The Disney+ original series Turner & Hooch follows Scott Turner (Josh Peck), the son of the Detective Turner (Tom Hanks) from the 1989 film of the same name, an ambitious U.S. Marshal who’s trying to stand out and make a name for himself. When he finds himself unexpectedly partnered up with a big, slobbery dog named Hooch (who’s actually played by five French Mastiffs) and he and his sister (Lyndsy Fonseca) realize there may be more to the mystery of their dad’s last case than they knew, Scott must be patient with his new pet, if he’s ever going to find out what really happened.
During this virtual 1-on-1 interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, co-stars Fonseca and Reginald VelJohnson, who returns playing the same character he did in the film, talked about forming a bridge between the original story and this new TV series, having such a slobbery co-star, the fun of getting to play a complex mother that has a lot to figure out, making a career out of playing cops, doing physical comedy, and how much they knew ahead of time.
Collider: Reginald, when you did the Turner & Hooch movie, could you ever have imagined that you'd be reprising this character, of all the characters you’ve played?
REGINALD VelJOHNSON: Absolutely not. I had no idea. It was a very special treat to know that I’d come back and do this role again, after so long. Getting into a new project was a nice feeling. I had never done anything like that before, where I’d come in and recreate the role that I’d played before, and it was nice. What helped a lot was the other actors. They helped me transition into this new thing. I really appreciate the talent and ability of the new actors that really helped me. It was a good thing.
When this idea came your way, did you think they were joking about bringing you back to play this character?
VelJOHNSON: No. I was thrilled because I’d never done anything like this before. It was nice to know that they wanted me to be involved in this. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to be in this with the other actors. I was humbled by the experience, I really was.
What was your reaction to learning that not only would your character have outlived Hooch, but also Turner?
VelJOHNSON: Well, going into the original was a unique experience for me too because it was a supporting role and it was my first. It was fun to do. But to come back and do it again on this TV show was a whole different experience for me and a whole different attitude. Working with the new actors who elevated this to the experience that it was, was very special for me. I really appreciate them having me involved in this. I know the other actors are gonna be superstars when this comes on, and I was happy to be a part of it, really.
Lyndsy, when this opportunity came your way, what was your reaction? Were you familiar with the movie? Did you immediately wonder if this involved hazard pay for all of the dog drool?
LYNDSY FONSECA: Yeah. I was a fan of the original movie. I was two when it came out, so I watched it later in life. Sorry, Reg.
VelJOHNSON: It’s okay. It’s all right, baby.
FONSECA: It’s a beloved film for a reason, and so it definitely interested me. Having Josh [Peck] as the lead was something that I was actually very interested in. I’ve known him since I was a kid and we’ve worked together before, so when I was asked to read with him and do a chemistry read as siblings, it was really a no-brainer. I also am a mom now, in real life, so to play a complex mother, who’s got a lot of figure out was an interesting thing for me, at the time.
And then, there’s the dog of it all. Is it nice to not be the one that has to always have the dog with them, and you can send him off with Josh Peck and not worry about it?
FONSECA: The dogs are really, really strong. I think that people don’t quite understand the physical aspects of holding that dog’s leash and the physicality of playing the comedy. Josh is taking the brunt of that. The few episodes in which Hooch was with me more, I was sore. My shoulders and my elbows and my joints hurt, from holding his leash. There was one time he took off in the woods and I had to let the leash go. I tried to keep up for a bit, but he’s too strong.
Lyndsy, I love that your character has her own brand of chaos going on in her life while she’s trying to handle and deal with so many things. What do you love about that aspect of the character and having to juggle so much?
FONSECA: Sometimes it’s written. The writing is very full of life, but because I’m a mom in real life, I know that I’m rarely sitting down and doing nothing. I’m doing a million things at the same time. Laura’s got a million animals, she’s a single mom, she’s a vet tech, she’s studying for her license. I always tried to hold as props and put things away. I’m like, “What else am I doing, besides talking in the scene?” There are, of course, the rare beautiful moments, like with Reg’s character, where we’re just reminiscing about dad and taking that time, but the chaos of Laura’s house is real. They did a fantastic job with the set decorations because it is chaos.
We hear all of these stories about never working with animals and children, and Laura is working with a lot of animals. There’s only one child, but it still seems like there’s a lot for her to juggle.
