Bill Hader Finds His Story
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Higher Ground
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2022
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, legendary actor and comedian Bill Hader! We discuss the return of Barry (4:57), the thematic evolution of the series (7:02), and how it draws from films like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas (10:36). Then, Bill reflects on growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma (13:16), the influence of his late grandfather (17:04), his path from community college to his early PA jobs in Hollywood (18:25), landing on Saturday Night Live (21:36), the weekly pressure of the show (26:07), and how he made it through by collaborating with John Mulaney (29:51).
On the back-half, Bill shares a piece of advice from Jeff Bridges (35:14), how Barry came to be (37:27), the personal connection he has with the show (40:07), the enduring power of movies (47:52), and how, after some detours, he’s finally where he’s supposed to be (49:57).
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm Sam Fric, actor, and director, Bill Hader. In 2013, Hader stepped away from Saturday Night Live after eight years as a performer. |
| 0:52.0 | It was a tough decision but one he had to make if he was ever going to do the thing he always wanted to do, which was to write and direct movies. Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he spent his |
| 1:05.3 | childhood in video stores and movie theaters, enthralled by the DIY spirit |
| 1:10.4 | of filmmakers like Stephen Soterberg and Spike Lee. At home, when he was supposed to be sleeping, |
| 1:16.5 | his father would come into his bedroom and say, |
| 1:19.3 | Bill, your mom would probably get upset about this, but why don't we go downstairs |
| 1:25.0 | and watch Money Python? |
| 1:27.0 | And so they did. |
| 1:28.0 | And that dream of making movies, which was cultivated as Bill came of age in the 80s and 90s was put on hold until |
| 1:36.3 | 2018. |
| 1:37.3 | It was then that Hader with the help of Alec Berg created Barry. |
| 1:42.3 | The Emmy Award winning show is about a former |
| 1:44.8 | Marine-turned-hitman who hopes to one day become an actor in |
| 1:48.7 | Hollywood. It's recently returned for a new season on HBO. Here's a clip from the trailer. things in our lives but everybody deserves a second chance. |
| 2:05.0 | I believe that you can be the version of yourself that you want to be. |
| 2:10.0 | I need a purpose. |
| 2:11.0 | Forgiveness is something that has to be earned. |
| 2:14.0 | It's like that line in Shawshank Redemption, get rich, or die trying. |
| 2:20.0 | If I don't do this, I don't live! |
| 2:22.0 | I have to do this to live! When I met Mr. Kucano, I was a lost soul. |
| 2:35.0 | He didn't just teach me how to be a better actor. |
| 2:39.0 | Taught me how to be a human being. |
... |
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