Transcript
jesse thorn
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Gentle, trilling music with a steady drumbeat plays under the dialogue.
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Speaker: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR. [Music fades out.]
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“Huddle Formation” from the album Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team. A fast, upbeat, peppy song. Music plays as Jesse speaks, then fades out.
jesse
It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. First up this week, Bill Hader. Of course, you know him from his time on Saturday Night Live. He was a genius impressionist. He did a mean Alan Alda. But maybe his most famous character was Stefon, from “Weekend Update”. You remember Stefon.
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[The audience laughs at regular intervals.] Stefon (Saturday Night Live): If you’re ordinary or love salt, I’ve got just the spot for you. New York’s hottest holiday club is [makes an incoherent siren-like sound]. Seth: Could you, uh—could you use that in a sentence for me? Stefon: Um, in a sentence? Seth: Yeah. Stefon: Um. Let’s go to [repeats the sound] because the line is too long at Spicy’s!
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jesse
Hader left the show in 2013. He’s performed since in movies like Trainwreck, Inside Out, Sausage Party. With his SNL pal, Fred Armisen, he co-created and starred in the IFC show, Documentary Now. His latest project is a TV show called Barry, which is in the middle of its third season. I talked with Hader in 2018, just as the show had launched. If you haven’t seen Barry yet—well, first of all you should see Barry. It’s great. Second, it is very different in tone from pretty much anything Hader did before. Bill stars as the show’s title character, Barry Burkman. He’s an ex-marine turned low-rent hitman turned aspired actor in Los Angeles. It's a pretty intense program. The stakes in every scene feel real and earned. Pretty much every character on the show is a trauma victim, and it engages those traumas in plain, human ways. There are also some very silly laugh-out-loud funny moments in the show. Funny moments that are sometimes bookended by brutal violence. Here's a little bit from the show’s first season. Barry is in a hotel room. He and his partner, Fuches—played by Stephen Root—have flown to LA to kill a guy named Ryan. Only Barry doesn’t kill him. And in this scene, he tells Fuches why.
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Barry (Barry): Something really, really cool happened. Okay? Fuches: Okay. Barry: I followed Ryan yesterday, and he went to this theatre to take an acting class. And I ended up doing a scene with him from True Romance. Fuches: True Romance is a movie. Barry: Yeah. It’s LA theatre, so I guess all the scenes they do are from movies. The point is, I was really good. And, uh, afterwards I hung out with all them. Fuches: Them? Barry: The acting class. And they’re super nice. Fuches: The whole class? Including the guy you’re supposed to burn? Barry: Ryan Maddison. Yeah. Nah, he’s a great dude. And I don’t know, they just made me feel really good about myself. You know? And you know how you and I talk all the time about my purpose? Fuches: You think acting could be your purpose? Barry: I don’t know! I just—I don’t—I—I just feel really motivated right now or something. Like, it made me feel really good. Fuches: Okay, but what about what we do together, Barry? Barry: Well, you know, they told me a very small percentage of actors actually make a living acting. You know? So, most of them have day jobs. So, I just figured—you know—I’d do night hits or something, just— Fuches: Woah, woah, woah, woah.
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jesse
[They laugh.] Bill Hader, welcome back to Bullseye. It’s nice to see you.
bill hader
Hey, buddy! Yeah, good to see you too, man!
jesse
I didn’t—I guess I hadn’t ever thought about it, but I didn’t know that you hadn’t directed anything before.
bill
Yeah! No, I hadn’t.
jesse
Because you’re one of the most borderline compulsive film nerds that I’ve ever spoken with on this show. [Bill agrees several times as Jesse continues.] And I’m including like whatever life-long movie director—Rian Johnson or whatever is included in the—you’re right up there with them. Elvis Mitchell. You’re right on that list.
bill
Yeah, when I get around those guys, we have a really fun conversation that to outside people I think looks like we’re speaking a different language.
jesse
Why do you think that is that you never tried to do that?
bill
Well, I think because—you know, I moved out to LA in 1999 to do that. And I didn’t have any money, so I was just PAing and stuff like that. And that—you know, making money as a crew person—you know, takes up all your time. And then I would be done, and I would have no energy to do anything. And so, that coupled with you come to LA and everybody wants to do that. And I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was the only one that wanted to do that. And so, you get a bit insecure and a bit intimidated. And then you also just don’t wanna be just another person with Final Draft on their laptop in a coffee shop. You know what I mean? You kind of—so, I would keep it to myself more, I think. And then the third thing I would say is I had that thing—I don’t know if you can relate to this, but what I liked was the best thing. You know? It was—so, if I made something, it had to stand up to—you know, Spinal Tap or Doctor Strangelove or Taxi Driver or Jaws or whatever it was. You know. I put too much pressure on myself. So, I would make little things and I would start editing them. And I would go, “This sucks!” You know? And I would discard it. So, the good thing about doing sketch was that it was weirdly disposable. You know? You went up, you do—or improv. You would do an improv show and it was just, “Oh! That went good.” Or, “Well, that didn’t go good. Let’s move on.”
