Tony Hale talks ‘Veep,’ Emmys and his love for a good cruise buffet

Emmy winner Tony Hale stopped by The Times’ studio recently and was happy to spill the beans on “Veep’s” rather shocking season-three plot twist (the blood!) as well as what it’s like to shoot a Lady Antebellum music video with Kate Upton. (And, yes, he really did need to get some more mileage out of that neck tattoo.)

Hale, nominated again for comedy supporting actor for his turn as the ever-eager-to-please body man Gary, also shared his love for cruise line vacations (buffets!) and the children’s book he recently co-wrote, “Archibald’s Next Big Thing,” which tells the story of a chicken who goes on crazy adventures, always looking to his next big thing but missing the beauty before him.

“As an actor, I always get asked -- and I ask people -- what’s happening next, but I think I get so focused on the next adventure, I miss the adventure I’m on,” Hale says. “So I thought, ‘That’s something I’d like to talk about with my daughter. As much as we’re excited about the next thing, where are we now? What’s going on now?”

“It’s something I’m not good at,” Hale admits. “My friend said to me, ‘You have to wake yourself up 100 times a day to where you are. So I’m going to be reading this book every day of my life.”

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