If only BoJack Horseman could host the Emmys. But his show wasn’t nominated, so he’s probably “unavailable at this time.” And anyway, in the words of the man behind BoJack’s voice, Will Arnett, “Pure unadulterated success is not as funny as failure.”

Netflix’s animated series, BoJack Horseman, provides insight into the absurdity of Hollywood, and Arnett’s BoJack, a washed-up actor (and a horse), is critical to the show’s success. “He makes the punch lines, and is also a wonderful dramatic actor. It is hard to imagine the show without him,” says series creator and show-runner Raphael Bob-Waksberg.

BoJack is a train wreck, and that’s why audiences connect with him. We don’t want him to get clean. If he, a washed-up horse, can get his shit together, what does that say about us, his binge-watching Netflix viewers?

When interviewing Arnett, a human man, I recognized striking similarities between him and the cartoon horse, a comparison he would undoubtedly resent.

“In real life it would be horrifying to have a talking horse with humans and animals living together like that,” Arnett explained. In addition to his cartoon soul mate BoJack, we discussed his thoughts on failure, character flaws, and the bright light in comedy’s future that is Amy Schumer.

Vanity Fair: Do you have a favorite kind of character flaw?

Will Arnett: Deep emotional scarring. Any kind of run-of-the-mill flaws that are easily solved to me are boring. Situational flaws, for example. I like flaws that are rooted in a deep distrust in people because of a lack of love. For a long time I played characters who on the surface are labeled jerks, [but] I totally disagreed [with that label]. I felt like it's because something is wrong with them. I like the characters who are struggling to try and get better, and they don’t understand [that they] have the same set of tools that most people have to try and make that leap to better themselves. To me it’s interesting to see that—the struggle to exist in the real world.

Do you think there is more humor in failure?

Pure unadulterated success is not as funny as failure.

Do you think that the real BoJack Horseman would be such a loveable loser in real life?

I think that he would. He is lovable and unlovable at the same time. He has moments of wanting to do the right thing—he is deeply flawed, though. Ultimately, he is unreliable in a lot of ways. In Season 2 we break through to find that lovable side of BoJack, and he is kind of his own worst enemy.

What is the worst of BoJack’s failures, in your opinion?

He has failed at connecting with somebody. He has certainly failed at love and being in love. In a lot of ways he traded in things that were important to him in order to achieve success in his career. Somewhere along the way he forgot how to do that and have the real relationships—romantic or real friendships. He has lost that thread and the ability to connect with somebody.

How has comedy changed for you?

I would say at the risk of sounding like a pretentious fool that probably just by being [at] more outlets and venues, it seems to me there is a watering down. I am probably guilty of it myself. It just feels like at a certain point it would lend itself to more originality but in a weird way, it diluted the quality in a lot of ways. On the flip side, I think there are a lot of people doing great things and new voices doing really challenging things, such as Amy Schumer.

What are the challenges when humanizing a horse?

Like I was saying, there are people who are super talented, like Raphael who created and writes BoJack. He is a brilliant guy who understands BoJack as a horse, or human, or whatever. Any time you can build jokes around a story that resonates on an emotional level, it is going to have a big impact. I think by putting that in an absurd world you can approach it by how alienating it would be to be an animal in this human world. Maybe that’s another layer.