Paul Walter Hauser

Episode notes

Photo: Daniel Speer / Maximum Fun

We at Bullseye are willing to bet you’re seeing a lot of Paul Walter Hauser lately. Some of his earlier work includes: I Tonya, Da 5 Bloods, and the lead part in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. Now you can see him playing Liam Neeson’s partner in the latest The Naked Gun movie or Moleman in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. He’s appearing in big upcoming movies like Americana and the Bruce Springsteen biopic.

Hauser’s path to this stage of his career is pretty unique, and fraught. Growing up in Michigan, he knew from a pretty early age that he wanted to act, write, and maybe even get a spot on SNL. Hauser had his heroes, too: Chris Farley, John Belushi, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Three generational talents, all who died before they were 50.

For a while, Hauser says, he was on a similar trajectory. Like Farley, Hoffman and Belushi, he was struggling with substance abuse and mental illness. Several times in the past decade and change, he was certain he’d lose it all.

Hauser joins Bullseye for a conversation about how he found his way through it. He also talks about his professional wrestling career!