While Tony Hale and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Veep characters had an up-and-down relationship on screen, the actors share a sweet bond IRL.
Hale, 53, exclusively told Us Weekly that he and his former costar continue to keep in touch via text five years after the HBO comedy’s conclusion. “It’s funny because when we text, we typically never talk about the show,” he shared at the New York City premiere of his new Netflix series, The Decameron, on Wednesday, July 24.
Hale starred as Gary Walsh, personal aide to Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer, on all seven seasons of Veep from 2012 to 2019. The series ended on a sad note for Gary, with Selina making him take the fall for one of her scandals, resulting in him being arrested by the FBI. Despite the betrayal, Gary still attended her funeral in an emotional flash-forward scene.
While the pair may not discuss Veep in their text messages, Hale told Us he often sends Louis-Dreyfus life updates instead. “My daughter just graduated high school, so we always talk about stuff, life, and [enjoy] the simplicity,” he shared. “We’ve lived so much life together, so we just kind of send each other [anything].”
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He continued: “I just sent her a picture of Loy, my daughter, graduating. I sent her the other day some flowers I thought [were] really pretty.” (Hale shares his daughter Loy Ann, 18, with his wife, Martel Thompson.)
One costar Hale is not on a texting basis with is Beyoncé, whom he starred alongside in a 2024 Super Bowl commercial in February. “I think she’s great,” he gushed.
The commercial served as a teaser announcement for her latest album, Cowboy Carter, which was released in March. Hale told Us that his favorite track off the country record is “SWEET ★HONEY ★BUCKIIN’,” joking that the commercial is his daughter’s favorite role of his to date.
“As a whole, she’s the master and I was able to be around her a whole day and just observe,” he said of working with the Grammy winner. “I [had] a front-row seat to the Beyoncé show and it was amazing.”
Hale’s latest project, The Decameron, sees him portray the steward of an Italian villa during the Bubonic Plague. Loosely based on the short story collection by Giovanni Boccaccio, the series follows a group of nobles as they travel to the countryside to escape the plague, only for hilarious hijinks to ensue.
As for how he would handle the plague in the modern day, Hale says he learned a thing or two from the Covid pandemic. “I would just retreat to my community because I remember in this show, they did some crazy things during the Bubonic Plague, just like thinking, ‘Oh, this gets rid of the plague,’” he told Us. “I remember we were washing groceries, we thought it was airborne. Everybody was in this uncertain space, so it’s nice to be past that and get a little more information or the right information.”
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Rather than travel back in time to any point in history, Hale told Us he’s happy to remain in the present day. “My default is to check out to somewhere else, and I’m trying to just stay right here and be present and that’s my goal is just to be right here. I like where we are,” he said.
The Decameron hits Netflix on Thursday, July 25.
With reporting by Nikaline Katsilometes
