Tony Hale Tackles Parental Angst and Sharing the Screen With Kids in Toronto Pic ‘Sketch’: ‘These Kids Just Had Such a Natural Gift’

Tony Hale is speaking by phone about his new movie, “Sketch,” a sales title at TIFF; on a Thursday in August, he’s days away from moving his 18-year-old daughter Loy into college for her freshman year. “It’s good,” he says, of the transition. “It’s good, right?”

The actor, known for roles in “Veep” and “Arrested Development,” takes the lead in “Sketch” — and his anxiety makes the movie aptly timed. As Taylor, a widowed father, Hale must play grief and concern, even before the loopy monster art his daughter draws comes to life and terrorizes the town.

It’s a tricky tonal mix, as Hale simultaneously faces down Taylor’s feelings of loss and out-of-this-world creatures. (A key moment is Taylor putting photographs of his wife and family away so as not to be reminded of his pain: “He’s an intelligent dude, but he’s in survival mode,” Hale says.) Through it all, Hale and writer-director Seth Worley worked to keep the story aloft. “Seth does comedy, and I obviously come from a comedy background — we wanted to infuse it with comic timing, to soften it before it could go too heavy.” (Worley, a longtime friend of Hale’s, showed him the script and asked him to help workshop it years before asking if Hale would be interested in playing the lead.)

In “Sketch,” Hale worked opposite actors Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence, who played his children Amber and Jack; the notion of handing them sophisticated material could have been unnerving. “Finding organic performances from kids that age can be tricky. These kids just had such a natural gift — it was a real breathe-out relief,” Hale says, citing, in particular, Jack, who is trying to hold his family together as his father hides from his own pain: “I as the dad should have realized, We need to grieve this.” The loopy and fantastical story becomes a staging ground for truths about family life.

In his own childhood, Hale used theater as an outlet: “I grew up in the South, where football is religion, pretty much — and I was not part of that space,” he says. “Theater was a space where I could let it out — not be judged for it but applauded for it, and encouraged to be funnier. Thank God my parents found this theater in Tallahassee.” Hale compares the stage to Amber’s use of cartoon monsters to exorcise emotions. “That was me being handed the notebook and the markers. I did things I wouldn’t do at school, because they’d be like ‘Check that freak out.’ But in theater, it’s like, ‘Let’s go as batshit as possible!’”

Hale poured heart and zany energy into what’s likely his best-known role, Gary, the devoted political aide on “Veep”; he won two Emmys for a series that — as our real-world vice president has seen a reversal in her political fortunes — has re-entered the zeitgeist. He shrugs off comparisons between Kamala Harris and the series’ Selina Meyer: “Wow, nobody wanted Gary’s opinion until now!” he says with a laugh. “The whole social-media fodder comparing her to Kamala is just silly. Politics is its own thing; I remember us thinking, this is really just a work-place comedy.”

And it’s the human factor — the petty triumphs and small frustrations — that connects “Veep” to the rest of Hale’s work. Lately, Hale has specialized in kids’ fare, including voice roles in the “Toy Story” and “Inside Out” franchises; “Sketch” represents a shot at something for the whole family, and Hale can’t resist waxing nostalgic about his college-bound daughter. “When Loy was little,” he says, “it was tough to watch things together that didn’t drive me crazy. Family viewing is really precious — just something you don’t mind watching six or seven times. That’s kind of the life that we hope this has.”