Podcrushed - Tony Hale

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

Tony Hale (Veep, Toy Story, Arrested Development) takes us from his globe-trotting childhood as an army brat to his breakout roles in Arrested Development and Veep. Along the way, he opens up about anxiety, faith, and fatherhood, while sharing the life lessons and practices that keep him grounded. He also gives a behind-the-scenes look at his new project, Sketch, plus a few surprising Emmy stories.   Preorder our new book, Crushmore, here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crushmore/Penn-Badgley/9781668077993       Want more from Podcrushed? Follow us here: Instagram TikTok X (Twitter)   Follow Penn, Sophie, and Nava: Instagram Penn Badgley Sophie Ansari Nava Kavelin TikTok Penn Badgley Sophie Ansari Nava Kavelin See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lemonada. It's so funny because it's hard to separate painful, cringe, embarrassment from, like, fun story. No need to separate. Give us a pain. Welcome to Pod Crushed. We're hosts. I'm Penn. I'm Sophie, and I'm Nava, and I think we would have been your middle school besties.

Singing Casey and Jojo in the back of the back. of our station wagon. You are the only one my everything and for you that's an all my... No? Hello, crushies.

I am so... Did you see I made like direct eye contact? I'm so excited to welcome you all to today's episode. Our guest today is Tony Hale who I'm obsessed with.

I'm a huge fan of Veep and a huge fan of Arrested Development. And I think he steals the show on both of those comedies, which is hard. to do with like the brilliant co-stars that he's working with. So I couldn't be more excited for today's conversation. Tony did not disappoint. He was such a delight. But I just wanted to give

two quick disclaimers. One is that this is the only time you'll see me on video for this episode because someone's little toddler, I won't say who's spilled coffee on the computer where my video files were located exclusively. So we lost them. And if you were wondering why we didn't have video for the last couple of episodes, same reason. Same culprit. But we love that little child, whichever one did it. And the other thing that I wanted to say is, as you've noticed, I'm the only one in this intro, but rest assured, Penn Badgley and Sophie and Sari are joining for the full episode. But let me tell you a little bit about Tony, just in case you're not familiar with all of his accolades before I let you into this amazing episode. So Tony Hale is a two-time

primetime Emmy-winning actor, you know and love from Veep, where he played the delightfully anxious Gary Walsh, and of course from Arrested Development as everyone's favorite scene stealer, Buster Bluth. Tony also brought his unmistakable voice to Pixar as Forky in the Toy Story universe, instantly turning a spork with googly eyes

into a household name. Tony's latest project is a film called Sketch, which we all absolutely loved. Sketch is out in theaters now, and Tony will be out of this taping in about 60 minutes. But until then, we've got in the booth on the mic and on the record. Stick around.

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on August 19th. Follow us now so you don't miss an episode. We start 12 years old, kind of daily life, like how was 12-year-old Tony seeing and experiencing the world? Um,

okay, so, uh, all right, so well, let me, just some quick history. I was an army brat, so I moved. moved like seven times before the seventh grade. Wow. And I think seventh grade might have been 12 years old when we moved to Tallahassee, Florida.

My dad retired. And I was in Tallahassee, Florida through high school. So that was kind of, we kind of set camp there. And I was a kid who was not into sports. And I was in the south, which is pretty much, the sports is pretty much a faith down there. and so my parents really didn't know what to do with me and so then I found, that's when I found this theater and so I was really, I dove in to this place called Young Actress Theater

which was a theater in Tassie, Florida, like a children's theater and I'm so incredibly grateful for this space that I could be stupid and not judged and all that stuff. And what did you, what did your, so as we understand, you know, being a military brat like you said, you were born on a military base. Isn't that right? Kind of.

That's the internet. That's the internet weaving a narrative. I was born in West Point. My dad taught at West Point. Oh, okay, okay. And I think I don't know, I don't think I was on a base. But also, let's just keep in mind, like, sixth grade down is a wash. It's a total wash for me.

Some people have massive details. I don't remember teachers. I don't remember friends. It is bizarre. I'm so curious because that's there's such a I also moved seven I lived in seven different countries by the time I graduated high school but seven places before seventh grade first of all such a great way to just deliver that such a nice little tidbit but which places can you just quickly list them off I'm curious yeah so I was I was born in West Point I think we

lived in Fairfax then we were in Georgia and then we went to Heidelberg and Berlin Wow. And then we came back, went back to Fairfax. And then I think we went somewhere before Tallahassee and then Tallahassee. That might not have been seven. But it was, it's, I should have this answer. I should talk to my parents, but they mentioned it was seven times, yeah. No, you prepped us.

You said it was all awash. It's okay. Yeah. And I mean, so to me that's an interesting origin story, you know, like your father taught, is it truly that he taught nuclear atomic physics, something along those lines? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, and this is in the 70s, and I'm just thinking of like...

Old Pan, it was like in the night. It was 92. Oh, I don't know where you got. No, yeah, it was in the 70s. But the cool thing about my dad is he's obviously a really brilliant guy, but his dad was an opera singer. And he was also, in addition to being an opera singer, he was kind of like a lounge singer, and they lived in Miami.

and he died actually when my dad was six but because of his dad he had a real appreciation for the arts so my dad was always very encouraging of my path it's not always the case you know so I'm grateful for that very grateful yeah yeah you know a military man and a military family

ending up in Tallahassee one could imagine that it's you know they were really disappointed that you didn't play sports the way you're saying so I mean that's beautiful that's really lovely it was great and it's like I think back to that time and I think I would was about like arts education because I was one of those personalities like those kind of

person that certain personalities need that environment to thrive whether you go into a career or not like I went into the career but a lot of those personalities just need that environment such an advocate for like arts education man is absolutely necessary you know because that's how so many personalities find their paths in life you know is having that space I'm really great. Tony, I'm just going to like dive right into the deep end with you, which is a place we love to be. Your Christian faith seems like it's been a really grounding force throughout your career.

