Rocky long ago proved that when it comes to boxing movies, audiences love an underdog.
The new made-in-sa国际传媒 series Little Dog will test whether that also holds true for television. The black comedy steps into the ring Thursday on CBC.
Little Dog is a passion project of Newfoundland-based actor-writer-producer Joel Thomas Hynes. He describes the series as a 鈥渞aunchy family comedy鈥� about a burnt out, washed-up boxer named Tommy (Little Dog) Ross who left the ring in disgrace five years earlier and now has a shot at a rematch with his old rival.
鈥淢ore than his career is at stake,鈥� says Hynes. 鈥淭here鈥檚 his personal pride and his relationship with his family.鈥�
While the rival he鈥檒l face is Rico (Havoc) St. George (played by Dwain Murphy), Tommy鈥檚 greatest opponent may be his mother, Sylvia (Irish actress Ger Ryan). She鈥檚 a failed lounge singer who will never let her son forget that he鈥檚 a loser. Tommy鈥檚 brother 鈥淟owly鈥� (Stephen Oates) works hard at making 鈥淟ittle Dog鈥� feel small, too, as does his sister Ginny (Katharine Isabelle). The only family member in Tommy鈥檚 corner is Ginny鈥檚 bicycle-riding son, Chelsea Ross (Billy Cochrane). To him, uncle Tommy is a hero. In this messed-up family, that鈥檚 pretty much right.
According to Hynes, who created the series, the character of Tommy was somewhat inspired by a real-life boxer named Andrew Golota. In a heavyweight match with Mike Tyson in 2000, Golota did the unthinkable: he quit the fight, walking out of the ring after the second round. The 32-year-old boxer had been knocked down in the first round and was later diagnosed with a concussion.
鈥淭here鈥檚 extraordinary footage online of the fans smashing drinks off his chest and everything as he鈥檚 walking away,鈥� says Hynes. 鈥淲e just started thinking, 鈥榃here the hell is that guy now, and do you ever come back from that, if that鈥檚 your legacy?鈥濃��
Adds showrunner and executive producer Sherry White (Rookie Blue, Saving Hope), 鈥渋t鈥檚 really about do you ever get a second chance?鈥�
Hynes was never a professional boxer, but says he has had 鈥渕y share of fights.鈥� Several of those were of the hockey variety.
鈥淚 spent seven years on the ice and I spent a lot of time just street fighting,鈥� he says, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 not a foreign thing to me. I eventually moved toward boxing and martial arts because you can鈥檛 get away with just fighting anymore.鈥�
Before filming began in St. John鈥檚 last September, Hynes trained with Newfoundland featherweight Jason Heyward. The boxer put Hynes through ring sessions 鈥渏ust like I had a real fight coming up.鈥�
The 41-year-old actor doesn鈥檛 only use his hands for boxing. He鈥檚 punched out scripts, too, including the seven episodes of this series. He鈥檚 also written stage plays and novels, including We鈥檒l All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night, winner of the 2017 Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award for English language fiction.
His acting credits include roles on a few other Newfoundland-based projects including Republic of Doyle, Frontier and Hatching, Matching and Dispatching. He has also appeared on Mary Kills People, Rookie Blue and Orphan Black.
This isn鈥檛 the first shared project for Hynes and White. They also produced a son, Percy Hynes White. The teenager is also an actor.
As Hynes says, 鈥淲e鈥檝e created great things together.鈥�
Hynes and White split up as a couple 10 years ago, but unlike the family in Little Dog, they can work together 鈥� as parents as well as filmmakers.
Percy, in fact, was supposed to have a role in Little Dog until he landed an acting job on an American network series: the Marvel Comics鈥� X-Men drama The Gifted.
鈥淲e were scooped,鈥� says mom White.
