‘Animal Control’s Grace Palmer Talks Oliver Hudson’s Guest Stint, Frank & Victoria’s Future & More

Animal Control went Hollywood on Thursday’s (April 16) new episode, “Coyotes & Eagles,” as Frank (Joel McHale) was shadowed by an actor, Bradley Boyd (guest star Oliver Hudson), to learn the ropes of being an animal control officer for a movie. Along the way, the whole team is brought to the set and, much to the chagrin of Frank, Victoria (Grace Palmer) develops a romantic connection with Bradley — albeit a brief one that culminates in him asking her to shout Frank’s name so he can continue to mimic Frank. What results is a hysterical new adventure for the team with a cinematic twist.

Here to break down the highlights of the episode — including that celebrity guest — along with the recent Season 5 renewal, her stance on the will-they-or-won’t-they relationship at the core of the show, and more, TV Insider caught up with Animal Control favorite Grace Palmer.

Your first line in the episode is about New Zealand and the random famous people that you have. I just wondered if that was your own anecdote or your own experience with celebrity culture in New Zealand?

Grace Palmer: No. It was so funny because they picked someone so obscure. I had never seen the film [mentioned], Meet the Feebles. One of our writers, Jen [Jackson], who I adore, did an exchange at university in New Zealand, and so she has some very obscure references that even I don’t know… but I think that’s what made it so funny is that there are obvious choices with Sam Neill, Taika Waititi, Julian Dennison, and Melanie Lynskey… And I’m like, “I love that you picked this man from Meet the Feebles.”

The guest star for this week’s episode is Oliver Hudson. What was it like to have him on set as this character that’s such an exaggerated Hollywood-ite?

You know what? It’s so funny because I remember Vella [Lovell], and I talked a lot about whoever came in to do this role, we weren’t sure who they were going to get or what their vibe was going to be, and I actually didn’t know Oliver or his work. And when I met him, there is no one who made me corpse* more on set than him. And that week was just [hilarious]. I think it was because his acting was so unexpected, and he’s just hilarious, but the loveliest man in real life. And then I learned a lot about his [work] — I’m very in the dark, obviously, being from New Zealand, so I didn’t know who his sister was or who his parents were, and I found out along the way. I was like, “Oh, wow, those families, and you’re the perfect person to do this job for so many reasons. Growing up in the midst of actors and acting in the industry, you’re able to then take the piss out of it in a way that’s so endearing.”

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He was really funny. I just thought he was brilliant at playing this overbearing actor. It’s one of those actors that we all hope we’re not that person — this star quality and the celebrity, which is so far from who he is as a person, but he was so good at doing it. And honestly, there were so many times that he made me corpse.

I remember there’s one scene [of] him getting wheeled out at the end. That scene we shot probably at like 2 a.m. Everyone wanted to go home. It was the last scene of the day, and every single time they wheeled him past me — and it’s one shot that kind of follows him, and it goes to my face — he would pull this face. I just could not stop laughing. And so I was like, “I’m so sorry, guys, I’m really, really sorry.” He thought it was hilarious, so he kept trying to make me break and laugh. And I was like, “The poor crew and all these extras, everyone wants to go home…” But also, those are the moments of the job that I live for; not being able to stop laughing is such a privilege.

You mentioned the set. It was kind of meta in a way, right? What was that experience with this setup being a film set, which is something that you actually are doing most of the time, but we just don’t get to see?

Exactly. Well, I loved that stuff. One of my favorite things to do is when you’re playing a character who then has to act, whether they’re a good actor or a bad actor. I’ve always leaned into the fact that I think that Victoria loves being in front of the camera. It’s quite unnatural, but she sort of loves the vibe of it.

That whole set experience was amazing because the guy who played the director was a big, well-known Canadian director, so everybody knew this guy. And our crew, weirdly, they just were sort of different around him. I was like, “This is amazing because this is all fake, but there’s something very real and, like you say, meta about it.”

I think you have to lean into the things that most people say, who aren’t in the industry, when they come to set, which is, “Free food.” So many people, often they’re like, “It’s not that glamorous.” And then they’re like, “Wow, you do it so many times.” I’ve had so many family and friends come to sit over the years, and they all they’re really excited when they first get there because they go to craft services and they get the food, and they are meeting everyone, and then they sit down, and I don’t think they’re prepared to have to watch the same scene four or five hours, and they’re like, “Oh God, I’m so over it.” I thought they wrote that episode so well. I think they leaned into that well, of going like, “What are the things that normal people want to see and experience when they come to a set?” And the bottle breaking was so fun.

Victoria has a romantic connection with Bradley. You said she likes being in front of the camera. What do you think it is about him that draws her in? 

We went back and forth with this a lot because I never wanted it to feel like Victoria was actively trying to get back at Frank or make him feel a certain way. It actually had nothing to do with Frank. And I’ve always maintained that Victoria is such a “yes” person that she wants to live her life to the fullest. So if she gets invited somewhere, she’s gonna go, she’s always gonna go, and she’s a true free spirit. So, even though she finds this guy a little insufferable or a little icky at times, seeing him in his natural environment, then she’s really kind of swept up in the movie of it all, the business of it all. And seeing him in another light, she’s like, “Why would I not have this experience?!”