jesse
There’s a great interview with Ira Glass where he talks about the point in your career that no one tells you about is the point where your tastes outstrip your abilities. [Bill agrees.] So, you have gotten to the point where you have taste. You know what—you can recognize something that’s good. You can look at your thing and say, “Oh, but this isn’t that.”
bill
Exactly! And it’s—that’s a much more eloquent way of putting it. [Laughs.] But it is a thing where you look at it and just say, “I just don’t have it.” And what the good people—everyone, if you go back and look at them, even Scorsese made these great short films and stuff. But Who’s That Knocking on My Door took years to make and then it came out and some people liked it, some people didn’t. It got him a job doing a Rodger Corman movie. You know? It wasn’t until Mean Streets—it wasn’t until his third feature that people went, “Woah! This is really good!” So, everyone’s journey is different.
jesse
I think there’s also a weird perspective that it gives you to work on a filmset. And this is from—I mean, I’ve worked on a film set five days in my life or whatever. But like from—you know, my best buddy was a PA, and whatever the lowest level of producer is on things for the first eight or ten years that he lived out here. And the things that I remember him telling me about were that at the PA level, half or sometimes two thirds of the people who are your coworkers are so incompetent that you can’t believe that they could’ve ever gotten a job. [Bill agrees.] But then, you know, everyone else pretty much is hypercompetent. And so, you get this weird like—either you get I guess a confidence boost from the fact that you’re there working hard and the other people—who’s someone’s nephew—aren’t. Or you’re just like, “I don’t—how—how do you ever—?” And it’s so all like—
bill
Yeah, how am I supposed to do that? Yeah.
jesse
The competency part is so all-consuming.
bill
Yeah, yeah. You just—I mean, yeah. You would call those people furniture. That’s what you would call those people. You would go, “Oh, that person’s just furniture. You would—you know. They’re just useless. But yeah. I mean, I just know that when I was on movie sets, at first it made it seem so impossible because it was so big and this giant army of people making a thing and you’re so exhausted and you’re just—to try to keep your persistence of vision, that was a hard thing. Because each day’s different, a new problem, and you just go, “Oh gosh, I hope this all cuts together. I hope—you know—we’re all telling the same story. That’s the kind of thing that I learned over time, what makes a bad product.
jesse
I think we might share some personality traits. I feel like I almost like lucked into having any kind of career at all, because I am the kind of person who’s terrified to try and do something really special and amazing. [Bill agrees several times as Jesse continues.] ‘Cause I feel like I could never actually achieve what I wish it would be. But then, one day in college, I walked to the college radio station. And you know, you get a show on the college radio station, and you have to fill that time. You can’t not show up. Like, that’s not one of the choices. So, the fact that I’ve—you know—done this dumb show once a week for 19 years or whatever.
bill
Yeah, and I knew about this show in—when I got SNL. I mean, you know, 2005. It was—you know what I mean?
jesse
Yeah. But like I imagine SNL was like a similar thing. Like, one of the things about Saturday Night Live is that it’s live and you have to do it. [Laughs.]
bill
Yeah, it’s awful.
jesse
You know what I mean?
bill
Oh my god, no I hosted last weekend and I was a wreck all week. I mean, I have friends who’ve only known me host SNL. And they went, “Wow, you seemed, uh, like you were having a nervous breakdown.” I was like, “Oh no, that’s just my SNL face.” [Jesse laughs.] Which is I’m just very focused and—you know, Lorne Michaels, to his credit, came down before the show and went, you know, “Will you [censored] relax?” [They laugh.] He’s like, “Stop [censored] worrying and have fun.” He’s like, “You’re gonna be fine.” I go, “I know, this is just my process!” You know. [Chuckles.] Is I kind of have a flip out and—you know, the thing that—Alex Bayes used to run Update. He would always say to me—you know, after everything, I would run up to him, “Was that good? Was that—was that good? Was that alright?” And he would go, “Yes, Bill. Stop.” You know? ‘Cause I don’t even really hear the audience.
jesse
Even more to get into with Bill Hader after the break. It’s Bullseye, from MaximumFun.org and NPR.
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jesse
It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. If you’re just joining us, we’re listening to my 2018 conversation with Bill Hader. From 2005 to 2013, Hader was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live. These days, he’s the star and cocreator of Barry, a comedy on HBO. Hader plays the show’s title character: a hitman trying to give up his life of crime to become an actor. The show is dark, funny, action packed, and is in its third season now. Let’s get back into our conversation. I read an interview recently with Norm Macdonald. And I don’t know—I mean, we’re roughly the same age and Norm Macdonald was my hero was I was a teenager. I mean—
bill
Oh yeah, on Update. He was unreal.
jesse
Yeah, it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
bill
Yeah, him on Update with Downey writing was kind of the golden.
jesse
And he talked about the fact that he regularly had panic attacks at Saturday Night Live, including on the air. Which—you know, I mean Norm Macdonald, though in some ways he appears to be completely insane, is a very cool customer. [Chuckles.] [Bill agrees.] You know? I’ve never met the man, but you know.
