I was involved in a full length film called Skeet where I had a small part as a police officer,” he says, adding that “playing a role in law enforcement seems to be a calling.” Morgan began an acting career somewhat later in life, but it’s been quite the experience, he shared. 

“I was thrilled to be invited to audition for and land a small role in an upcoming short film called Vegas where I’m in a scene with my spouse, actor Paula Morgan, and with actor Rhiannon Morgan that premieres Oct. 23 at the St. John’s International Womens Film Festival on Gala Night.”

But the highlight? His continuing role on Hudson and Rex. 

“Of course season five of Hudson & Rex as a Police Officer which airs late Sept.  is amazing to be part of.  We continue shooting until late Dec. and I look forward to each and every day.” It’s a gift to work in his home province on a show that has such a reach. Rex is beloved around the world and the show itself has so many fans worldwide.
  “Life’s been great to say the least. If you love what you do it will feel like you never worked a day in your life, the saying goes and working on Hudson & Rex is that and more in  nutshell.” 

Watch for Hudson & Rex, which premieres Sunday, Sept. 25 on Citytv and Citytv+ 

There’s little doubt Diesel, who plays Rex on Hudson & Rex, is a mega-star and one very good boy! The day the six year-old German Shepherd strolled into The Herald with owner Sherri Davis, he easily stole the show.

Every mega-star has a stunt double and Diesel had two. “Diesel is the face of the show, and our main dog who does 99 per cent of the show and then the other one per cent is played by his nephews Iko and Is-he,” Davis said with a smile.  

Davis has been in the film industry for 25 years and been training dogs just as long, she explained. How did she and Diesel meet? She’d been looking for that perfect companion for years when the call came that there might be a puppy available for her to work with. She booked a flight to check out the possible find.

“I went and looked at these two pups and Diesel was at the far end of the kennel on the right hand side and this dog just kept locking eyes with me,” Davis said.

She was told “That damn dog was bought as a puppy and returned untrainable.” So I said, ‘Well, would it be good with these dogs? (looking at two young puppies she planned on buying) And they said, ‘His sister had these dogs,’ so they were the nephews. I went for one puppy and I ended up coming home with Diesel and his two nephews,” Davis said with a laugh.

‘Go get the bad guy’

Diesel loves his role on Hudson & Rex, David added and “he loves the chasing. He gets super excited when we do any kind of ‘go get the bad guy’ stuff. He’s so excited when he goes to work on a Monday morning and gets a back scratch from everyone.”

Davis has some expert tips when it comes to preparing our furry family members for back to school time. With COVID and working from home/schooling from home over the past two years, things have been a whole lot different than they will be this Sept. “As much as we think of our dogs as kids and think they understand and know what we’re saying and what we’re thinking and how we’re feeling – which is true – you can’t explain to them the future,” she said.

The time to start exposing our pets to any change in schedule is before it happens, Davis shared.  “There’s going to be that drastic change in their lives come back to school. Don’t do it all at one time and don’t make it drastic,” she said. Get the dog used to everyone leaving the house at one time, she advised. If you crate the dog, then start doing so now, a little at a time.

“Start doing it now instead of waiting until the day so that the dog is getting used to being in its own space again. It’ll make the transition much less stressful for the dog when it comes time for everybody to go back to work and school.”

 Is there any one question that pet owners ask about, we ask. “Jumping and barking is the number one thing that I hear from pet owners – jumping up on people and barking. And I say to people all the time, ‘well, what do you tell the dog?’ And they say, ‘no.’ And I say, ‘No, what?’”

When we want a dog to lie down, we say lie down. When we want a dog to sit we say sit. What exactly does the word ‘no’ mean to a dog, she continued.   “A lot of times behavior problems is just miscommunication between owner and dog and what you think you’re telling the dog to do is not what you are saying,” she continued. Giving the proper command is key. So is being positive. “I often say, ‘no means nothing unless it’s used in conjunction with a positive.’” 