I don’t think she knows that he’s pretending to be Frank, or trying to mirror Frank, until they’re having sex, and he makes her call him Frank and things like that. She says, “Oh, OK, I see what’s happening now.” But also that’s, for her, a fun experience that I live for. So we were trying to warm up, making it feel like something that is authentic to her. That’s an experience she would want to have. But also, it had no ill intent towards Frank or trying to wind him up or make him jealous.

Bettina Strauss / Fox

I love the part when they’re all calling Frank a “dick.” I wanted to see how cathartic that was for you.

I love the word “dick.” We use it a lot in New Zealand, but I feel like I’m always struggling with TV, even knowing when they’re allowed to use words like “dick” and “penis.” Basically, I’m learning that you’re not allowed to use derogatory terms for the actual thing. I don’t understand how, sometimes I can’t. But, moral of the story, I will take any opportunity I can to say the word “dick.”

Especially with Frank, though, it’s like he has this moment where he finally realizes that maybe they’re right.  

Oliver was such a good person to say that… Bradley, we have two writers called Brad who have worked with Joel his whole life — well, the last 20 years — and I think it was funny for them to [write] Bradley. It’s just also such a great stage name. With Oliver, he was so good at playing the dick, and you could tell that being famous had made his character more of a dick, but in the same way, he was trying to encapsulate the essence of what made Joel or Frank a dick. I loved watching these guys kind of have at it like that. It was like a testosterone-off. I just remember not knowing what to expect from that episode. I had so much fun watching Oliver because he was very playful and silly. And there’s so much stuff of his that they probably weren’t even able to use.

So this situation with Bradley is another chapter in the will-they-or-won’t-they saga of Victoria and Frank. What are your hopes for the future of the two?

You know, truthfully, I think they are such good friends. They’re really compatible in so many ways, particularly as friends, and I think for Victoria, because she has a lot of sex and a lot of partners and meets a lot of people, for her… she really is invested in her friendship with Frank. To f** it up, and it does — inevitably, it makes it different. And even though she probably wants to — I think she’s definitely attracted to him, and they have this flirty banter. I’m not sure whether this is something you can resonate with, but growing up at some point in my life, I remember when a male friend, they tell you they like you, and you’re like, “Oh God, you’ve ruined everything. You’ve just ruined everything.” And it does.

I think she would go there, but there’s this huge fear of, “Oh, does that then change the friendship and change the office dynamic?” Because they have a good thing, and so I think they’re both aware of it.

Bettina Strauss / Fox

It’s funny, actually, because I’m watching a show at the moment which has a really drawn-out, “Will they work?” They’re flirting and sort of more blatant. It’s a slow cooker where the tension is here, and it’s like, “If you do something, where does it go from there? Does it explode? Does it simmer down?” And so I would say there’s a lot. I think the writer’s room is slapped with where it goes from here. And I don’t know, I don’t. I’m sort of impartial and on the fence, but I think the reason I do like it as it is is that I think it’s something that a lot of people can relate to with having a friend that you’re attracted but you’re worried that if you take it to the next level, you’ll no longer be attracted to them, or it’ll just be odd or weird, and it’s too much.

Also, I think Victoria fills her tanks sexually, with regards to connections elsewhere over time, that she doesn’t probably need this from him and really likes what it is. But will they or won’t? I don’t know. Every season, I don’t know. Even as episodes come out, I don’t know. I never know what’s happening. And to be honest, I sort of like it that way.

Yep, learn as you go. I get it. So this show has been renewed for Season 5 early. What do you think it is about Animal Control? Is it the gentle comedy aspect? What is it that you think resonates the most with fans?

I think there’s a lot of great TV out there at the moment. I always have something to watch on my list, and I think television has changed slightly… I feel like reality has almost taken the sector of TV where stuff that just washes over you. It’s easy growing up, like, “Friends, 5:30 every night before the news.” Then, you had your comfort shows, and I think for a lot of people, I hope so, this is a comfort show. I hope it’s feel-good. I hope it’s fun. It’s not breaking any molds, but it’s not meant to. It’s meant to be this thing that you can rely on. It’s half an hour of your life to just feel good and be taken away. And, given how many shows invest so heavily — and I actually have come to miss some of these, like comedies — and so I think for people, hopefully, it’s a sense of comfort.

I think as an ensemble, we’re all really, really different, but we get along so well. And I know a lot of people say this, and it’s so cheesy, but we are like a family. And we’re a motley crew, and it’s an odd dynamic, but I hope that that resonates as well, that we have a good thing going.

Also, people love animals, and it’s been hilarious to watch the evolution of the show in regards to the animals, because there’s more CGI [elsewhere]. It’s different. I always loved the puppetry because I thought it was incredible, with this one guy who makes our puppets. He is phenomenal — what he does in the time that he does it. And I think a lot of the time, you can tell now, just because it’s so HD, that that is a puppet, but I find it kind of funny, and it’s cute.

Animal Control, Thursdays, 8/7c, Fox

* “Corpse” is New Zealand and Australian slang for breaking character and/or laughing.