By Michaela Gordoni
THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY actor Tony Hale experienced anxiety as a kid, and he’s making sure that it doesn’t pass down to his daughter.
“When I was a kid, I was very anxious. I was an asthmatic kid, and I had a lot of anxiety around that. And I think when I was a kid, I just wanted everybody to like me and a lot of people-pleasing stuff,” Hale explained in a “Fatherly” podcast.
He’s channeled his childhood anxiousness in his acting roles, as Forky in TOY STORY 4, Jerome in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS and more.
“So even though that sucked walking through that as a kid, it’s been nice to kind of bring it into your work. Like, I know what a panic attack feels like. I know, I know what severe anxiety can [do,] how that can manifest,” he said. “And so it’s nice to kind of have that history, even though it’s not something that I struggle with as much as I used to.”
Though his characters are sometimes built out of nervous tics, he doesn’t want any of it to impact his teenage daughter, Loy, who was born in 2006.
“I don’t want my daughter to be in pain. I don’t want her to have anxiety,” Hale said.
He doesn’t want to be too controlling but finds it difficult to let her find things out on her own.
“I want so bad to fix and be like, OK, this is how you can get around that challenge,” Hale said. “This is how you can take this shortcut. But, I’ve got to sit and listen and understand and allow her to walk through it. And that is really hard. It’s really hard.”
In an article for Men’s Health, Hale explained that his experience as a dad has not been “Instagram worthy,” despite being a TV star.
Related: Actor Tony Hale: I Trust God With The Bigger Picture of My Life
“Because playing a board game with Loy, sitting with her and talking her through a challenge, or hearing all about her day — these are the ordinary moments that hold the most beauty, value, and longevity for both my daughter and me,” he said.
He admits that he has the urge to give attention to a lot of things besides his child, but he knows that and he tries his best.
“Yes, I’m going to screw up. Yes, parenting feels overwhelming at times. No, I will never be 100 percent present all the time. But thankfully, I have the grace of God to walk me through it all — and McFlurrys on the days when that doesn’t seem like enough,” he joked.
As a Christian, Hale tries to model kindness for his daughter.
He told The Christian Post, “You might not see the fruit of that in your day — never underestimate the power of it. When you are kind to someone, when you do the right thing, you might not see the result of where that goes, you might not see the path where that leads, but never underestimate the power of that.”
Though Hale struggled with anxiety growing up, his story shows that God has a plan for all things.
Read Next: TOY STORY 4 Interview: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Tony Hale & Keanu Reeves
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