Tony Hale reveals long-lost twin brothers of Buster Bluth, Gary Walsh, and Forky

In his first-ever leading role(s) on TV, Tony Hale plays twins. One is corroded by resentment and is trying to to make the world a darker place; the other is brimming with empathy and is trying to save it. The Disney+ drama The Mysterious Benedict Society — an adaptation of the popular YA book series, premiering June 25 — features the Emmy-winning Veep and Arrested Development alum delving into diverging dynamics through narcoleptic brothers.

Mr. Benedict is a benefactor who assembles a secret team of orphans at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened to rescue humanity from a catastrophe known as the Emergency, something that seems to be perpetrated by his identical long-lost twin, Mr. Curtain, a headmaster hellbent on brainwashing the planet.

"Benedict has created a world of community and love, and Curtain has created a world of fear-based thinking and manipulation, but Curtain is not necessarily painted in a way that's just pure evil," says Hale, who costars next month in the big-screen fantasy drama Nine Days. "You learn that these brothers grew up in an orphanage and because of something that happened — there was some trauma — they went their separate ways. Curtain grew into this bitter person who was just trying to control a lot of things, and Benedict had a very different experience and chose empathy and acceptance. I've never played such polar opposites — and it was really fun and terrifying and a great challenge to jump into."

In that spirit, EW asked Hale to explore a few more branches of his onscreen family tree by imagining not necessarily evil twins but, shall we say, sad siblings for the most famous characters from his career. An illustrator then brought these brothers from the same mother to life. Join us for a Hale and hearty journey inside the actor's imagination.

INTRODUCING: Duster Bluth, twin brother of Arrested Development's Buster Bluth

"Duster was a roadie for Luke Bryan, but he got fired at Stagecoach, so now he lives at the polo grounds in a tent. Duster has a close relationship with Oscar, George's twin brother, because Oscar lives in his trailer and goes to all the festivals. Guess who gets him in? Duster. They're tight. Buster is little jealous. But Buster's got massive phobias. He can't attend any of these festivals, so they don't really have much of a relationship. I think they're afraid of each other. Buster and Duster have the same sadness and desperation in the eyes… [Duster] is balding on top. He only has side hair and long hair in the back, and he calls this hairstyle his 'lucky horseshoe.' Not only is he proud of that monk top, he thinks Garth Brooks would be very proud of it because he's owning what he brings to the table. He goes to all the Garth Brooks conventions. When he was the roadie for [Brooks'] opening act — which, truth be told, he doesn't even remember the name of the opening act because he was in such a state that Garth was around — Garth said hi to him. That was a moment. He has that date and that time tattooed on his arm. He only wears Garth Brooks T-shirts, so he's gotten a lot of flack about it. You always see Duster having a Garth Brooks T-shirt on, but a fringe vest over it to cover it. But you see a little bit of Garth peeking out. He's even gone so low to have a Garth Brooks T-shirt on and then put a giant Carrie Underwood pin on the face, just because he so badly needs Garth close to him."

INTRODUCING: Larry Walsh, twin brother of Veep's Gary Walsh

"Larry is the younger brother of Gary, not the older brother. Even though Gary is technically 30 seconds older, Larry constantly beat him up. And there's also that 'Oh, Gary, why can't you have more of a spine like Larry?' Gary is mild-mannered; Larry is an MMA fighter. His motto is 'Punch first, ask questions later.' Guess what he used as his practice punching bag? Gare. Larry even had a dummy in his room with Gary's face on it, and would not only throw that dummy around the room, but when that dummy got ripped up, he'd throw Gary around the room. Larry once knocked himself out in the ring, trying to prove that even he couldn't beat himself. This was the lowest-grossing pay-per-view event in history. But here's an interesting fact: It was sponsored by the Selina Meyer for Water Commissioner super PAC… Larry has a full mane of hair. Even though they're twins, something happened to where all the hair in the gene pool went to Larry. Gary is very good at doing Selina's hair, so guess where he got that skill? Growing up, he did Larry's hair. He put Larry's hair in a really tight ponytail."

INTRODUCING: Shiv'y, twin brother of Toy Story 4's Forky

"He's a shiv. He's got some rough edges, but they're rough edges that have been painted over, taped together, glued together. He's a shiv who's had a tremendous amount of plastic surgery and a lot of facelifts. He's also in entertainment. Since he is plastic, he's a prop knife. He was in The Shawshank Redemption and Prison Break. But they started getting better prop knives, so he was kicked to the curb. In his autobiography, Cutting the Mustard: The Shiv'y Story, we learn he desperately wanted to be an actor and has deep resentment toward Forky, who fell into the business. There's no relationship, because Shiv'y can't let go. And Forky is living his best life. Forky now has a series on Disney+, he's asking a lot of questions, he's getting a lot of attention, Shiv'y is seeing all the billboards. The resentment is too deep for him to reach out."

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