There is a “Veep” group chat , but it has not been blowing up with political headlines of late.
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In an interview with IndieWire on the day after President Joe Biden withdrew himself from the upcoming election, “Veep” star Tony Hale was keenly aware of the show’s position in how people relate to and digest American politics. But Hale, who stars in Netflix’s upcoming “The Decameron,” said that the friendships he formed on Armando Ianucci’s series have little to do with DC gossip these days, despite the memes of him and Julia Louis-Dreyfus that are all over social media.
“There were a lot of surprises on the show, and there’s been a lot of surprises this week,” Hale said. “Maybe it’s because we got really, really close on ‘Veep,’ [but] when we talk, we don’t really talk about that. We just love to catch up. My daughter’s about to go to college, and so we’re sending each other graduation pictures. It’s a real family, so that’s kind of what we focus on.”
During its seven-season run on HBO , “Veep” was hailed not only for laugh-out-loud comedy and razor sharp satire, but for portraying a side of government jobs that rarely, if ever, makes it into the spotlight.
“We had a lot of a lot of fans in DC, because our show… a lot of people that work in DC were like, it was nice to show a little bit of the humanity behind the scenes,” Hale recalled. “Because these people are human beings, and they’re put in these heightened states, and what happens behind the scenes is interesting to see. I think a lot of them enjoyed that kind of perspective.”
From 2012 to 2019, “Veep” carried Americans (at least, those with an HBO subscription — Hale said he barely gets recognized in his wife’s home state of Alabama) from the Obama era into the Trump era, with increasingly outlandish storylines that had to somehow outdo real-life headlines. As politics continues to serve twists right out of an Emmy-winning series, “Veep” has stayed in the public consciousness through reactions, clips, and memes.
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“There’s something about ‘Veep’ that’s kind of its own workplace comedy,” Hale said. “Even though it’s a different world and the stakes are higher — [it’s] almost like ‘The Office.’ everybody relates to those dynamics within ‘The Office.” Even though it’s a very different world, they enjoy watching that kind of energy that they might see in their own offices.”
When Hale used to frequent the DMV during filming, people would approach him and talk about the show, or identifying with certain characters — in some cases, the wrong ones.
“Someone would come up to us and be like, ‘Oh, I’m the Dan in my office,’ or ‘I’m the Jonah,'” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘Why are you telling me this?’ These are not flattering characteristics… If you’re the Jonah, man, you might want to take some time to bring some therapy with your life. If you don’t see that as a distorted character, then maybe take some time to yourself to heal.”
“The Decameron” premieres July 25 on Netflix.
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