And I'm curious how it developed throughout your childhood. Ooh, big question. I think my childhood, my faith was a little more social. It was a little more kind of, you know, it was kind of a thing to do in the South to kind of go to church and all that stuff. And then I also have a history of dealing a lot with anxiety And you know, go figure I play like Buster Bluth And all these things which I'm pretty bad panic attack history

So in college I hit a place in my life where Nothing was making sense And my faith It forced me to really question why I believe what I believe And it was really dove in to kind of C.S. Lewis and Henry Nowen and real thinkers. And also just saw a God that was beyond just a Sunday school social club. A God who, for me, a God who wanted to walk with me

and saw a bigger picture than I did, which is very comforting to me. And then a God that I could lean on. And a really deep father figure for me. I get the question a lot of kind of being a person of faith in the entertainment business, and how do you kind of navigate that? And I just, first of all, I'm a mess. I've had a lot of therapy. I've made a lot of mistakes.

I've said stupid shit. But it's also, I also understand that there's so many filters that people see my faith through. You know, and it's, I mean, there's been so much done in the name of God and religious trauma, and which is heartbreaking. And so when somebody's, here's about my faith, I would never get offended about someone's reaction to it because that's a, they, there's a totally different filter that they're looking it through. And it's, if anything, it's, I want to have compassion, listen to their story. And also, I can't, so much of the faith community, including myself in the past, tries to control.

You can't control anybody's choices, anybody's behavior, anybody's reaction. Like, that's, if they ask for my story, then I love to talk about it. But the fact of saying something to control their choice is just crazy. I mean, it's not, I understand the feeling, but it's not possible. Yeah. And also another thing I have talked to my husband about so much is like it's also just never works. Like if you're trying to push your agenda based on your own beliefs onto somebody who doesn't share those same beliefs, like it's the worst way. It's probably possibly like going to do completely the opposite. And I have had experience where it has and I regret that.

You know, because and look at our country. It's so divisive. You know, no one's talking. There's no bridge is being built of just conversation because people don't think conversation is enough. You have to say, you have to scream, you have to say something that's going to convince, and it's like that kind of agenda-driven tactic, you know, tactic, it's just not working.

You know, at least it hasn't worked in my life. Sorry, there's a bug like flyer. I was like, oh, what's you doing? I want to, I mean, I love this. I want to go back to you at 12 and then discovering theater. So it sounds like that was that was the age where you, you

you did, clearly, you joined Young Actress Theater, is that right? Yeah, yeah. So just give us a snapshot of, like, maybe the first, I just love that origin story, like that first time, you're like, oh, what is this? This is, what? My first show was, I wanted to be

the Artful Dodger and Oliver, and Tina Williams, who founded the theater company, who's great, she said I was too obnoxious. So I got another role. Just true, I was kind of obnoxious. but I was the mayor of Oz and Wizard of Oz and I just like didn't care

I mean I just like had the best time you know painting my top siders green and doing all this crazy stuff in the you know the land of just all that like the Apple Seller in I think it was the Apple Seller and Annie and just to be around that community and I mean you guys remember if you were just the drama just the absolute drama of like do you know what they said. And there is no drama like theater party drama. You know, when you go a theater party after a show, and if there's red wine involved, it's over. You know, I mean, the drama just

gets to new heights. Yeah. So just, I mean, we didn't, if we never read wine back then, but not a 12, maybe a 13. But it's just like that kind of energy, and I'm very close to all those people. You know, I love visiting them and going back and just telling, I just love it. And so, Yeah, so I got, I started getting those roles and I, that really, I loved high school. I didn't have, I was bullied, you know, like a lot of people were and I was bullied and young actress became a really safe space for me. But I didn't like hate high school, but it definitely wasn't as safe as I think as this theater was safe for me.

What were your first experiences around love and heartbreak? Oh, man. This is a classic question, by the way. We do ask everybody. We're not just singling you out for the most personal. My first around love and heartbreak. I was just, man. My first expect, well, I don't think I...

Or a crush, an infatration. I think it was more kind of crush. Like, I mean, it was more just fascinated by people but I mean truthfully guys I had so much anxiety at that age it was

I just wasn't in my I mean even though I loved that time I wasn't in my body a lot of kids at that age aren't on their body but I there's a lot of stuff in my family I grew up around addiction and some addiction

and I would just kind of detach and I would go into just you know, I don't know, I would have a great time with my friends, but I was more like into crushes and the thought of like real and intimate relationship or that was just like, what? That's for the movie. You know, I didn't hear of kind of too, not possible, you know,

for me, back then at least. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, we have one more classic question about that time of life, which is if you remember a particularly embarrassing or like cringy, awkward moment for you. Holy crap. It's so funny because it's not even back then. I just look at my career.

I'm just like, good Lord. It's just one. What's the first or second demi? I'm trying to know if that's the... It's so funny because it's hard to separate painful cringe and embarrassment from like fun story. No one should do separate. Give us a pain.

We'll like you'll cry. Yeah, I mean, I would say there was a lot of embarrassment growing up, especially in middle school and not being into sports, being an artistic kid, a lot of name calling. That was, but at the same time, it is wild how with that your humor is formed. You know, so I would, when someone would call me a really awful name, I would, turn around and I do remember having a thoughts of like making jokes in my head of like well little they do little do they know this or like that was a very see these kind of side comments that you do in your head in order to balance out that you know verbal trauma that was just hit at you and and I mean not to get super spiritual again but I think it's pretty beautiful how we go through

these shitty times and then God uses them somehow in the future like you know whether it be empathy with other people, whether it be these characters that I've been able to play, who clearly are very good at codependency and very good at anxiety. Yeah. So there's, when you're kind of, you come from a space where that was natural to you,

and then you can bring it into the comment. I think the, kind of that whole evolution is pretty cool, you know, but not fun to walk through. Mm-hmm. This is so sad, but I do remember doing the show, the song was Jubilation Tea Corn Pone

