How One Designer Created Homes for Three ‘Veep’ Stars

It’s not unusual, given the intimate nature of the entertainment business, for enthusiasms to be shared among associates and colleagues. That’s especially true for actors working on a series, with their intense schedules and long days. Tony Hale, Timothy Simons and Clea DuVall not only forged a close-knit friendship while working on HBO’s Veep, they all entrusted their homes to interior designer Jason Martin of Martin & Brockett. Martin, in turn, managed to create three distinct spaces that perfectly reflect the lives and personalities of their inhabitants. “My clients all have a very strong sense of themselves,” say Martin, who also has worked with Apple TV+’s Zack Van Amburg and his wife, Lisa, and ICM’s Dar Rollins and his wife, actress Lindsay Sloane. “My job is to express that through their interior design in a way that feels organic, with unique, even surprising juxtapositions — vintage or antique with modern, colorful with monochrome, the sleek with the textural.”

Martin’s husband, Jon Brockett (whose only contribution to the firm is his name), was the interior designer’s link to the three Veep actors. Brockett, the executive producer of the SAG Awards, and Hale grew up together in Tallahassee, Florida. When Hale and his wife, makeup artist Martel Hale, relocated to Los Angeles, the friendship flourished. The two couples bonded over their love of reality shows. Inevitably, the Hales relied on Martin’s design sense when they bought their first home in Los Feliz. “Jason is a great listener,” says Hale, who stars later this year in Hocus Pocus 2. “He really cares about how we live in our home and how we use each room.” And, Martel adds, “It’s important to him that both Tony and I are equally in love with the result. Not an easy feat!”

More from The Hollywood Reporter

• Director Mo Marable Talks 'Woke,' 'Killing It' and Working With Michelle Obama

• Tegan & Sara Quin Find Their 'High School' Counterparts in TikTok Twins

• 'Veep' Character Jonah Ryan Cheers Senate Voting to End Daylight Saving Time

Courtesy of Jon Keiser

Courtesy of DAN ARNOLD; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

The couple turned to Martin again when they purchased a house in Studio City in 2019 during Veep’s last season. “They wanted it to be one part Southern hospitality, one part East Coast beachy and one part L.A. contemporary,” notes Martin. He added wide-plank flooring and mouldings and filled the home with a mix of antiques and comfortable upholstered seating. Many of those pieces, designed by Martin, are from the firm’s eponymous, locally made line. They’re available, alongside arresting vintage finds and items from a curated group of artisans, through the company’s website, martinandbrockett.com, and at their recently relocated and expanded Mid-City showroom at 5065 W. Pico Blvd. The line includes the tufted Anne chairs in the clients’ living room, covered in white leather, and the bright orange Hale dining room chairs (yes, named in honor of the couple) with nailhead trim.

Martin met Simons and his wife, Annie, when the actor joined the cast of Veep as White House liaison Jonah Ryan. “Tim is the complete opposite of Jonah,” Martin confirms. “The moment you meet him, you want to be his friend.” The Simons, who found their post-war Silver Lake residence in early 2020, wanted a colorful, family-friendly home that would welcome their active twins, now 10.

“It was the combination of seeing the high-level work that Jason had done for Tony and Martel, having gotten to know him as a trustworthy person, and understanding him as a thoughtful, intelligent and collaborative artist with a lot of experience who would happily hold our hands through what was a first-time process for us, that convinced us to go with him,” says Simons, who currently stars on Hulu’s Candy. Adds Martin, “They love electric colors, and they love to read.” Witness the built-in plywood bookcase, crammed with hardbacks, that spans the width of the living room — its slanted shelf was Tim’s idea.

Courtesy of DAN ARNOLD; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Courtesy of DAN ARNOLD

DuVall, who joined the cast of Veep as Marjorie Palmiotti, Selina Meyer’s bodyguard and lookalike, and her wife, Mia Weier, creative director at The Bungalow Hospitality Group and co-founder of Hello Friend Media, also became part of the group. “From the minute I got there, the whole cast was so welcoming and warm and kind,” says DuVall, who wrote and directed the new Amazon coming-of-age series High School. “I walked away from that experience with an incredible group of friends that really felt like a family. And we’re all still very close — we hang out at Tony’s house; Tim and I are constantly texting each other random inside jokes; we play pickleball at Matt Walsh’s house [which Martin has consulted on].”

When DuVall and Weier bought a home in 2020, just as Los Angeles went into lockdown, they too turned to Martin for help. Located on a hill in a leafy enclave on the east side of the city, the property enjoys beautiful views and soft, diffused light. “Clea’s favorite climate is partly cloudy, like you’d find in Point Reyes,” says the designer, who looked to the muted blues and grays of late fall for the home’s soothing color palette.

“If your first impression is that I did a home, then I feel like I failed in my work,” says Martin. “My focus is always on how I can make a space feel more comfortable and more like the people who live there, as if they did it themselves.” But, in Martin’s talented hands, even better.

This story first appeared in the June 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Click here to read the full article.