By all accounts, actor Tony Hale’s career has been a smashing success: First, a break-out role in the cult classic series “Arrested Development,” then an Emmy Award–winning, legacy-defining role in HBO’s “Veep,” and now a new animated children’s series called “Archibald’s Next Big Thing,” which just debuted on Netflix (NFLX).
The heart-warming series, from DreamWorks Animation and based on a book co-written by Hale, tracks the adventures of a fun-loving chicken named Archibald who has mastered the elusive art of living in the moment. The project grew out of a need Hale saw in his own life: “It came from a place of when I was on ‘Arrested Development,’” Hale told Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers for the series My Three Cents. “I was on this great show, great cast, and I was still looking to my next thing. And I was like, ‘Oh, I'm going to get to the end of my life and just always be looking to the next thing and missing where I am.’”
So he created Archibald and his tiny pal Bea (who is a bee and — you guessed it — knows how to just “be”). They are a reminder to 48-year-old Hale about the best way to live his own life. “I think my favorite thing out of it is [Archibald] is this skinny chicken who's become my role model,” said Hale. “He sees the best in everyone, the best in every situation.”
Hale is the voice of Archibald (literally and figuratively) and an executive producer of the series. As he celebrates the launch of the sweet and frolicking series, Hale is also in the running for his third Emmy Award later this month for his performance in the final season of “Veep.”
Hale certainly has come a long way from waiting tables and fronting Pepto-Bismol commercials. “What do I think I did right? Honestly, I think I've surrounded myself with a community that sees me and knows me,” he says of his close friends and family. “I think that is very, very important. Any kind of person who is starting in the business...one of the first things I say is, ‘Please invest in your community before you dive straight into your career because it's going to be the thing that's going to give longevity.’”
My Three Cents with Jen Rogers is a weekly interview series that explores celebrities’ history with — and relationship to — money and career. Find it exclusively on Yahoo Finance.
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