and I think it might have been I think it might have been Damn Yankees and I was playing Marion Sam and I was about to sing my song and I thought I was having an asthma attack and I ran off stage to get my inhaler and I took my inhaler and it didn't work and I got back on stage

and this is all while this has happened I got back on stage somehow by got through it, and I looked back, and that was a full panic attack. Like, I had, because back, you know, back then, that language was not familiar, you know, yeah. And the word anxiety was not really familiar. It was more just kind of like, all right, Tony, settle down, or Tony, you're a little too

sensitive, or Tony, like, you know, let's, let's chill out. Or just, this is the bad, just like, you know, just calm down. You're like, you can't, your body can't calm down, you know? So I look back, that was a full panic attack, like, in the middle. middle of the show you know it's just like and the crazy thing about that kind of anxiety is I remember then going into college and then even after college it's wild when you have an experience like that it becomes this um this bar for not ever wanting to have that again so you're like it's like oh crap I don't want to have that experience again and then that increases the panic you know so it's that

kind of it's wild how that stuff works so did you develop like uh I guess I'm curious did you have a relationship to, well, it sounds kind of diminishing to use this term, but like stage fright, I'm just curious about how you're, you know, because you really started to, actually what I really do want to hear about too is how this went from being a more

hobby or just something that was like a community that fostered you to being like, oh, no, no, no, no, this could be something else. Well, I love that question because I remember three years ago, and it's something if I'm, honest that this is a whole other angle but emotions are so fascinating but like about three or four years ago I did this play in San Francisco it was a mainly a one-man play and then at the very end someone comes in so probably for 45 minutes I'm on stage alone and every night there's still those thoughts

of like oh we can we can rehearse this guys but I'm going to have a I'm going to have a panic attack in front of people so like we can wait a fine we can keep going but this is going to happen And I remember talking to my therapist, and when right before I would go on and that those voices would come up and be like, get ready, you know, you're going to lose your shit in front of these people. And I got into the practice of turning into the fear and saying, hey, I really appreciate you being here. I know you're trying to help and I know you're trying to protect me. I'm going to go do the show, but I want to say that I really appreciate you being here. And there was something about giving that compassion to that fear that just was so opposite in what I used to do,

like buck up and like it's not there and compartmentalize. And that just, for me, that just made it bigger. But the minute I started like almost like giving it a hug and be like, hey, come to the table a little bit, it just diminished it. So those kind of like, because I used to have bad stage fright and once I did that play, guys, it was like, I can't wait to do theater again.

Because it was like, oh, I never thought about compassion towards these emotions. You know, cut to, randomly, another wild evolution thing, me doing Inside Out 2, where I'm literally playing fear. Yeah. In that one. And it's like, how cool just life giving me that, you know? Actually, it feels to me like sketch, I don't know how much, how consciously you've connected it to, but sketch feels like that to me. I mean, that's, you know. I'm also shamelessly promoting sketch with my hat, but, no, it's not shame.

sketch is a real thank you for bringing it up because we've worked on this movie for like eight years trying to get it made with my buddy Seth Worley who wrote and directed it and guys it's so good it's so good we've seen it we've seen it we all watched it

yeah yeah everything I've ever seen you in I think we all feel this way you're phenomenal man you are really are and also and everything you're a part of like very much including sketch in this and thinking of you know

arrested of ailment just like the it's like it's so much so much meaning in depth and we do really want to get to all of those but i think well i just have i just have i just have to say tony that pen texted it this morning with all caps i love sketch and i was like did someone hack his phone because he's never used all caps oh that he took his phone oh it means so much i i have i mean you guys have had projects things in your life like this but it's this has been such a journey and to get it out there is so exciting because it comes from the directors, and we can get to something else really quick,

but it comes to the director's real life experience that his sister was drawing these pictures that were really disturbing and his parents, you know, obviously were kind of freaked out and they took him to a therapist and the therapist said, did you want to said to her, do you want to do these things? And she said, honestly, yes

because it was like a bullying situation. And the therapist said, well, I think it's a good idea you drew it rather than did it. Yeah, it's genius. It was so eye-opening. And also, just the fact that, because it's about grief and how did the pictures then come to life and I don't know, I'm

so happy you guys saw it. That means a lot, a lot. And we're going to come back to it, we promise. Yeah, we are. No, we are, we are. We're just, we're in the middle of your origin story. We just do so much, Tony. I marveled, busy. Stick around. We'll be right back. Shopping for

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to symbiotica.com slash podcrushed for 20% off plus free shipping. That's symbiotica.com slash podcrushed for 20% off plus free shipping. So you were talking about that image of like the, was it baseball? I don't know why. Something about like, oh no, it was people kind of like the comments about sports and then in your mind you were kind of like lobbing them back with these funny jokes and that being formative to the characters that you play. And I was thinking about like Buster and Gary no actor should be able to play one character like that, let alone too. And I don't think any actor could, but you could because of kind of your life experiences. Like, they're both so incredible, so unique.

Like, really, both of them have probably made, like, best comedic characters of all times. They're incredible. Sorry that I'm like, I'm going on this feel, but I love them both so much. They're both really dear to me. I've seen a rest of development and Vip both twice through. And the only other show I've seen twice through is friends. So, anyway, just say, I really adore you. So I want to know for Buster, there's so much that we could ask,

but I know that working with Jessica Walter was really special, and that was like in a really incredible dynamic. Can you tell us about that, what it was like to shape that relationship and what it meant to you? Yeah, she was a force. Like, Jessica was a real force. And Jessica, like Julia, Louis Dreyfus on Veep, just with comedy, there's that trust that you throw the ball

and they're going to throw it back. and you feel like Julie and I we would call it like a dance like we would do these kind of there was times when I would oh man I miss it even talking about it but it's like she would be talking

Selena would be talking and I would be putting on her bracelets or putting on her purse on our jacket and we would just be in this rhythm together and just had kind of that same way where I just so admired her timing and her commitment and let me tell you right now

there has never been a picture of codependency like there's been with Buster and Jessica. There was the scene where she couldn't she was on, she was like house arrest she couldn't smoke and so she asked me to inhale the smoke out of her mouth

and exhale it on the patio. I would run back in and she would take a big and then exhale it into my mouth like a freaking baby bird I would go and exhale it on the porch and we had to do that take over and over and I was like guys I got I got asthma here, kid.