‘Talk to me’

Try saying things like ‘good boy. No jumping.’ Or ‘good boy. No barking.’ Another tip? Teach your dog to do what you don’t want it to do so that stopping the behavior becomes a known command. “Teach the dog to put its feet up on you. Teach the dog to put its feet up on the wall. Target an object for them to put their feet on to mimic ‘jumping’ because then it’s very easy for the dog to understand and associate their behavior with when it’s fine (good boy) and when it’s not (good boy, no jumping).” 

Same for barking. “If you’ve got a dog that barks, yelling, ‘no, no, no,’ is not going to work. Teach it to bark or speak or ‘talk to me’ because then when the dog barks and it’s not supposed to, then it’s very easy for the dog to understand, ‘Oh, you don’t want me to speak right now.’”

It’s all about speaking in ‘dog language’ and communication, she added.

Davis says her Newfoundland experiences have “been amazing.” “We’re always very thankful for Newfoundlanders and for Newfoundland. People always welcome Rex wherever we go and the continued support for Hudson & Rex is absolutely amazing and we can’t thank you guys enough.” 

Hudson & Rex premieres Sunday, Sept. 25 on Citytv and Citytv+

“We are devastated to announce that we have lost our dear husband, father, and brother Paul,” the family shared via Pope’s personal Facebook account.

“He passed peacefully this morning surrounded by his loving family. We ask for privacy as we process this unfathomable loss. With love, Lisa, Joan, Glenn, Alex, Simon, Ezra, Debbie, and all his extended family. His kindness and dedication will be missed.”

Pope, owner and operator of Pope Productions, helped spearhead the boom of local film and television productions across the province, namely backing titles from Hudson & Rex, to Grown Up Movie Star and Rare Birds.

He was one of the founding members of the Newfoundland Filmmakers Cooperative and a board member of the Canadian Media Producers Association.

The Newfoundland Herald sends condolences to Pope’s friends and family in this difficult time.

A proven winner across the globe, it was only a matter of time before the police procedural drama with a twist, Hudson & Rex, made its way to North America.

Beginning in 2018, Newfoundland and Labrador would become the home – on and off-screen – for the Canadian remake of Hudson & Rex, an adored international franchise that has aired in 125 countries in numerous languages worldwide for nearly a dozen seasons.

With the Great White North adaptation filmed in our very own St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Hudson & Rex has become an instant hit with fans both locally and abroad.

Currently filming its fourth season in St. John’s this summer, the action-packed police procedural focuses on the partnership between dedicated detective Charlie Hudson (Halifax’s own John Reardon) and his extraordinary partner Rex (canine Diesel vom Burgimwald), a German Shepherd with heightened senses and formerly with the K-9 police unit.

Reardon caught up with The Newfoundland Herald for a deep dive into the worldwide success of the series, embracing Newfoundland and Labrador, his unique partnership with Diesel and celebrating 20 years as an actor.

ON NAVIGATING THE COVID PANDEMIC

I believe we were the first production back in North America after the original shut down and I think it was probably just by a couple of days. But because of that, really, the template for going back to work for film was in a lot of ways written by the producers on our show. There was sort of, not a responsibility, but kind of forging the path for that I think it made us all feel good about coming back, because obviously the film industry is the foundation of so many people’s livelihood here in Newfoundland and across Canada.

So yeah, it was a bit of a sense of pride to be the first back and to sort of see the protocols that were set in place by our producers who really put a lot of thought into what would keep people safe. And then to see that sort of spread across North America in other productions using those same protocols, it was pretty cool.

ON FOUR SEASONS OF HUDSON & REX

It’s interesting because it simultaneously feels that it’s been a blink, but also that we have been here for a while. At the time when I moved out here my son was 10 months old, I think, and now he’s almost four. My daughter was born here.

She was born here in the Janeway in town and she’s almost two now. So when I think of that I feel like they’ve just been here for so long. So it feels in some way that it has been a while. But also thinking back to filming stuff in season one, it doesn’t feel that long ago.

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ON HIS EARLIEST MEMORIES OF NL

I hadn’t been to St. John’s, I’d been to Gross More. I went on a camping trip, probably in my early 20s, and I took the ferry over from Cape Breton. And I mean, it’s just spectacular. I think it’s one of the best-kept secrets in Canada. You have these giant fjords, some of the most amazing camping anywhere, and just amazing people. I think I was there for about two weeks.

