Inspired by the beloved the beloved book character created by author Norman Bridwell, the family adventure comedy Clifford the Big Red Dog follows middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) as she meets an unusual little red puppy that she just wants to take home and love. Very unexpectedly and literally overnight, Clifford turns into a giant ten-foot dog that no longer fits in a small New York City apartment and can’t go anywhere without everyone noticing, so she must enlist the help of her impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) to figure out what comes next.
At the film’s virtual press day, Collider got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with Tony Hale (who plays Zack Tieran, the ruthless CEO of the biotech firm LyfeGrow that wants Clifford for his own nefarious purposes) for this interview, which you can both watch and read, about how Clifford was always a staple in his house, forming this character, acting opposite animals that aren’t really there, how it’s fun to play evil, and what he thinks might have happened to this guy, after the movie ends. He also talked about getting a second season for his TV series The Mysterious Benedict Society, and the incredibly talented young actors he’s been working with.
Collider: When this came your way, did you know who Clifford was? Did you know anything about his stories?
TONY HALE: He was created in 1963. I was born in 1970. I feel like Clifford was always a staple in my house, honestly. And then, when my daughter was little, the books were around. Clifford has just always been this loving presence in the home. And so, to be a part of that and to really see the creation of Clifford and to see how Clifford grew up, that was really special to be a part of. I play a bad guy though.
This guy is less of a mustache-twirling bad guy and more of a businessman bad guy, and just because of the news lately, I kept thinking of him as Mark Zuckerberg. How much of this guy was on the page? How much did you have freedom to find him? Was there anyone that you modeled him after?
HALE: I don’t know if I modeled him after anyone. Clothing wise, he was a tech guy, so they wanted a Steve Jobs black turtleneck and jeans and stuff. When playing evil characters, I always wanna be careful not to just play an idea of somebody, but to really find that part of him. He had this tech company. He put a lot of money into it. He manipulates nature for profit. His employees are making two-headed goats. He’s really ticked off at them because they’re not doing their jobs. He sees this dog and he’s like, “There’s my saving grace,” and he starts grabbing for straws. I think why I love playing these kinds of characters is because they never win. It never works out for them because people should not live like that. And so, watching that unravel and the destruction of that is what’s really fun because he falls apart. This guy completely falls apart.
What was it like to play someone who has a two-headed animal and who has an angry lamb? Where there are all of these crazy things happening, how do you justify that as falling in line with the character?
HALE: When you’re working with someone like Alex Moffat from SNL, who’s my assistant, and Jessica Wynn, we were just having fun. At the time, we couldn’t really see these characters because of the special effects, so you had to react to this sheep coming at you and that was really fun, just to think about how that was working. But I was amazed, at the end, to be able to see the final product and to see these goats and even Clifford. Let me tell you right now, these special effects people need all of the awards you’ve got. They worked painstakingly hard on the details. There’s that last scene of Clifford going through the traffic and I don’t even understand it. It’s baffling. It’s really amazing.
I was really impressed with how seamless it really looked.
HALE: Yeah . . . One of my favorite scenes in it is when Emily is holding Clifford and she loves Clifford, and that’s what makes him grow. After these years that we’ve had, where there’s social media and everybody’s being critical and everybody’s being judgmental, that’s not gonna bring growth. That’s just not gonna bring it. But celebrating those differences, loving each other, supporting each other, and having empathy, that’s where growth is gonna happen. Yeah, it’s a children’s movie, but it’s a message that adults really need to tune in on.
At any point, did you hesitate about being the bad guy who wants to harm the cute animal?
HALE: Not at all. It’s fun to play evil. I love playing that. But he’s not evil. He’s just misunderstood. He’s had a lot of trauma and he’s working it out.
But he’s trying to hurt the cute animal, so that’s pretty evil.
HALE: It’s pretty evil, but it comes from pain. It comes from a lot of things.
Also, congrats on Season 2 of The Mysterious Benedict Society. I had such tremendous fun watching that show. What are you most looking forward to with getting to continue that and go back to that show?
HALE: I love that you mention it because, talk about empathy, I really love what that story was saying, but also just the visuals of it, with what they were able to create and the beauty and the aesthetic design of it. Just the whole package, I really loved spooky. For the second [season], the kids have gotten a lot older, so it’s gonna be a little different, but there’s gonna be a lot of similar themes. What Trenton Stewart created in those books is really special, so I’m thankful Disney has allowed us to continue it, honestly.
You’ve been working with some really tremendous young, gifted actors lately. What has that been like for you, with the kids on that show and the kids in this movie? Is that inspiring to you, as an actor?
HALE: It really is. I was not as mature as these kids are. The kids in Benedict Society came onto the show during a pandemic and they left their families. They had the one parent with them, but they couldn’t go back home to see their friends. They were signing up for this big show. Everybody’s wearing masks. It’s pretty daunting, and they just jumped in. You have someone like Darby [Camp], who was young when she was doing this movie. She was working across from puppets. These kids really stepped up to the plate and I just really admire it a lot. Darby just comes off very authentic in this movie. She’s a really good actress and she was so young. I just think, “I wasn’t there.” I was just wondering when I was gonna get my next McFlurry at McDonald’s, at that age. That’s all I cared about.
What do you think happened to this guy, after we leave him in this movie? Where do you think he went after this?
HALE: He’s probably got Clifford on a dart board in prison and he’s just throwing darts at it. Hopefully, he’s had a tremendous amount of therapy and he’s dealing with the trauma. Maybe he did a 180 and he’s at a dog shelter. He was like, “You know what? I’m a broken man and I need to start showing some love to these animals.” Or, like in life, unfortunately, maybe he’s really successful and he’s found a way around the system, which is really sad. Hopefully, that hasn’t happened.
Maybe some dog cuddles changed him and turned him around.
HALE: I know. He needs to do one of those YouTube videos where people just hand you puppies. That’s what he needs. He needs to do a whole YouTube show where people just hand him puppies.
Clifford the Big Red Dog is in theaters on November 10th, and available to stream at Paramount+.