'Sketch' Exclusive Interview: Tony Hale

Moviefone speaks with Tony Hale about 'Sketch' and working with the cast. "This sounds like a love fest, but the whole vibe was just great," Hale said.

Tony Hale stars in 'Sketch'.

Opening in theaters on August 6th is the new fantasy comedy ‘Sketch’, which was directed by Seth Worley and stars Tony Hale (‘Veep’ and ‘Toy Story 4’) and D’Arcy Carden (‘Shotgun Wedding’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Tony Hale about his work on ‘Sketch’, how he got involved in the project, his role, collaborating with director Seth Worley, working with D’Arcy Carde and the rest of the cast, the visual effects, and what he hopes audiences take away from the movie.

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Tony Hale in 'Sketch'. Photo: Angel Studios.

Moviefone: To begin with, how did you get involved with this project?

Tony Hale: It's taken us eight years to get this movie made, and so I was friends with Seth that long ago. I met him at a general meeting for this other thing he was casting, and we just became friends, and he talked about the script. It was going to be called ‘Darker Colors’ back then, and he had written half of it. I just loved this. I mean, I was a huge ‘Goonies’ fan, and I just love the emotional depth of this script mixed with this kind of eye candy of a monster movie and talking about grief. Knowing what Seth could do with it because of his visual effects background, we just were rooting for this for eight years, trying to get financing. It was going to be a TV show at one point and then it came back to a movie, and it's really both rewarding and weird to finally release it to the world, so it's been a very emotional week.

MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing Taylor and what you wanted to bring to the role?

TH: I mean, me being a dad, I just love that Taylor had a learning curve as a parent. He really thought he was making the best choice by kind of compartmentalizing the grief and moving forward, and he himself had to learn, and he did through his daughter, that we got to process these feelings. So, I think what I like about that is parents, we're all just learning. That was kind of a wrong direction he went and then he switched it up and started moving forward. I want that grace as a parent, and I hope people get that they have to give themselves a break when they see it in addition to seeing this need to process these feelings. I mean, that's how you get through it is you go through it. You got to feel those feelings.

Tony Hale in 'Sketch'. Photo: Angel Studios.

MF: What was it like collaborating on set with director Seth Worley, who is also one of your close friends?

TH: I mean, I'm also his friend, but this is so true that even on set, everybody working on the job were there doing way more than what they were paid because they all were such fans of Seth, and they really wanted his vision to happen. So, the worst thing, because I've been in this situation before, is when you don't know who's captaining the ship. You're like, "I don't know what I'm doing. Who's got a vision? Just can somebody help?" We always knew what he wanted. We always knew there was a captain of the ship, and he also did it kindly and with humility. It's just the perfect package, so that really contributed to this kind of love fest that was happening on set.

MF: What was it like working with D’Arcy Carden and did you improvise a lot on set or just stick to the script?

TH: The script was so fun and tight. It was more of just the trust that we both spoke the same comic language almost. We wanted it to be grounded. We wanted the timing to be there. We didn't feel like we had to push the comedy. So, knowing that somebody was on the same page as me was great. We just kind of breathed a sigh of relief. Because that's, again, not always the case that you're coming from different ideas of what the script is, and we were all on the same page, which was a big gift.

(L to R) D'Arcy Carden and Tony Hale in 'Sketch'. Photo: Angel Studios.

MF: What was it like working with the young actors in the film and just having them around on set?

TH: What was so great about them, and I know this sounds like a love fest, but it really is true, there wasn't this kind of sheen over them, kind of like they were trained to act a certain way. They were just regular kids who were kind and fun and silly, and that kind of energy they had in their real lives played over into the performance. So, there was just this freedom to them, and they had cool parents, and I don't know, the whole vibe was just great. It continues to be great. I see them during press and they're just great people.

MF: What was it like working off the CGI monsters in the movie and was it a different experience than other VFX scenes you’ve participated in on other projects?

TH: I mean, I've done it. To your point, I did ‘Clifford’ and I did ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip’, so I had worked with things that weren't there, but having been a part of the development for so long, I knew exactly how these monsters were going to look. It was mainly a matter of scale, so I knew what they were going to look like, and then Seth had to be like, "Okay, let's make sure your eye line is right here.” It was more of like, we didn't have the budget to have puppets, so he had to really gauge where that eye line was going to be so that they matched when he put them in.

A scene from 'Sketch'. Photo: Angel Studios.

MF: Do you have a favorite creature from the film?

TH: I love Dave. I will say it's a tie between Dave and the Eyeders, because every time I see these Eyeders and just the detail, even the clickety on the floor and just the specifics and detail, because the way she drew them came out into the monster. So, it was like you saw the crayon, you saw the Sharpie, you saw the chalk, the glitter, you saw the texture. So, when Dave is rising out of the cornfield, I'm just like, "This is eye candy." Those little Eyeders, they're done so real. I just love them.

MF: Finally, what do you hope audiences take away from this movie?

TH: I mean, what do I hope they take away? To me this speaks to just how life is a mixture of a lot of different things. When you're talking about grief, some people who have been through the hardest times are some of the funniest people. There's something about balancing just jokes with darkness, life, anger and sadness. It's just a whole mosh pit with these fun, beautiful monsters. So, it's a fun ride. To me that description of ‘Inside Out’ meets ‘Jurassic Park’ is really a good way to say it because ‘Inside Out’ had such emotional depth, obviously, but just mixed with the monster world of these larger-than-life creatures. I just love that combination.

Editorial Note: James White conducted this interview and contributed to this article.