Ep 138. Bill Hader

Off Camera with Sam Jones

offcamera

Arts, Education, Off Camera, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2020

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As a high school kid growing up in Oklahoma, Bill Hader received a progress report from his French teacher that had remarkable foresight: “Bill is very funny in class. He’ll probably be on Saturday Night Live one day. He has a 37% in class though. He will not be speaking French.” Bill had a natural gift for doing voices and impressions, and years later, he would indeed join SNL. For eight years, he brought memorable characters to life, including fan-favorites like his exasperated Vincent Price, the lecherous Italian Vinny Veducci, and Weekend Update correspondent Stefon. As one of the most talented cast members on the show, it’s hard to believe Bill when he tells me that it was never his dream to be on Saturday Night Live. After his eight-year stint on SNL and roles in a number of films (The Skeleton Twins, Trainwreck, Inside Out), Bill’s finally realizing his dream with Barry, his upcoming HBO show about a hitman who really wants to be an actor. Bill directs, writes, and stars in the show, and because he favors truthfulness over funny gags, it’s one of the most unique shows on television: “In comedy, it’s so easy to come up with gags and little bits. It’s a lot harder to make a person’s emotional journey make sense.” Bill Hader joins Off Camera to discuss storytelling in Barry, struggling with anxiety on SNL, why he waited so long to pursue his dream to become a filmmaker, and why everyone in town thought he was on drugs in high school.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks Sam Jones here.
0:05.0	Welcome to another edition of Off-camera, the show where I get to talk to iconic, creative, curious artists, and find out how they got that way.
0:15.0	And in this episode I sit down with actor, writer, director, and former weekend update
0:20.0	correspondent, Bill Hader. As a high school kid growing up in Oklahoma,
0:24.6	Bill Hader received a progress report from his French teacher that had remarkable
0:29.0	foresight. Bill is very funny in class. He'll probably be on Saturday Night Live one day.
0:34.4	It read. Although the next part was, he got a 37% on this test and he probably won't be speaking French.
0:41.7	Bill had a natural gift for doing voices and impressions, and years later he would indeed
0:46.4	join Saturday Night Live, and for eight years he brought memorable characters to life, including fan favorites like his exasperated Vincent Price, the
0:54.8	lecherist Italian Vinny Vaducci, and of course weekend update correspondent,
0:58.8	Stefan. As one of the most talented cast members on the show,
1:02.5	it's hard to believe Bill when he tells me
1:04.2	that it was never his dream to be on Saturday Night Live.
1:07.5	After his eight-year stint on that show
1:09.7	and roles in a number of films,
1:11.5	like The Skeleton Twins train wreck and Inside Out
1:15.0	Bill is finally realizing his dream with Barry his upcoming HBO show about a
1:19.9	hitman who really wants to be an actor. Bill directs, writes, and stars on the show.
1:25.1	And because he favors truthfulness over funny gags,
1:28.0	it's one of the most unique shows on television.
1:30.5	In comedy, he says, it's so easy to come up with gags and little bits.
1:34.8	It's a lot harder to make a person's emotional journey makes sense.
	...

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