Platonic stars two of the biggest names in Hollywood — Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen — but Tre Hale says his colleagues were as down-to-earth as they could possibly be.
“I asked [Seth] and Rose so many questions on set,” Hale exclusively tells Us Weekly of Rogen, 41, and Byrne, 43. “And credit to them, they were so awesome — both of them — in really making a newcomer like me feel comfortable and feel open and feel confident in a lot of the choices that I made.”
Hale stars alongside the duo in the new Apple TV+ series, which debuted in May. Byrne and Rogen play Sylvia and Will, respectively, two childhood best friends who reconnect as adults, while Hale appears as Will’s friend and business partner, Andy.
Platonic isn’t Hale’s first TV role, but he still looked to his costars for tips. “I had asked Seth some good acting advice, just a basic general question,” Hale recalled. “And I remember, he said, ‘Do nothing,’ and at the time, I didn’t quite understand what that meant. Like, do nothing? You’ve got to do something in a scene.”
Rogen, however, explained that he meant newer actors sometimes “over-perform” in order to “capture attention” while they’re trying to make a name for themselves.
“It was something very small, and some actors might hear that and think another way,” Hale explained. “It gave me so much perspective and helped me so much. He gave me that on, like, episode 2 I think. He gave me that little gem. So, I was able to take that with me for the rest of the season. I was very lucky.”
As for Byrne, Hale said that she was a “leader” during production, setting the standard for everyone else on set with her kindness.
“[She is] somebody who is genuinely nice to everybody and she conducts herself with just so much class,” Hale told Us. “She was so cool and so sweet to people, and it’s like, she can do so many things when it comes to comedy and horror and drama. The things she does as an actor? She’s truly one of the greatest actors ever in my opinion, and being able to see someone like that is so cool — [she was] so down to talk and improv and riff with a young guy like me.”
Before landing his part on Platonic, Hale had abided by the rule “never meet your heroes,” but Byrne and Rogen proved that old adage wrong. “I was like, ‘Aw, man, I’m booking a role with people I absolutely admire and idolize, and I really hope you’re not the worst,'” he recalled. “And how opposite of that they were. They are truly friends of mine. I feel like I can hit them up for anything, and I was so blessed to meet them and work with them.”
New episodes of Platonic premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
With reporting by Andrea Simpson
