Now, in his own words, Hale expounds upon his career and how he became the king of the comedic manchildren.
Growing Up With Buster Bluth on Arrested Development
Buster was so fun. He’s like a cartoon character. I once asked a very actor question to [Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz]: “What does Buster want?” He said he thinks he wants safety. That’s why Buster is always pulling his chin back. He’s always in this state of defense. He’s ready for something to come at him.
One of my favorite things is when people come up and say, “I love this joke [from Arrested Development].” And I say, “Please tell me it, because I’ve completely forgotten.” The only joke from the show that I remember, because it’s my favorite bit, is Tobias joining the Blue Man Group because he thought it was a support group for depressed men. There’s nothing better than that. That was the level of comedy you were working with.
Back then, people weren’t used to watching a show and having to think about it. But because of Netflix (and DVDs), people could rewind it and be like, “Do you see that blue handprint on the wall? That’s from three episodes ago. Do you see that Buster is sitting in front of something that says ‘Arm Off?’ Oh, that’s foreshadowing to him having his hand bitten off by a seal.” All those layers just made Mitch [Hurwitz] brilliant in my eyes.
Being President Selina Meyer’s “Bagman,” Gary Walsh, on Veep
Gary spent a long time sewing pockets into that bag because everything had to have a place. He had Costco versions of whatever was in the bag at home, because God forbid he ever ran out. I think, in one episode, there was a game to see how fast he could pull items out of it. For Gary, that bag was his world. And that’s why it was so hard in that one episode when Selina gave him a new bag. It’s like Linus’ blanket.
Here’s a fun fact. I watch [the projects I make] once, but I don’t watch them again. But I watch the blooper reels. I have every gag reel of Veep on my Dropbox to give me immediate joy. As a wrap gift to the cast, I put them all on a flash drive and gave them out. I don’t remember a lot of stuff. But I remember the bloopers.
