‘Barry’ Star Anthony Carrigan on NoHo Hank’s New Beau, His Prison Tattoos and How Season 3 ‘Goes Off the Rails’

Awards Circuit Podcast: Also on this episode, the Roundtable dissects this year's supporting actress categories.

Anthony Carrigan arrives at the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

As Season 3 of “Barry” finally returned last month, the walls were closing in on all of the show’s characters — even the always chipper NoHo Hank, played by Anthony Carrigan. On this episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, we talk to “Barry” fan favorite Carrigan about the character, his new love interest with rival gangster Cristobal (Michael Irby), and how the show continues to balance light and dark.

But first, our Awards Circuit Podcast Roundtable discusses this year’s supporting actress categories in comedy, drama and limited series. Listen below!

“Barry” may be funnier than ever in Season 3, but it’s also more intense. That’s because Cousineau (Henry Winkler) has finally discovered the truth about Barry (Bill Hader). Barry is haphazardly trying to make it up to Cousineau, even after killing his acting teacher’s girlfriend. But Barry’s idea of a mea culpa is getting Cousineau a bit part on a TV show. Meanwhile, Barry’s handler Fuchs (Stephen Root) is hiding in Chechnya, and his love interest Sally (Sarah Goldberg) has booked a starring TV role — yet finds herself trapped in a verbally abusive relationship with Barry, and struggling to keep up with plenty of Hollywood nonsense.

“That’s the real balance of the show is that these characters are desperately trying to get what they want,” Carrigan says. “And as they’re getting closer and closer to actually just getting it, the conflict of it all just sucks them right back in. Especially as the season progresses, I think people are going to see that it just goes off the rails!”

Even NoHo Hank is struggling to keep forces at bay as he maintains positivity. “Each of these characters are just in very compromised positions. Some of my favorite comedic moments thus far this season have been Henry’s. And also Steven, as well. And Sarah. Everyone is just kind of finding these little moments in a really kind of dark and serious terrain to just really lighten it. Hank is kind of his chipper self, albeit within a world that is just kind of caving in on him.”

In the podcast, Carrigan talks about geeking out over working with Root, discusses what he’s asked about the most, shares how he spent his pandemic and what it was like to work on the 2020 film “Bill and Ted Face the Music.” He also shares a secret about NoHo Hank’s tattoos: “They all tell a very specific story because they’re essentially prison tattoos. Any particular mob will hunt me down because it’s pretty serious when you rock those kinds of those kinds of tattoos! They do have real meanings in terms of prison culture and what Hank has been through.”

Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much, much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post every Thursday and Friday.