The hardest-working supporting player on Apple TV this year is clearly Jeff Hiller. He’s already an Emmy winner for his work on HBO’s Somebody Somewhere, but he came to even wider recognition by popping up on two of TV’s most recent genre breakouts. On Pluribus, he’s only on screen for a total of seven minutes, still managing to make an impression so memorable it scored him another Emmy nomination. And on Widow’s Bay, he’s town hall employee Dale, a noted violator of the rule about not screaming out, “This place is a death trap, run!” in a crowded storm shelter.
Talking to Gold Derby, Hiller admitted he didn’t quite understand Pluribus‘ hive-mind concept when he first approached his role. Instead of trying to sync his performance with the rest of “the Others,” he was told to play it as a person who just happens to connect to (almost) every other consciousness in the world.
As for the backstory on his character, who’s named Larry and appears fully clad in cyclist gear, Hiller came up with some of his own lore.
“I imagine he was this middle-aged guy who’s trying to get back into shape, and he was maybe on his third bike ride,” Hiller told Gold Derby.
“[He] was maybe having beers post-bike ride when [the ‘Joining’] happened, and thankfully he was on the couch, and that’s what saved his life.”
Hiller wasn’t nominated for Widow’s Bay—though a lot of its other cast was—but he’ll get another chance, since Dale is coming back for season two.
“The fact that now this show is so beloved, it’s so exciting that I get to go back—I think,” Hiller said. “You never know on a show like this! They might just open up [season two] and be like, ‘Poor Dale got eaten by the island.’”
Hiller has also imagined a bit of Dale’s origin story. “Dale is pretty chill and not reall