‘Barry’ Breakout Star Anthony Carrigan Swears “I’m Not a Funny Guy”

To explore that and get to surprise and riff off of each other made that scene quite magical. It was not the lightest day for sure, but I certainly got the sense that everyone was so supportive and on board, and that we were creating something truly unique.

It’s a highlight of the series for sure.

You never get to do stuff like that, ever. Ever! You never get something as heightened and so well-written, where you get to justify what is on the page. It’s absolutely absurd and so heartbreaking and intense, and you’re tasked with, “Make it believable, make it make sense. Make an audience understand both sides of these arguments.” What an opportunity that is, truly.

When we catch up with Hank in Episode 6, there’s something haunted about him. Like a light has been extinguished. What do you imagine he’s gone through in the eight years since Cristobal’s death?

You can’t make a decision like that and not have it affect you. I think what you see in the last few beats of that scene in Episode 4 is this kind of calcification. Hank swallows his emotions, hardens himself, and I mean, I think we’ve all learned enough about trauma to understand that just because you’re suppressing something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist anymore. If that is what you’re choosing to repress, you have to do a lot to keep it together. I think that has been his journey: justifying what he’s done, lying to himself, and ultimately portraying a version of himself that he doesn’t even recognize anymore.

What is he experiencing in the dinner scene with Fuches?

Well, I think he’s being exposed. This lie that he’s told himself, that Cristobal was killed by his rivals, gets completely unearthed by Fuches within a moment. And all of those things that Hank was trying to keep down got flooded to the surface. All of that pain and grief and anguish got the button pushed on it.

A big theme in Barry is about whether or not people can escape their true nature. In your eyes, what is Hank’s true nature? Is Cristobal right that he’s a psychopath?

It’s easy to dismiss any of these characters as psychopaths, [but] from what I’ve learned, psychopaths don’t actually care. They don’t empathize. I think that these characters are making decisions based on the life that they want, and the reality that they want for themselves requires them to double down again and again in the most atrocious of ways. And the impact is that it changes them.

I don’t think Hank’s true nature is one of real darkness. It’s not him being a total badass. I think that’s what he was posturing as. But he takes the path of a gangster, and that comes with certain consequences.

In terms of performing heavy, dramatic material versus the comedic moments, is one mode more difficult than the other?

Apples and oranges, I think. I love both. I love getting to fluctuate between those two textures. The challenge with comedy is keeping it fresh. When you do something that makes everyone laugh, it’s a double-edged sword, because you get feedback saying, “That joke really worked. That was great.” But then, you do it the exact same way, people don’t tend to laugh. It’s these fleeting moments you can’t really hold onto. You gotta keep exploring, or else it’ll get stale.