Biography

September 30, 1970 · West Point, New York, USA

Anthony Russell Hale

6′ 1″ (1.85 m)

Often plays immature yet sweet-natured characters

After Hale accepted his 2013 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor on Veep (2012), he stood on stage behind co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus as she accepted her own award and pretended to feed her lines (just as he does on the show, in which he played her groveling assistant).

He met his future wife, Martel Thompson Hale, at a Bible study group in New York. The couple welcomed their first child, a girl, in 2006.

Often recognized as the star of the famous VW commercial featuring his dancing to the song "Mr. Roboto."

A graduate of Samford University (in Birmingham, Alabama), where he joined Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Was raised in Tallahassee, Florida. His mother, Rita (Garnett) Hale, worked as a staff assistant to State Rep. Kathy Ashe. His father, Mike Hale, is a military veteran, who taught nuclear and atomic physics.

[on his favorite TV program] 'The Carol Burnett Show'. I watched it over and over. Tim Conway is a huge icon for me. He just had this ability - he trusted the material and he trusted the situation and he never pushed the comedy. I just loved watching him. He could just move his eyes a little bit and it would just make you laugh immediately.

[on being scolded by Selina, 'The Veep'] She might as well have just taken a sword and sliced his chest open. Mostly what he hears with Selina, even when she's cursing him out, he just hears poems. I mean, he took a sneeze for Selina, which in his world was like taking a bullet for her. He steps up to the plate.

[on Gary's girlfriend, whom we never see] He's not really a go-into-the-bar kind of guy. Maybe he met her at a local cat shelter, or playing putt-putt golf. He tends to gravitate towards dominating women, so I don't know if this girl would necessarily be playing putt-putt. There are a lot of mommy-issues going on. Her pick-up line might have been 'Why the hell are you carrying such a large bag?'

[on playing Gary, who deals with 'The Veep's personal needs from within an always-present tote-bag] He has a relationship with the bag. We are very close. He takes better care of that bag than most people do of their pets. I think Gary actually goes home at night and practices his technique in front of the mirror - how quickly he can get stuff out of that bag. It's pretty much his Superman cape. He never wants to not have that by his side. I wouldn't be surprised if he vacations with it.