As far as iconic reboots go, we have no bones to pick with the latest reboot of the classic 1989 comedy Turner & Hooch.
The film was adapted into a Disney+ series that premiered earlier this year and it's just as lovable and action-packed as the original, with Drake & Josh star Josh Peck reprising Tom Hanks' Det. Scott Turner role. But it was actor Matt Hamilton, who plays Peck's sidekick, US Marshal Trent Havelock, that caught our eye.
Hamilton, an actor and screenwriter, has appeared in many TV series including Supernatural and Marvel's Legions before landing the coveted Havelock role in Hooch. In fact, this is somewhat of a dream role according to Hamilton, who spoke to exclusively E! News about the show.
"I do remember the movie, I loved it as a kid," Hamilton said. "The one scene I always remember is Hooch going to the doggie door and dragging him into the door multiple times. Re-watching the movie was fun because it brought back a lot of memories. It's like an all-time, top two Tom Hanks performance. A League of Their Own is number one but he's so good in that movie."
Alas, Hanks was not involved in filming the Hooch series. In fact, Hanks was in Australia recovering from COVID-19 while Hooch was in production early last year. The pandemic also hampered the cast and crew's plans to celebrate with a wrap party, which Hamilton helped to organize, but that didn't stop the Vancouver native from staying optimistic about his experience.
"We didn't get to do any of that super fun stuff," Hamilton shared. "But at the same time, as much of a pain as it was, we were super fortunate to be working when the world was coming to an end."
Keep reading below to get to know more about the breakout star of Turner & Hooch.
E! News: What was your audition process like and how'd you celebrate when you got the part?
MH: I was shooting a movie in Kelowna and I got the audition. Immediately I was like, oh my God. This is everything that I need in my life. It's comedy, it's cop stuff, it's action stuff. So, I taped [my audition] in the hotel room with my friend. I felt awesome about it. Because of COVID, the callback process was on Zoom and I did that in my living room. It wasn't a huge celebration because it was almost like I didn't want to get too excited for it, I have this weird thing where I don't want to jinx things. I told my mom I got it and then I just kind of waited. I just wanted the show to start so I could just exhale. Everything worked out though, everything was good.
E! News: Your character is not a fan of dogs, but are you a dog person IRL?
MH: I had to put my dog down halfway through filming. I'm a huge dog guy. He was 17 years old, he was an old man and it kind of happened pretty quick. And I was obviously destroyed, but I went back to work two days later. I think I found that very helpful to be around dogs and then just working, getting your mind off [it]. It still comes in waves.
E! News: What was it like working with the dogs on set?
MH: You've got to be absolutely dialed in with your stuff because you're going to be shooting your coverage and then the trainers are going to be in your eye line with squeaky toys and clapping trying to get the dog's attention to look toward the camera. It's really distracting so you have to make sure you're on your game. The dogs are so, so sweet. They're just such lovable animals and they drool like it's a machine. It's a machine perpetually spitting out ropes of drool!
E! News: Did you do your own stunts?
MH: I have a fight scene in episode nine, it's actually pretty sweet. I practiced for three days and I felt pretty confident, and I had a stunt guy who did the wide version. And because I don't have a lot of history with stunts, when he kicked my gun out of my hand it dropped a little bit too much, so he spun around and roundhouse kicked me in the face! I got a really great photo of it, it's really funny. I'm a dude who grew up loving Bruce Willis movies and action movies. I was so stoked to be in a fight scene but that's hard! I had to change my shirt three times because I kept sweating through it and you get a headache after a while because you keep hitting the ground. Man, the stunt guys earn their money.
E! News: What was it like working with Josh Peck?
MH: He always has the best attitude and he's really funny. And they let us improv a lot together. We got to do a lot of really fun stuff and they kept a lot of it from what I've seen. He's a sweetheart, I couldn't believe it. Doing a show like this, sometimes people can be awesome people and you're tired and sore and you have a young son at home and it's totally understandable to come into work one day and just be in a s--tty mood. But he never did, never once!
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)