What's happening right now? But it was so, we were so ammeshed. And at the same time, our characters, you know, hated each other and with comedy, like those kind of crazy, because even Selena and Gary, like those levels of chaos only add to the comic pot and the joy of it, you know. It really says a lot about Arrested that there's so much happening

that I'm a true lover of it. I don't remember that little bit. I don't remember that. It was in the, good probably. You probably saved your mind from having to. It was in, I think, the later, it was in the later seasons. Yeah. And she's on house arrest.

Yeah. So I would actually love to hear, you know, you've told it before, so forgive us. But I think we probably have a lot of arrested fans in our demo. And it's just, I mean, it's such an incredible series. one of the greatest ever one of the greatest comedies it's so brilliant well constructed everybody in it is just delivering gold and it just sounds like you guys have always had so much like appreciation for each other admiration respect love you and so i'm curious like what was the process of of being cast as buster and like you know those first days on the pilot like how how did

how did that feel because you know you must have had some sense yeah i i I, no, I like that question because I, with work you guys have done, my memory does click. I mean, it's good to talk about it because you're good to remember it again. But I, so anyways, I was mainly doing commercials in New York. When I moved to New York in 95, I was mainly doing so many odd jobs in commercials. And I was cast as like the guy, my type was literally the guy who wasn't all there. That was literally how they saved me on the commercial casting. That hasn't changed much in the future.

But so, and I could not find a TV and film agent for like six or seven years because everybody saw me as a commercial actor. And then Arrested came on and it was a commercial casting director that called me in because she saw the description. She was like, well, this guy, this character's definitely not all there. So they brought me in. And I was so wanting it because I was, I continued to be a big Christopher guest fan and waiting for Guffman had just come out.

And just that kind of comedy was so different than what I had seen And this was so different than what I had seen So I was like, damn, this is like, this would be crazy good So anyways, I ended up getting it Was just blown away 10 days before we got married in New York The show got picked up and I was like, hon, I think we're moving to L.A. And so she was like, what? And she was a makeup artist on Saturday, not live at the time

And so she made a really big sacrifice to move to L.A. with me. And so, but I was honestly, I was just very overwhelmed those first three years. I had never been on a studio a lot. I had never had that much free food. You know, I gained 15 pounds that first. I'm so glad you're talking about the free food because as someone who's never been on a set,

that's all I really want to know about them. Oh, man. And it's like, it's, I mean, I'd never experienced that. It's like you just walk up to a table. And it's like, it's honestly incredible. And there's something as an, actor who was just, you know, struggling. I was like, wait, I can just take this. You know, it was what's happening? So that was kind of crazy for me. And then I think the big, I don't want to get

all philosophical quickly, but. Please do it. So I, and I've said this a lot, another podcast, so I apologize if anybody has heard this before, but getting a sitcom was my big thing. It was my absolute ultimate thing. And I got it, and I got a rest of development, which was like the cast, the writing, the best, and it didn't satisfy me the way I thought it was going to satisfy me. And it scared the hell out of me.

It scared you because you weren't satisfied. Like you were noting that you weren't satisfied. I wasn't feeling what I thought I should be feeling because I got my dream. You know, very, I mean, I got it. I got my dream. And after, it got canceled in 2006, and I started, that's when I really started

into therapy. And it was like, I gave that thing so much weight that nothing can hold it. And most of my life, you know, with anxiety and kind of checked out, I was not present. I just wasn't very present. And it's that whole lesson of if you're not practicing content where you are, you're not going to be content when you get what you want. And I had just not been practicing. I'd given that future sitcom so much that's going to be the answer that it just, nothing could hold its weight.

And so Arresta was not only like such a gift comedically in, you know, for my career, it was a more important. such a massive life, you know, turn for me. And I'm incredibly grateful for that, big time. I just want to share this one little quote. Sorry. And to the listeners, I realize I like often share quotes and I apologize if that's really annoying to the listeners. I've never apologized before. But there's a quote I like that says it's from the Baha'i writings, which is the faith that I practice. It says, be generous in prosperity and thankful and adversity. So there's like sort of no scenario where you're allowed to your baseline not be thankful. Like that's the baseline. And then you can build from there.

And I feel like that's really like an interesting sort of thing to give a mind. This is why I want one of those notepads that those iPhone notepads in my mind that I can just like jot. I'm sure now, soon with AI is probably going to. Yeah, yeah. There's going to be a chip in your head that's like, yeah, yeah. Tony, we want to talk a little bit about Veep. Veep is obviously iconic, incredible. You play Gary Walsh, who is, as Navajo put it, show stealing.

And your dynamic with Julia Louis Dreyfus, who we love, we've had her on the show. She's just, it's like she's a perfect example of like Meet Your Heroes. Like she's just as lovely as you think she's going to be. What was it about your dynamic together, your partnership together that allowed for such a specific, yeah, team? Chemistry is the word you're looking for. Yes, thank you. First of all, what you saw is the real deal. Like, she's super genuine.

