10 Quick Questions for Aisha Tyler

Talented actress-director is busy on both sides of the camera

Gayle Jo Carter,

AARP

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Published April 10, 2023

aisha tyler sitting with two hands on knee in front of leaves

Robert Adam Mayer

Aisha Tyler, 52, plays Jules on Apple TV+’s new thriller, The Last Thing He Told Me, based on the best-selling novel by Laura Dave. She’s also starring in, as well as directing, episodes of Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+. She describes what it’s like to be both behind and in front of the camera, and why actors often make great directors.

Growing up, were you a big TV watcher?

I wasn’t. My parents didn’t believe in TV, so I didn’t even have a television until I was in high school. I was a really hardcore book reader. I would take the flashlight under the covers after bedtime and read for hours. My mom bought me the Little Women compilation — a giant book, it probably weighed 10 pounds. I carried that around until the cover came off. I was a big [J.R.R.] Tolkien person, so [The] Lord of the Rings, all kinds of sci-fi, [Ray] Bradbury — just obsessed with science fiction and wanted to go to the moon, wanted to be a space lady. I was dying to be an astronaut. I think at the time I was just too much of a weird intellectual. I didn’t want to go into the military, and I loved science, but once I got into complex math I realized I was more of a lover than a scientist.

Did you ever dream of a career in the entertainment industry?

No no no no. I was going to be a lawyer. I did improv in high school, but it was mostly just a hobby. Then I got my degree at Dartmouth and went to work between undergraduate and grad school. My partner at the time was a paralegal, and I just looked at his experience in a law office and it didn’t seem very appealing — it looked plodding and combative. So I thought, I’ll just pursue an artistic life now because I can always go back and get a day job. It went well.

aisha tyler walking on city street talking on phone, holding coffee in a still form the last thing he told me

In Apple TV+'s “The Last Thing He Told Me,” Tyler plays Jules, the childhood best friend of Jennifer Garner’s character, Hannah.

Apple TV

How does directing compare to acting?

Acting is like being a prep cook who only has responsibilities for one item on the line. Directing is the chef de cuisine who has to run the entire kitchen — and not just think about the food, but the health and the safety and the behavior and the intention of all of the other chefs, and the front of the house, and how the plates look, and how many forks, and how many spoons, and how the wine pairs with the food and how the flowers are — to do your job. Acting is just really caring for yourself and often maybe the other actor in your scene. When you are a director, you realize you have to care for everybody and every little thing. … It’s much more demanding. You’re the first in and last out. Every decision is yours, but it’s much more rewarding.

Are there directors you look to for inspiration?

Steven Soderbergh, Gina Prince-Bythewood [and] Paul Greengrass are favorites in a lot of genres I find aspirational. I’ve been lucky to have found some directors in the business who have mentored me at times. Ava DuVernay has been inspirational in that way. I’m also always really excited to see what Regina King and Ben Affleck are doing, because they’ve both come out of acting. Ron Howard was an actor before he was a director, and directors who come out of acting have a really specific and unique point of view and tend to do really interesting work.

Is there a show you’ve been bingeing lately?

I’m just obsessed with The Last of Us. That’s a perfect television show. I’m a big [video] gamer, so I’ve played the game, and the show is a really beautiful expression of the game. Also, it’s its own animal. It’s so robust and well done and tearful and scary and wonderful and transcendent. Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal are incredible. I’ve already watched all of it twice. You watch it as a fan, then you go back and watch it for the film craft. [I’m thinking] What are they doing that’s working here? How are they shooting it? The writing. You want to dive back in and look at everything with more specificity.

When did you get into gaming?

I was always into video games. I made my dad buy me a handheld Donkey Kong when I was 8. My dad used to drop me off at the arcade with quarters when I was in middle school. I started playing with consoles when I got older. I think some of the best storytelling is happening in gaming. It’s much more immersive. You spend two hours in a movie, but you can spend 220 hours with a video game. The best games, including The Last of Us — I joke with a lot of people [that] I had to stop playing for a while because I was so emotionally connected to the characters and they kept dying. I’ve also been the voice of a few games: Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3 and Watch Dogs.

You’re also the voice of Lana Kane in the FX series Archer. How does it compare to your traditional acting gigs?

It is pure enjoyment. It’s not that it doesn’t require intense skill, but because you know you don’t have the hours of hair and makeup and wardrobe, [you don’t have to worry about] Where are the props? and Who am I standing next to? and Am I in my light? Am I facing the cameras the right way? I don’t have to hit a mark. It’s just pure, especially with Archer, comedic expressions. You’re just trying to unlock the key to saying every line as hilariously as you possibly can. It’s really intense, but really, really joyful. I just say the lines over and over again until I get the guys on the other side of the line to laugh. It’s really, really fun. I wear my sweatpants jumping around, yelling at everybody and I’m good to go.

Do you have a go-to movie you love to watch?

I’m getting ready to direct an action film [it’s too early to reveal details]. I went back and watched all of my favorite action movie franchises. I watched all of the James Bond films back to Casino Royale, but probably my favorite franchise is the Jason Bourne franchise. That first movie really radicalized me into what kind of great storytelling can be done in action — that the action was about the character, and if you cared about the character and their journey, then you would care if they got blown up. They’re nuanced and beautiful and fun and highly intelligent and demand a lot from their audience. I love all Mission: Impossible movies. I was the kind of kid that would go to the movies on the weekend, buy matinee tickets and stay in the movie theater all day and watch every movie in the theater. I love action. I love those big sweeping stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

If your entertainment career hadn’t worked out, what then?

I’m sure that I would open a bar, because I love to interact with people, chatting people up. I think it’s why I love directing, because I love interacting with people. I love treating people with kindness.

Describe your perfect day.

Full disclosure, I’m a workaholic. So I tend to work every day in some way, maybe not the entire day. I do love to watch films. I consume them like a fan and as a creator. So I would probably get up and take a nice long hike — which is always good for thinking about creativity and relaxing your mind and getting it to synthesize new ideas — and go to a nice long brunch with friends and go see a good movie. My favorite thing to do. I always joke with my friends that I need to get a tattoo that says, “Make art and go to dinner.” My hobby is probably going out to dinner. I love to gather people together and have nice, long meals over wine. They say having strong friendships keeps you young.

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Gayle Jo Carter is a former entertainment editor at USA WEEKEND, who during her 30-year reporting and editing career, has worked at USA TODAY, Voice of America and Feature Story News. When not interviewing high-profile people, she’s teaching reformer Pilates classes and doing her best to raise two empathetic, curious, healthy young people to adulthood.