In university, I had a lot of friends who were from Newfoundland and a bunch of people from St. John’s and a bunch of people on the West Coast, too. So I got screeched in and I’m not sure if it counts, but I got screeched in my early 20s in New Brunswick. I was told it was somewhat official because I did actually kiss the cod. It was done by two born and raised Newfoundlanders. I was well versed in the culture for sure.

ON THE SERIES EMBRACING NL

I think it’s one of the best components of the show. We take a lot of pride in being Newfoundland, being said to be Newfoundland, showing the landscape, the city, the people. There’s a lot of thought put into that to put that at the forefront. And like you say, it plays a character just like any character in the show. It sets the tone, the mood, it’s sort of always present. Paul Pope, who’s one of our executive producers, runs Pope Productions here in St. John’s, and he’s a very proud Newfoundlander, born and raised. And it’s really important for him to have that quality be a part of the production and to train and hire Newfoundlanders to build up the industry here.

Now I think there’s something like five series or something going to be shot here in St. John’s this year. Just like an amazing crew of people, and they all have experience. It’s very much forefront in our minds at all times that where we are plays a very integral part in our storytelling.

ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH DIESEL

It’s interesting because both our characters and us as actors had sort of a mirror relationship because Charlie and Rex, at the beginning of the series, are still fairly new to each other and learning the partnership. Diesel and I met, I think, three or four days probably before we went to camera. And then we had to start building that history in. And that was all SherriDavis (Diesel’s owner/trainer). Sherri, she’s amazing, I’m sure a lot of the reason that Diesel dealt with me in the beginning was just because Sherri is like ‘you’re going to like him, you don’t have a choice’(laughs). She gave me lots of opportunities to spend time with him because really that was sort of the biggest component in creating this relationship where it feels like he’s my dog. We spent a lot of time before we started shooting with what time we had and since then we spent a lot of time on set. And I feed him a lot of steak, which I think endears me quite a bit to him.

The first season I used to carry around a Ziploc bag of meat in my pocket at all times. I think he liked those days. It was really fun, because we’re still building it too, which is great. And I feel like every year we kind of get better and better at working with each other. He has grown so much in understanding what he’s going to do in a scene, because oftentimes

Sherri and Victoria (Manson) will have to give him multiple tasks to do in one scene. And so he’s just an actor in the show with us. And I mean, he’s just very capable of doing things you wouldn’t expect that a dog could do.

ON HUDSON & REX LOVE WORLDWIDE

Sometimes it’s a little easy to forget sort of the popularity overseas because we’re filming here and rarely have the opportunity to go over, especially with COVID. We went over for a film festival right before COVID hit, and it was actually before we even started airing in Europe.

And there’s such a built-in fan base with the original series of Rex. I think it was Austria first and then Italy and Germany.
And so when we were there and we hadn’t even aired, people were stopping Sherri on the street to take a picture with

Diesel because they knew Rex was in town. I mean, people would stop their car in the middle of a one way street with 50 cars behind them to get out and meet Rex, and at that point we realized, wait a second, this is an institution over here.
It’s great to be a part of that, to honour that and what made the show so popular and then also add ourselves into the mix too, and bring our qualities out in the show. It’s fun working on a project that has endeared itself to people for so long.

ON 20 YEARS AS AN ACTOR

One of my very first acting teachers said you’re not really an actor until you’ve been acting for 20 years. So maybe I finally arrived. I don’t know. I actually never put that together, but it’s actually 20 years since my first professional job, but I think I enjoy it more every year. I guess doing it that long I feel confident in my skill set. And also appreciative to have the opportunities that I have, and especially right now doing the show and being somewhere that I love having my family here.

I do on a regular basis sort of take stock of how thankful I am to be doing what I’m doing now and especially in an industry that just evolves so rapidly.

Careers can change so quickly. For instance, my wife and I had just bought a house in L.A. and we just had our son. And then within five days of buying that place I got this job and we moved to Newfoundland and we haven’t been back to L.A. and we sold our place. The twists and turns in the industry, nothing’s really forever. So yeah, it’s good to sort of take those moments of joy and peace when they find you.

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