Bill Hader Says Goodbye to ‘Barry’

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As we approach the series finale of Barry, we return to our talk with actor and director Bill Hader. We discuss the thematic evolution of his hit HBO 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).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm Sam Fregoso. Welcome to the show. Today we return to our conversation with writer, director, and actor Bill Hader.
0:48.7	He joined us back in 2022 around the 8th at 10 p.m. Eastern time. The 1-2 Sunday punch of Succession in Barry has been pretty
1:07.0	remarkable these last two months and with these upcoming finales it really
1:12.4	feels like the end of an arrow.
1:14.5	I think that feeling is probably exacerbated by a host of issues you've probably been reading about.
1:20.9	The ongoing writer strike, the IP-driven, 10-pull obsession we've seen played
1:26.1	out at every local movie theater across the country, the internet's morbid fascination
1:31.8	with how AI will change Hollywood.
1:34.8	All these subjects are something we'll get into this summer, especially as we do episodes
1:39.2	around the strike and AI in particular. But for today, before we say goodbye to these great shows, I just
1:48.0	want to take a moment to celebrate what Bill Hader has done with Barry.
1:52.8	The show, really to the very end here,
1:55.3	has been inventive, funny, and willing
1:58.3	to take real chances with bending genres and story structure.
2:03.2	And so at the top we discuss plot points from episode one and two of Barry season three,
2:09.9	but we quickly move into all the things that have made this latest season of the show possible.
2:17.0	His upbringing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the influence of his late grandfather,
2:21.5	his early years in Los Angeles, making it on S&L at 27, and how eventually, after a few
2:29.1	pit stops, he found his way to Barry. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite episodes from last year, so I hope you enjoy it.
2:38.0	Whether you've heard it before or are hearing it again today, I thank you for being here. If you have not heard our
2:45.5	latest episode with succession actor Alan Ruck that's available wherever you do
2:50.8	your listening, we'll also be back this Sunday with a new episode
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lemonada Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Lemonada Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.