You know, I mean, Penn, you've been on so many shows where sometimes there's a personality that kind of creates a toxicity and can kind of change the vibe. And she, I've been on those shows. And it's like she just has, she sets the tone. She set the tone of authenticity. She set the tone of a team player mentality. Everybody was free to give ideas. And I'm just so grateful for that because it's not always the case. You know, like I think, and I'm not saying I'm not guilty of the parts of this,

but it's like entitlement, arrogance, ego, all that stuff just sucks creative energy out of a space. She didn't have any of that. Like she came in so wide open and was like, hey, we're all in this together. and we all knew it's like you're freaking Julie Lee Trifeth

and I've been the one that was literally standing behind her the whole time so I was very intimidated however here's a fun story we

people came up to us on different occasions and said did you and Tony ever worked together before we both separately said no this is our first time

working together cut to somebody sends us a screenshot of us in a scene together on arrested development that's how oh my gosh

Oh, right, oh, right, all right, yeah. How forgettable each of us were to each other on the rest of development. We were both convinced we had not worked together. But it was, I don't know, she, I was fortunate to be that closer so I could catch all the subtleties, I could catch just all the noises, all that stuff that just, she turned to me once because I was laughing too hard, and she says, Tony, you know you're not watching the show, you're in the show. And it's because I just, I don't know, she, it was just so funny.

And it's really hard to, I don't know if, Penn, if you've had that, but it's like, you just can't keep it together. Like it's, your body is shaking sometimes. And it's like, sorry, I ruined it for the thousandth time, you know. Yeah, that is amazing. I think that's a really admirable quality of yours that I'm actually remembering, I listened to an interview of yours years ago, no recollection of where it was. or maybe I was hearing somebody I'll speak about you who was all incredibly positive

and flattering. And I hope this sounds the same. To me, you have this really interesting quality of being like, like, look, you're a comedic titan too. You've been a part of so many projects now that are incredible. You are incredible in them.

And so much pain it comes from. Yeah. Well, and then at the same time you have this just undeniable, humility of like a fan you know and that's um i i i don't feel as though i've seen that um before quite in that way and i think that's that's very i think it's uh really beautiful oh that's nice thanks for saying that i i will say like growing up um i was a massive um carol burnett and uh tim conway fan and my favorite things to watch was the when they would break when

the loop of reels and and I honestly I should watch VEP over and I should watch arrested but I don't what I do have saved on my drop box is every season of the gag reel and that's what I always go back to because and sometimes I get

emotional about it because I just that energy and just the joy just like the absolute joy of not being able to control your laughter is like there's nothing like it it's just the best. It's the best feeling Yeah. This is why I want to do a comedy.

Is it a bad man? Yeah. I'm about to, actually. I don't know if we should cut that out or whatever. I don't know what kind of. Yeah, but I am. I am about to do one, so that'll be nice. Nice. This is just an aside, but do they still provide those bloopers for you, those gag reels? Like on projects today, do people still do that?

They always provide, I don't know about you, Ben, but they always... Usually at the rap party, right? Yeah, the rap party and then, but sometimes they make them public on YouTube. Yeah. And then, but I just like, and actually as a gift, as a rap gift for our last season, I gave, this is how obsessed I am with them. I gave them each a flash drive with all the gag reels on them. Oh, sweet. That's a great.

That's a great wrap. Okay. One more Veepe question, sort of Veepe, sort of not. But there's this incredible moment at the Emmys where Julia wins and you stand behind her sort of as Gary. And I'm just curious, were you nervous? How did you pull that off? Yeah. I even get nervous thinking about it.

Okay, so she called me that morning and said, hey, I'm thinking if I win, I want you to carry my bag. And I immediately thought, oh, well, you are going to win. So this is going to happen. And then she obviously won and called me up. And we had kind of arranged some little bits. But thankfully, you know, it worked out. And, like I was absolutely petrified.

I'd like to thank our producers, Tony Roach, Simon Blackwell, Chris Godsick, Frank Rich, Stephanie Lang. I'd like to thank our, my family. Brad Hall and Henry Hall and Charlie Hall, my children are here this evening. And I love them so much. Yeah, it's actually incredible to know you didn't rehearse it. No, we didn't rehearse it. And they, what's fun is like on the show, you know, Gary, she doesn't even like Gary speak.

Gary's not allowed, right? She literally calls me a bitchy mime on the show because I'm just not. And so over time, I had to get, I'm communicating nonverbally all the time. So when she's, when she's at like a press conference or something, and she's, and she's, being all political and stuff, it was so fun to react the way I actually think she's thinking. Like, if she's talking to a moron and I'm just like, oh, good.

You know, or something just to be able to nonverbly show what she's saying, that was like, you know, pure joy. Pure joy. It makes me miss it. And I'm going to be on you. I'm just going to show up at your comedy and be like, hey, guys.

That would be amazing. Dude, seriously. I'll find a role for you. You would be. You're in it. You just got cast. Yeah. Okay.

So should we move on a sketch? Yeah. You know, there's a lot of thoughts I have. I mean, how collaborative was it with you and the director before a script existed? Or did you just read the script or like, you know, how? Oh, man. I, it's like when somebody says, tell me about your daughter. And I'm like, oh.

Where do we get that? Yeah. Well, she's conceived. No, but it's like he came to me with the idea of my wife in the movie dies and my daughter is dealing with grief and she draws out her grief

and then they come to life and we describe it like Jurassic Park meets Inside Out. And it came to me with the script and we just went back and forth. He had had a very strong, obviously a very strong scripted base and then we just kind of played around with lines and rhythms

and for years, not years, maybe a couple years. And then we thought, oh, maybe this should be... So we tried to pitch it, and nobody wanted it. And then, and honestly, I look back and I'm like, it probably wasn't ready. And then we thought, well, let's do it as a TV show. It didn't work as a TV show. And then we went back to the film

and really had many moments over the course of eight years. We were like, let's just let it go. Let's just not do it and all that stuff. And then it took somebody else kind of coming in saying, hey, I think there's this other person that might want to finance it. And then, like, in three months, we're shooting. Wow. And it's, it was such an up and down experience,

but to me, I've never had an experience where, you know, as actors, many times we don't have control of the material. You know, you don't, there's, I loved VEP. I loved arrested, but I'm not a part of the creation of the script and all that stuff. Being a part of this and the ground and just seeing it all developed, man, the ownership and the joy of the last day when you rap, when they say cut, and you got it all in the can, I was out of my skin just because I had such an emotional investment in it.