FONSECA: It’s great. It brings a lot of life. I remember the parrot who flew at me. I was on the phone with Josh and a parrot was coming at me. It’s great. I welcome the chaos. It comes with its challenges, of course, but I think those just make you a better actor, really.
Reginald, how do you feel about the little literal decades of playing police officers that you’ve had?
VelJOHNSON: I never thought that, in my career, I’d be playing cops in every other film that I do, but it’s okay. I try to make everyone different. Every police officer character that I’ve played, I try to make different. I guess people see me as a police officer. Even real police officers come up to me and want a picture. I think it’s very honorable because what they have to do is a really tough job, and for them to respect me for portraying them, it’s a good thing. I appreciate that. It’s just a joy to portray different police officers in different genres. I’m humbled by it because their job is very difficult to do. If I can portray something that gives them credit, I’m glad to do that and I appreciate that. I’m happy to do it.
So many people and families and even me fell in love with you through your character on Family Matters. What are your fondest memories of playing that character and working with the cast, when you did that show?
VelJOHNSON: Lord have mercy. Playing the father of three kids was very special. I’m not married, so when I first portrayed the role, I had to learn how to be a father and I watched those kids grow up. It was really cool. I learned a lot. We’re still friends today. Whenever I did a project, I’d always try to do a positive performance because being negative on the set is really difficult to do and have to perform. I always kept a good attitude with everybody on the set because that’s important. That helped the characters to feel better. I’m very thankful that everybody that I work with was able to experience a good time. It’s just a unique experience to work with actors that you’ve never met before. On Turner & Hooch, the actors that I worked with were excellent. They made me feel so comfortable, and I thank them for that. That’s a testament to the casting people because they cast the right people. I enjoyed every moment of it.
Turner & Hooch has that feeling that you’d get from watching Family Matters, where it’s just sweet and fun and nice, and it makes you feel good.
VelJOHNSON: It does make you feel good. That’s true. That’s why this show is gonna be a big hit. It brings your family together and you can enjoy watching it with your family. It’s a family oriented script, so you’re gonna gravitate to it. It’s got that.
Lyndsy, I love the work that you did on Nikita, which was a very different show than this one. I love that your character, aside from being a sister and a mother, wants to be involved and wants to be more hands-on. Will she be getting into some trouble and some danger this season, especially as they continue to dig into whatever their father was up to?
FONSECA: Yes, Laura gets into some trouble. As the season goes on, the writers were wonderful to write her ambition and her inability to let something go in a beautiful way. She’s a very determined woman and she gets into some trouble. The cool thing is that I got to get into the action without having to be a cool spy. I remember running towards a truck and having to throw things out of it to get into it. I could use the comedy of it all because Laura is a veterinarian technician. She’s not used to running from bad guys. It’s the comedy of it, so the action was a completely different skill set on this show than Nikita, where I had to look cool all the time and look stealthy and sly. Here, I can just be a regular person trying to catch up to all the action. It was a really fun experience.
I really love the physical comedy of this show. When you do something like that right, the audience takes it for granted because you make it look easy, even though a lot of preparation goes into it. How have you taken to the physical comedy aspect of it?
FONSECA: Every movement that Laura does was totally counterintuitive to the last show, always making sure that I moved with purpose and like a pro and a trained assassin. Here, the way that Laura runs, and the way she’s riding her BMX bike and trying to keep up with her kid, it was just comedy gold. With every moment, I’m juggling toys and laundry. The physicality was really, really fun.
Reginald, what can you say about where your character is, at this point in his life, now that we catch back up with him again?
VelJOHNSON: Well, aside from being older, he has a whole bunch of new individuals to get used to, but he’s still the same character he was in the original Turner & Hooch movie. He’s there to support his partner and make sure that everything is okay. In this, he wants to find out who his partner’s killer is. When he finally finds out, he’s very thankful. It’s time to move on because we’ve got this solved. We have the reason why [his partner] died. We’ve got the killer. Who knows what’s next for this whole project? Hopefully, it lasts for five or six years. I think all of the characters are very interesting still, and the new characters are even more interesting. I wanna find out what happens with this dog and the many things he has to go through in life. So, I’m excited about this project. We shall see.
