Phoenix as Blue

Red Dog: True Blue (2016) directed by Kriv Stenders

Red Dog hitches rides, adopts people and unites communities throughout Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The film’s clear, canine star is Phoenix. Photographer David Darcy specialises in dog portraiture and the film’s poster featured this image. After Koko, who played the title role in RED DOG, passed away in 2012, a new star was cast to play ‘Blue’ in the origin story RED DOG: True Blue. Enter Phoenix, a cousin of Koko. Producer Nelson Woss observes, ‘They’re both stars … like actors they walk into a room and change the temperature’.