And I knew what Seth is going to do with it because he's so gifted. Like a really quick example, when these pictures come to life, they don't look perfect. They look like a child has drawn them like they've been. I was like scratched with crayon or sharpy and very kind of rough and crude. And it's like, and then when they're destroyed, it's like, you know, fire takes out wax and water takes up. It's all this kind of stuff. And just the specifics that I knew that he was thinking, I was like, damn it, I'm so stoked for you to take this and then do your magic.

Like that's, that was really, really exciting. Tony, the message, I mean, the movie has probably various themes. I'm saying probably I have seen it. But the one that stood out to me is this message that really comes through in the finale, this idea that like we should allow ourselves to feel pain and maybe not like rush through that, try to rush through that emotion, but actually there's a value in feeling it. And I was curious why that was a message that you wanted to kind of bring to life and maybe one that's kind of counter to American culture, which is like run away from pain or get through it

as quickly as possible. Nova, I got to tell you, it really wasn't until you said that that I realized that it's that's probably why I have been so close to this project why I have like over the years it's because there's that thing of like no we can't let this go oh we can't do this but let's not let it go and when you said that I'm like yeah it's that's been so much the story of my life like um with my feelings I felt like I was such a victim to my feelings rather than bringing them to the table or having compassion on them acknowledging them um being more of an observer of my feelings you know oh wow there's that there's that thought there's that awful thought that

someone's going to kidnap my daughter there's that feeling like i'm not going to be able to get through it or whatever and this was her feelings you know coming to life and embracing them and seeing them for the first time you know in real life and so yeah i think when you said that i was like yeah that's probably why i have held on because it is very personal and i can't help but think in another life. You've talked consistently, Tony, about trying to stay in the present moment, and that that's like a lifelong goal. And, you know, you have a, you wrote a children's book about it.

You have a show, Archibald's next big thing. And I heard you talk in an interview about a moment where you were about to go on a late night show. I can't remember which one. and you were feeling so nervous, you could start to feel a panic attack coming on, and you, like, last second decided to start asking questions to the guys who were, like, going to open the curtain for you

and that that helped you just move through it. And I thought, oh, my gosh, first of all, expert. Like, that's so smart to just, like, take yourself outside of your body or your mind for a second. And then I thought this guy probably has some other tools. He probably has some other little practical tips for how to bring yourself back into the present moment. And I wondered if you could share any.

I do. And I also want to say the caveat that I have all these tools. And then yesterday was a day where I felt like I was drowning in my feelings. There's still those days that come and go like yesterday, I was like, God, darn it, these tools aren't working. You know, so of course. I guess what I'm saying is, like, giving yourself the grace that there's going to be those days where you're just feeling like, I just got to keep walking. You know, and I got to like, and then the next morning, I felt back. better, you know. But those, some of those tools that I use are, for one, is like, when I live

in the what if, what if, what if, what if, I just say not now. And many times I say it over and over. I activate the five senses. What am I hearing, smelling, touching, tasting. I don't know that's fine. But I activate those. I, um, there's so many. I think a lot of like, oh, like when thoughts, so many thoughts are in the head or so many feelings are coming like yesterday. Of course, I forgot about this one. This would have been a good one for yesterday. Just saying out loud, feelings, feelings, feelings, thinking, thinking.

There's something about when you put a word to something, it kind of, I don't know, for me it calms the system down a little bit. It puts a name on it. Because what, as I mentioned before, sometimes you feel like it's driving you. But when you kind of put a name to it, it feels like you're a little more in the car seat, you know? And it's like, oh, yeah.

Like when crazy thoughts, rather than those crazy thoughts going off the rails, it's like, oh, thinking, thinking, thinking, you know, feeling, feeling, feeling. Or like, I'll always say, just watching emotions and feelings like cars on the highway. It's like, yep, there's that thought. Like, for instance, when I was on stage and I was like, and that voice came up and was like, all right, you might want to have a panic attack. I literally, many, in addition to saying that I would say, yeah, I thought you'd be here. I was I knew

in addition to being like hey thanks for coming I knew I knew you'd be here I think 20 years ago people would label that as crazy but it's not crazy at all no it's cutting that dialogue with something that

I already feel at the time is like am I I'm like drowning in this rather than like let me just have a discussion with it you know and like yesterday for instance Another one I could have done is been like, this is what it feels like when I feel like I'm drowning in my feelings.

This feels like when things just feel off the rails. Because what it does, it doesn't put such a, again, it puts that name to it. And I have stopped saying, I think I heard another interview to say this, but I have stopped saying, I'm anxious or I'm afraid. I'm feeling some anxiety. I'm feeling some fear because you got to watch how many labels you give on yourself. You know, Tony, do you, do you, are you familiar with IFS, internal family systems? I just got, I just got, I just walked a book.

Because what you were naming earlier about this, like the protector and all this stuff. So to be, to be clear, one of us should explain a bit of this. It's this sense that when it's referring to an internal family system, not your family system, but the, as we might say, parts or dimensions or aspects of you, which, you know, in some very serious, cases of like trauma with a capital T can be like a frozen four year old, a frozen five year old but in a lot of cases it's just the small

tea and just the sort of like parts of you that are kind of acting up and that part of you that's anxious we actually I think now I'm not a therapist here I'm just trying to remember all of it it's like basically you start to identify protectors and those protectors are the ones that get anxious and

angry and fearful and you actually what you said earlier you have to thank them if you try to like if you try to if you try to if you try to just sort of force them away well they actually respond that they're there to protect and almost be antagonized and if you learn to embrace them that's sort of the best way to deal yeah there's also those firefighters i think that kind of come in that's right that's right yeah there's a lot of different terminologies and i'm not like firefighters and the protect the firefighters just come in with a hose and sometimes just like someone would just lash out and something because that's how they're kind of dealing with it

I haven't gotten as far into it as I want to, but it's really, really good. And also not to sound basic, but I'm a big fan of like, kind of like what novel, like quotes. I have all these quotes on my wall. Yeah. And one of them that I, in our business, it's very easy to believe that you have value when something happens. You have value when this happens when you get this, when you get this. And I always love to tell, you know, young actors. or people, whatever, saying,

hey, your value is the same before and after success. You know, that doesn't change. The value have now is the exact same. And just like things like that, that I, like how much power am I given this right now? Is it going to change my value? No, it's not. Yeah.