Both of you guys have done enough projects that you know how unpredictable this business is and you never know what’s going to happen with a show or how long you’ll get to play a character.
VelJOHNSON: That’s true.
Is it hard to think about that and make a wishlist for what your character could do in the future, when you don’t know if they’re going to have a future? Is that hard to navigate, especially when you guys are clearly having so much fun?
VelJOHNSON: Well, I’m older, so I can’t do much. But what they give me to do, I’ll gladly try to portray it. It’s up to Lyndsy and the group to give this show the grit that it needs, and she’s very, very capable of doing that.
FONSECA: Thank you, Reg.
VelJOHNSON: You’re welcome, baby.
FONSECA: The writers definitely have really great ideas for the next season and I hope we can do them because I feel like we’ve just gotten started.
How much of this did you know, ahead of time? Did you know how things would play out, when you started the season? Were you curious about what was going on with this case that their father was pursuing, or did you have those answers?
FONSECA: I didn’t know super specific details, and I didn’t wanna know because it was just about the task at hand and what Laura was going through in the episodes. When I signed on, I was told, “There’s more to this character then being an overworked single mom who’s bringing a dog over. There’s gonna be a lot of purpose in her future.” And they lived up to that. I think there’s even more to explore with Reg and I’s relationship together and what he does as a mayor, and Jeremy [Maguire] growing up. Every episode, he got older and also more involved in the case. And then, also, there’s the relationship between Scott and Laura. This investigation just totally brought them together in a new way that was so sweet and adorable.
VelJOHNSON: I think it’s a very special show. I think people are gonna gravitate to it very easily because there are so many things to like about the show. It’s gonna be great. That’s all I’ve gotta say.
Lyndsy, what’s it been like to form that bond with Jeremy Maguire, who plays your son?
VelJOHNSON: Working with Jeremy is very special. He’s a very sweet kid. I watched he and the dog, as they interacted, and it was really fabulous. I think people are gonna love the way he reacts to these animals. It’s very special. He’s a promising young actor. I think people are gonna love him with the animals. It was a pleasure, watching him do his thing.
FONSECA: There’s a responsibility, as an actor who plays a parent, to make sure your TV kid feels safe and comfortable. I’ve played a mom before, but this is the longest running show where I’ve played a mom. Jeremy and I were together, almost every day for eight months, so I don’t take that responsibility lightly. It’s just a really important job. As a mom, I know that if this was my kid on a set, doing a job at a young age, I would want them to be feeling confident and safe and having fun. I realized, at a certain point, I was like, “Why am I sitting here doing emails between takes? I need to go play a card game with Jeremy.” I do feel like I take that responsibility really, really strongly.
Lyndsy, in what ways would you say your character is most like you, how has she least like you, and is there a quality of hers that you wish you had?
FONSECA: I think she’s a lot like me. To be totally honest, when I shot the pilot, I thought I knew who she was. I was playing this version of Laura, who was a little bit more single-minded, dealing with the death of the father. And then, as the story continued, I just realized that she was quirky. She just had more going on and I tried to bring a little bit more of that into the show. This beautiful marriage of me finding more comedy in the character and the writing supporting that, the writers and I found this beautiful dance that we did. We were just like, “Who is Laura? She’s not just the sister. What are her weird quirks?" And when you meet Grady, her ex-husband, and when you see that side of who she was when she was married and how that relationship affected her, you start to understand Laura a lot more. And a quality where I wish I was more like her? Gosh, she is an ambitious person, to be studying for a veterinarian license with 300 animals and a kid, and doing it all alone.
VelJOHNSON: I don’t know what you did, but you reminded me a lot of Tom in the movie. Your mannerisms were a lot like his. I don’t know if you studied him.
FONSECA: Thank you, Reg. I appreciate that.
Reginald, did you go back and watch the original movie at all, to remind yourself about any of it?
VelJOHNSON: I hadn’t seen the original movie for a long time, but I remember it. What was special about it was seeing the difference between the two. I had a wife in the original movie. My wife was played by Angela Bassett, but they cut her out. It was fun watching the transition from the movie to the TV thing. I think they didn’t miss a beat. I think it’s gonna even be better. We shall see. I think Turner & Hooch is gonna be around a long time because people are gonna fall in love with the dog, like we did. He’s gonna be a star.
Turner & Hooch is available to stream at Disney+.