(long) haul

The show, which he co-created with Perry Chafe and Malcolm MacRury (ZOS), stars Hawco as Jake Doyle, who is in the private-eye business with his father Malachy, played by Irish thesp Sean McGinley (The Wind That Shakes the Barley), who replaced East Coast actor Peter MacNeill from an earlier half-hour pilot that had more emphasis on comedy. Together they solve mysteries while Jake deals with what Hawco describes as ‘pretty extreme personal issues that he’s going through.’

Age: 32

Residence: St. John’s, NL and Toronto

Agency: Gary Goddard Agency

Buzz: Actor dons several hats on the action-adventure drama Republic of Doyle, premiering in January on CBC

Call it The Rockford Files on The Rock. Any similarities to James Garner’s lighthearted and phenomenally successful 1970s P.I. show are purely intentional.

‘That’s exactly where it started from years ago – watching The Rockford Files with my dad,’ Hawco explains. ‘I was always thinking it would be cool to have a Rockford Files here in St. John’s.’

Hawco moved to Montreal at age 20 to attend the National Theatre School. He has been producing for the stage since 2004, as co-artistic director with Philip Riccio of Newfoundland’s The Company Theatre.

‘I’m always interested in driving different projects and being behind the creation aspect of it all, as well as acting,’ he says. ‘Acting is certainly my first love and nothing could ever really replace that, but producing and writing and creating is something that I’m just totally jazzed about. I love being engaged on a minute-to-minute basis.’

Hawco runs the show with Rob Blackie and John Vatcher, his partners in Take the Shot Productions. Also assuming an exec producer role is Michael Levine. ‘He’s been instrumental in getting this project off the ground,’ Hawco says of the entertainment lawyer extraordinaire, with whom he has had several projects in development. Levine set up a meeting with CBC Television’s Fred Fuchs, executive director, arts and entertainment.

‘He came in and he had a story that he was passionate about,’ Fuchs recalls, having just returned from his first-ever trip to The Rock for a one-day production meeting. ‘He had a story that he had to tell, and it was a story about a place, it was a story about a people, it was a story that had a soul. Within a half-hour I knew we had a television series.’

What actor Paul Gross loves about Stratford

Wild Hog Country Market

“I am a carnivore. I love cooking, and I love dead animals (but not in an RFK Jr. way). The meat at Wild Hog is fabulous. I’ll load up my cart with all sorts of unbelievable steaks, chucks, ribs—you name it—and fresh produce before heading out of town to my place in Cobourg with my wife, Martha. They also have a good café—not that I need any more coffee after pounding back-to-back cups at 5 a.m.” 2785 Line 34, Perth East, wildhog.ca

T. J. Dolan Trail

“I have a terrier—or terror­er, as I like to say—who always needs to go out. He’s indefatigable. A few years ago, I started a habit of running my lines while dragging him around the picturesque T. J. Dolan Trail that winds around Lake Victoria and through a graveyard. At the time, I was growing my hair and beard out for King Lear, and I looked insane, yelling at a dog in iambic pentameter. Hikers would stare at me. They still do, even though the lines for Godot are more decipherable. I don’t stop to do much explaining.” Entrance located off John St. N.

What actor Paul Gross loves about Stratford

Fanfare Books

“I’m so glad people have continued supporting independent bookstores even in the age of Amazon—they’re too special to lose. Fanfare Books is almost 60 years old. It has creaky wooden floors, and the atmosphere is wonderful. No one bothers you while you’re browsing, but the staff are quick with a recommendation if you ask for one. It’s the kind of place where I could end up sitting in an armchair and leafing through a whole book. They have lots of plays and books on the craft of acting, but I read more fiction. I recently picked up Virginia Evans’s The Correspondent on a staff member’s suggestion and loved it.” 92 Ontario St., Stratford, fanfarebooks.ca

Canadian Tire

“Canadian Tire is the world’s all-time greatest store. It has some sort of ESP that knows how to make me compulsively buy stuff. I go in for two things and walk out having spent $200. I used to use a little handheld basket, but now I know myself: I need the big cart. My dad had a one-piece snowsuit from there that he called his bunny suit. I inherited it, and I still wear it every winter. I’m sad the fake money is disappearing, but that’s okay. I’m learning to accept change.” 1093 Ontario St., Stratford, canadiantire.ca

Gallery Stratford