You know, there's a quote I can think of that I love. It's also from the Baha'i writings, but it's let each morn be better than it's Eve and each morrow richer than it's yesterday. And the reason I like that, I've spent many years with it, but then realized somewhere down the line that it's a very merciful and like forgiving take on feeling quote unquote better or richer because a morning being simply better than the evening before it does not mean that every day you have to get better. It says every day is richer and I think for the variety of experience, the diversity of experience, that you have, even if you've had a terrible day that set you back, you could feel years,

you know, but the next morning, you at least have that understanding. And you tend to wake up on mornings, tend to. Yeah, yeah. It's like some kind of reset. So that's a little bit. And using what you had before to like cater into that experience. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. There's also another, there was a, there was a famous female evangelist in Joyce Myers. And years ago, I heard her just simply say do it afraid and I never forgotten that

because I think we or I have gotten into a space in the past of like you have to be in a certain space mentally, peacefully, joyfully, whatever to do something and it's like no sometimes you just you might be freaked out and you still walk and still walk through the door

yeah that quote came to me when you were telling the story of your inhaler incident walking off the stage I was like wow it's on It's honestly incredible that you have, that you had that experience and that you're like, let's do it again. Let's keep going. I think, yeah, you're a walking testament to that, I quote, do it afraid.

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happen for you and and and what role did it play in all in all of this and career and your feelings yeah yeah um you have a little one correct i i man i have two and i'm about to have twins so i'm About to have four. How old is your oldest? Oldest, 16, youngest, about it is to be five. Oh, if that five-year-old wants a, when they see Toy Story 4, if they want a forky voice memo, let me know. Oh, that's so sweet. That's what makes it really fun because at that age, at that five-year-old age, they think these characters are real.

Yeah. And when they hear Forky or whoever it is say their name, they're just like, yeah. That's so sweet, Tony. that's so sweet really fun um but um how is it influenced um man it's hard to like and i wouldn't even just say my i'd say my family in general my marriage my daughter um my wife and i laugh like we don't even really know who we were when we got married you know it's the the refining process of marriage and the refining process of being a father it's so hard and so much joy and you just change I mean, they're just, it's like they're walking tools around you for your refinement, you know.

But Loy is, her name is Loy, and she's named after my wife's brother who passed away. He died in a plane crash, and she is so full on her, on her wall, in her room, it says, it says, Loy, there was a sign that says joy with an owl. She's just She's the best She's the best She drives me crazy How old is she? Now she's 19

And I cannot Look at old photos or videos When she was little Because it just takes me to the bank Like I can't do that Maybe one day It's too much But like

When she was little I mean talk about a constant Oh this is I think about this is when Arresta got canceled, the same month Arresta got canceled, I bought a house and I had Loy. And I remember thinking,

holy shit, like, how is this going to work out? Yeah. And she was such a gift in so many ways, but she was a focus. Like, I had no idea. We also actually had to maybe sell our house like two times in my career.

And, you know, after, during Loy's younger years. And, but having that focus of like, I got to keep this baby alive. My wife and I, we got to keep her alive, you know, and like, what are we going to do today? And when it gets down to very simple forms, what a gift. And it just, it forced me to get out of my head and to get out of the anxieties of career and all that other life. Just little. And then lately, she's just, her and I are going to go to the Beyonce concert and wine.

Yeah. And we're going to, we've got our outfits for Cowboy Carter. Oh my God, I love that. She's like, she's so fun to hang out with. And my, it's funny because, like, my wife and I have very different relationships with, like, she always calls my wife. Like, she calls my wife, like, twice a day and, you know, tells me everything. And when with me, we're like, she'll send pictures and call, but it's like, we have different. And I love that.

I love that she has a bond with Martel, who's my wife, that, you know, they talk about, you know, other stuff. And then with me, it's like, let's go to concerts. and then like we'll go out for dinner and just joke and it's just it's different you know yeah so and it's all that to say it's morphed and it'll continue to morph you know yeah wow so sweet yeah one of my friends i was uh so nervous to make the decision to have a child i was like i kind of wish i would just it would just happen accidentally so that if if it was a terrible thing then i could say i didn't make the decision myself and i didn't put myself in this position I was so nervous about not having enough time for creative pursuits and stuff like that.

And I was talking to a friend of mine who had a kid already and was pregnant. And she said, she's like, I think babies bring blessings. And I think she meant like not just in like a mystical sense, although I think that's probably true too. But like you're saying, like a renewed sense of focus, a new sense of priorities, like very easy to figure out what your priorities are in a way that it probably wasn't before. I just feel like there's all these practical ways that a baby kind of pushes you forward and brings things together in your life. It's wild how you see it in hindsight. How old is your little one?

She's only 18 months. She's still a little. Oh, yeah. I do see a baby and I'm like, baby. And I'm not grab these random. It is nice thing. Babies, man, are just a little healing. I mean, it's like you just hold a baby,

and it's like, well, I'm just going to give you a check for, you know, $150 for that therapy. You know, it's so magical, man. I remember that. Tell us a little bit about, you know, when and how developing children's content became important for you. Yeah, I mean, I'd love to be able to say that, like, oh, I really wanted to, move the children of the world but it happened really

it was okay so the book Archibald's next big thing that there was a show after that it came from this arrested development experience that I talked about this life lesson where this chicken gets a card in the mail that says your big thing is here and he's like where and he goes on all these adventures

and then he's like I gotta get to my next big thing always and this bee comes along and the bee's like you gotta just be man You've got to just be. And then in the end, he realized that the card is right that your big thing is here. So my big thing right now

is talking to you guys. That's my big thing. It is pretty big, I would say. It is big. Thank you, Beth. Thank you. And so this Nat guys is just all in my place.

