Barry's Anthony Carrigan on NoHo Hank's 'Star-Crossed' Season 3 Romance

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of Barry, "forgiving jeff." Read at your own risk!]

In Barry's Season 3 premiere, everyone is trying to reinvent themselves. It's a season about revenge, as seen quite literally in this episode when Cousineau (Henry Winkler) tries (and promptly fails) to threaten Barry's (Bill Hader) life, but it's also a season about change. Barry is still trying to figure out if he's actually capable of it, while the HBO comedy's scene-stealing Chechan mob boss NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) knows he is — he's just having a hard time trying to keep the past from disrupting his future.

In "forgiving jeff," Hank, who's working with a significantly reduced crew after Barry's Season 2 monastery massacre, gets questioned by the police about his connection to the murders, and later, in a surprise reveal, wiles away an evening in domestic bliss with his boyfriend, Cristobal (Michael Irby), head of the Bolivian crime family. Their relationship marks a rare moment of genuine tenderness from such a dark series that also feels like a natural development for NoHo Hank, Barry's tenderest character, who's spent the past two seasons flirting with Cristobal over business dealings and assassination attempts. It's also a moment that's ultimately disrupted by a drop-in from a despondent Barry, who shows up to beg for work without considering that Hank doesn't want to see him. "Forgiveness is something that has to be earned," Hank tells Barry before dismissing him, the line in the sand effectively drawn (for now, anyway) between them.

With his signature brand of unflappable confidence and good-natured swagger, Hank kicks off the season in as solid of a position as anyone on Barry can ever be in. Even after years away, Carrigan doesn't miss a beat ("As soon as I put on those tattoos and those super skinny pants, it all just came right back to me," he said of returning after the show's extended hiatus), and in advance of the Season 3 premiere, he spoke to TV Guide about how Hank's romance with Cristobal allowed him to peel back more of his character's layers. He also weighed in on whether he thinks Barry and Hank will ever make up, and just how good of an actor Hank actually is.

I was so pleasantly surprised to find out, officially, that NoHo Hank is a queer icon. He already was, but now it's confirmed.
Anthony Carrigan: I know. Confirmed, right. It's official.

During Seasons 1 and 2, did you know that the plan was for Hank and Cristobal to get together, or was it something that was pitched to you this season?
Carrigan: No, it wasn't necessarily said overtly or anything, but I think when you go back and you watch Seasons 1 and 2, you can begin to put things together and be like, "Oh, yeah, wait, hang on, that makes a lot of sense. Wow, I can get behind that." I was honestly just excited to be able to explore this new facet of this character, and just see who Hank was in his home life. It was definitely this thing that was alluded to.

There was that great parallel between Barry bringing Sally flowers at work, where it had such a sad, sinister undercurrent, to when Cristobal left a rose out for Hank when he got home, which Hank seemed really touched by. Do you see those couples as mirrors of each other?
Carrigan: I certainly think that this season in particular explores the nature of what healthy aspects of a relationship are, and what toxic aspects of a relationship are, and I think it does a really good job of not necessarily completely commenting on it, but just letting you make your mind up about what you're seeing. I found myself, even just after watching it, really thinking about aspects like that. That's a good testament to the show, that when you're talking about it afterwards, it's kind of landed on you.

What is it like to play out a purely romantic story amid all the darkness in this show?
Carrigan: It's been just really wonderful in terms of playing with Michael Irby. He's such a great actor, we have so much fun on set. I think the lightness of that dynamic, and this purity in a sense of both of these characters, who are, you know — are they both operating their respective crime syndicates? Yes, they are. Are they trying to do it in a very conscientious way? Absolutely. It's always been something [where we're] toeing the line between being these formidable people, but also sweethearts at the end of the day.

They really have a Romeo and Juliet thing going on.
Carrigan: A little star-crossed. Maybe a little star-crossed.

Is there a world where Hank forgives Barry? What do you think that would take?
Carrigan: Hank is someone who really tries to see the good in everyone. Like he refers to himself, he's the "eternal optometrist." But I think everyone gets pushed to their breaking point, and I think that Hank has been so trusting, so sweet, and also a bit naive in certain ways. And I think when you get burned, you learn and you want to then protect yourself. In that respect, just getting an apology doesn't go very far. You actually have to see someone work for it.

You, Bill, and [series co-creator] Alec Berg have all talked before about it being important that Hank is more than just comedic relief. How did you approach moments like the ones we saw in this episode, where you're uncovering more of his dramatic layers?
Carrigan: It's a continuation of what I've been trying to do from the very beginning, which is to really just honor this character without commenting on him. Because that's where you get into trouble, trying to play a character who's kind of funny, but trying to play it funny, right? You actually just have to be honest with who this character is. And that's what I've been just trying to be conscientious of, is just honoring the character, and who this character is in the story, and not making any judgments, but literally just having empathy and understanding of what makes him tick and the decisions that he makes, whether they be ridiculously stupid decisions or great ones.

Watching the police interrogation scene, I did think at one point, "Hank's actually a pretty good actor, he's really holding his own." Could you ever imagine him switching professions?
Carrigan: I think that if it were the right genre, probably, actually. Don't get me wrong, there are some really intelligent actors out there, but there are also some actors who kind of just show up, and they have no concept of what they're doing, and somehow it still works, you know? You're still just kind of there for it. I wouldn't count Hank out. He could have his own spin-off show. Literally Hank, not as me playing Hank. I would watch that.

If you had to sum up where Hank will end up by the end of the season in three words, what would they be?
Carrigan: I would say… "This changes everything."

Barry Season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max.