Tony Hale Explores Grief, Fatherhood and Feeling Emotions in SKETCH

Published: August 6, 2025

By Michaela Gordoni

Tony Hale says SKETCH is all about allowing yourself and others to feel your feelings.

“I had been on this journey with [director] Seth [Worley] for about eight years to get this made, and I loved the heart and the spectacle of it, honestly,” Hale told Movieguide® about why he wanted to be a part of the movie. “It was this, you know, story about grief, but then at the same time, this like fun, adventurous, beautiful monster movie, and that kind of clash of both of those to try to ground it in humanity and this kind of supernatural bashing in was like, I’m on board. I love it.”

SKETCH is about a grieving father, Taylor, and his children, Jack and Amber. After Amber drops her notebook into a magical pond, the scary monsters she drew come to life and terrorize their town.

Hale, who plays Taylor, told AM FM Magazine that his favorite monster in the movie is Dave, a giant toddler with snake feet.

“He’s so full of joy…but that kind of encapsulates — love and joy is mixed with the dangerous sometimes,” he said.

Hale says many people gave all their effort to support the movie.

“It was just a labor of love from everybody and just watching that was really inspiring ’cause it was a true independent film and everybody was just going above and beyond.”

Hale also explored emotions as Fear in INSIDE OUT 2.

“I mean, to me it’s, it’s a different, they’re both ways to frame a very, very difficult process, you know? And what I love about is they both give permission to process it, both give permission to, we gotta, we gotta kind of go through it to get through it, you know?” the actor explained. “And you gotta feel it.”

“I would say I definitely saw myself in Taylor…He really thought that he was making the perfect choice to compartmentalize these emotions. ’cause he didn’t wanna see his kids go through challenges,” he said. “He didn’t wanna see his kids have to walk through it. And then later he realizes I have…to give them the respect to let them walk through their own process and I totally relate to that.”

Hale explained that no one wants to see their kids going through hard things.

“It’s very painful, but they’ve got to go through it, and you gotta give them the respect to go through it,” he said.

As a child, Hale’s outlet where he could feel happy and safe was Young Actors Theater.

“I could just be there and just be kind of on my, be around my people. And I loved it when I watched the movie. There’s like, there’s laughs, there’s joy, there’s sadness, it’s scary, it’s everything.”

“But you really don’t wanna miss what the real meaning of this movie is…” which is “the fact that he gave permission to let his kids feel,” he said.

Part of Movieguide®’s review of the movie reads, “Overall, SKETCH is a funny and creative exploration of the way grief affects people differently, with a strong moral worldview stressing family and friendship. The father is devoted to his children and tries to help them deal with their mother’s death…Also, SKETCH has many scary scenes that might frighten children.”

SKETCH is currently available in theaters.

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