He's very attracted. It's the bee. It's the be telling you that this is the biggest moment of your life. Yeah. I know you, be, baby, baby. But it's a, it happened. I didn't have anything to do.

I was having a hard time finding work And I had this lesson from arrested And I was like And I talked to my buddies And I was like, let's just write a book together And then it was very therapeutic And then after that We decided to make it a cartoon

And Archibald took this less Because he learned about contentment in the book And then in the show He sees everything like it's his big thing So he's the most he sees the best in everything and everyone. And I tell you, this chicken for five years was just like my guru. I was just like Archibald, you know,

because I just love that chicken and continue to. That's so beautiful. I want to ask you just one question about your podcast, Extraordinarians. Oh, yeah. I was listening last night, and what I loved about it was, you know, there's so many shows, ours included, that are talking to people that are well-known. But I think, at least from what I can tell,

you're talking to regular, extraordinary people doing extraordinary things, which I really love and crave in a lot of podcasts. So I'm curious, out of all the people you've spoken to so far, because it's only just started, who's the most extraordinary, extraordinary. And what did they do? Oh, man. You're asking him to rate extraordinaryness? Sophie, that's so unkind.

Or just like tell us about an off-the-wall kind of person. The best extraordinary was there was I mean, to your point, there's just most of them have broken some kind of Guinness record or done something really, like there was one guy who slacklined between two hot air balloons

and he, I don't think his is aired yet. And it's just, all I want to do is just be like, get us into your mind. Like where do you, as a person who struggles with, anxiety like you are facing what seems like death every day and this is we were talking to another woman who is she got the Guinness record for hair hanging so she hung from her hair for a certain number of like I think it was like 20 minutes and she's just talked about how you know the pain

and all this kind of stuff and I but then at the same time she's like would tell us about her community and a lot of these people's communities and how much they love life they just love life and I was like I think it's fascinating that you love life so. much. And then there's this part of you that also puts yourself very close to death, you know, all the time. And they say just how they work together. How when you do that, it just makes you appreciate life over and over and over. And it's like, I guess, I never thought about that. But it's just really a chance like there was this one girl who's so great. She was the national, she won the most puns, the uncompetence. And she was precious and so full of

life and she would be sorry what does that mean like the most like a pun if like um i mean i'm not i've been a big give on i know i know what a pun is i mean i'm just i guess what i'm saying is like she's like a pun champion but like what in the most in the smallest number of time or so there was yeah so there was like these competitions and there's a topic and it's kind of like pitch perfect where they do riff off and it's kind of like pun offs and so they go back and forth with the topic interesting and see how many puns you can come up with Oh, okay. Yeah.

So it's like freestyling a little bit. I just have to say, Tony, so sweetly explaining to Penn Badgley, what a pun is. Without being like, wow, this idiot. My brother called me while I was listening to that episode. And I have this little like cyst on my eyelid that I've been trying to get rid of. And one of the ways you get rid of it is just like a hot compress on your eyes. So when he called me, I was listening to the podcast with this thing on my eyes. And he thought I was sleeping because it looks like an iPad.

And I just told him, oh, no, I have this cyst. And he said something like, oh, my little sister. And he made me, he was like, do you didn't catch my pun? And I was like, you have no idea how funny this is. I'm listening to a podcast about the pun champion. That's so good. And she was, the fascinating thing to her, of course I can't remember her name. But from a very young age, someone would say a word.

And she would just have this grid in her mind of all the different words would pop up. out of this word. Wow. And then she's also a songwriter, so it made songwriting very, you know, natural for her. And just like all these people, I would never, ever run, maybe run across in life and just wanting to, one guy,

how many pencils he's stuck in his beard, another one, he drank the most hot sauce drink, the most hot sauce in this competition. That sounds rough. I'm just thinking about his esophagus. Gone. We were like, but he's so passionate about it. Wow.

And then I feel like he deserves two records, one which is for the drinking and the second for everything that has to happen after he drinks it. Don't think he and ask all those questions. Like he would lay on a concrete floor after he was done because it was cold. Oh, my goodness. It's fascinating.

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. It's fun to do with Kristen Shaw and Matt Oberg who are a really good friend of mine. Oh, I love them. Yeah, Kristen is just the best. And so is Matt.

Matt was on Veepe. Matt was Buddy Calhoun on Vee. It was the southern boyfriend of Anna Klamski So fun We would love to talk so much longer But of course, we have to end And we have a final question

With which we do that If you could go back to 12 year old Tony What would you say or do, if anything? What would I say or do? Hmm Let me think a minute I think I would be very simple in addition to saying

hey, because I give a lot of power to fame and which of the core of fame, not to go off on a tangent, is everybody wants to be known. And people look at the more famous you are, the more known you are when in actuality, I think it's actually just the opposite sometimes. But I would say your value where you are

is the exact value if you ever do have success. And then I would just simply say it's going to be okay. Because I think that's what I like to hear when someone, when I'm going through something and just someone says, hey, you know what, man, it's going to be okay. It's just like immediate.

You know, there's something really powerful about that. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, Tony. It was such a joy to have you. So nice to meet you. Tony, you have the sweetest smile.

I just have to say. Every time you smile, I was like, oh, it just like makes you feel happy. That's very sweet. I thought I needed it to wang my teeth, so maybe I don't. No. You're good. You're perfect.

Good for another six months. You can watch Sketch in theaters now, and you can follow Tony online at Mr. Tony Hale. Pod Fresh is hosted by Penn Badgley, Navakavalin, and Sophie Ansari. Our senior producer is David Ansari, and our editing is done by Clips Agency. If you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium Me, yet, now's the perfect time because guess what? You can listen completely ad-free.

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