bill
He’s very cool, yeah.
jesse
And it really—it really blindsided me, that fact and that insight into what his actual experience in that world was. Because I thought, you know, well, his anxiety attacks weren’t about the head of NBC not liking him for making fun of OJ Simpson, they were just about—yeah.
bill
Yeah, and he just kept doing it. Yeah, he seemed like a really ballsy guy, yeah. [Jesse agrees.] And then oh, even he got—I think it’s the week is really hard on you. And when you do—I had a panic attack on air once when I was playing Julian Assange. And people watched it and they can’t tell, but I knew that I started sweating and I started—I couldn’t—my thing is where I couldn’t project my voice. [Whispering hoarsely.] I get very quiet. And people can’t hear me, ‘cause—you know, I would just—I would start to just crumble. I remember, I was a Ronald Reagan robot once in a cold open. [Jesse chuckles.] And I didn’t project. I just didn’t project my voice. And Seth Meyers went, “Oh, is there something wrong with the microphone or whatever?” I go, “No, no, no, no. I’m—[stammering] I’m having a panic attack.” [Laughs.] But even other cast members—and I don’t wanna say their names. It’s—you know, have come to me and said, “Oh no, I had a full-on panic attack for—” I had—one cast member just like left. Just flew home. Just went, “I can’t. I need—I just—my brain’s a little broken.” You know what I mean? And I—you know and missed the show for a week. And I get it. You know? ‘Cause it’s a lot of accumulative stress.
jesse
But you did it for eight years! And you were good at it.
bill
Yeah, I know. And it was hard the whole time. It was never—
jesse
Did you know you were good at it?
bill
I know I was good at it. Yeah. I never—I look at it and I’m someone that’s very much going like, “Aw geez.” I—again, what we were talking about, in my head I’m projecting this. And then when I see it, I’m like, “Oh, I can hear my voice in that impression a little too much.” Or “Oh gosh, my physicality was a little different. I thought I was doing this, but instead it looks like that.” And that can be exhausting to talk to people about. Or they go, “Bill, it went great. Relax.” But for me, it’s mostly—yeah. Going like, “Okay, that was good.” And I was happy on Saturday that I kind of said, “Oh, I’m just gonna have fun.” You know? And throw that out and hang with the cast and just goof around and just have a good time.
jesse
I wanna play a clip of you doing Stefon on the recent Saturday Night Live that you hosted. And Stefon is like a—what is his setup? Like a night life correspondent or something?
bill
Yeah. He’s supposed to tell people—tourists in New York where to go.
jesse
And you know, this is—this was maybe your best-known recurring character on Saturday Night Live.
bill
Oh, without a doubt.
jesse
I mean, there’s a lot of Vincent Price fans out there.
bill
Yeah, no, but this was the thing that—when people come up to me, this is usually the thing they talk about.
jesse
And you know, I think I said this the last time you were on the show, but I—sincerely, I think it’s the funniest recurring character on Saturday Night Live of ever.
bill
Oh, that’s nice. [Chuckles.] Oh, thanks.
jesse
It just usually is just this list of weird specifics that John Mulaney or you and John Mulaney or—
bill
Yeah, John Mulaney and I and I remember once a guy—Joe Mande—had thrown in a couple that they used. But mostly it’s Mulaney. And then, between dress and air, he would change things around, or he would show them to me as I was walking out. Sometimes I’m reading them for the first time. But a lot of times, it’s—a lot of the time, its him kind of as I’m walking out like, “Oh, this got changed to this.” And I go, [wearily chuckling] “O-oh, okay.” You know. “This character’s now called Gay Liotta.” And I go, “Okay.” [Jesse laughs.] And then, I’m saying it for the first time on air, but he’s told me, and I start laughing. But what also’s happening is that the cue card guys are laughing, Seth would be laughing, Chris Kelly—our stage manager—is right offscreen and he’s laughing really hard. And I’m a soft touch, man. I laugh really easy. I just laugh.
jesse
Well, I mean, that’s a pretty funny—let’s listen.
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[The audience laughs often.] Stefon: If you’re drunk in midtown doing cheap coke off your laundry card, I have just the place for you. New York’s hottest club is Gayoosh, inspired by true eventsss. [Jesse laughs over the audio.] [Breaking with small chuckles as he speaks.] This former CVS which became a Chase Bank and then became a CVS again, has a familiar yet troubling feel—like when Larry King would play himself in a movie.
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bill
[Jesse giggles helplessly.] I hadn’t read that before. That was a new thing Mulaney put in. That was—the Larry King thing. Like, that’s a good example. Like—and then when he came out—Mulaney came out as my lawyer, Shy, and he—I just—you know, I’m supposed to whisper in his ear, so I go [whispers nonsense syllables]. I just said nothing. And then he whispered, “Uh, my girlfriend works at Yoshinoya Beef Bowl.” [They laugh.]
jesse
That’s like a Japanese themed chain restaurant that only in the West Coast.
bill
Yeah, in LA. Yeah, that’s only in the west coast and it just—just to, again—just—it’s just people, mostly John, throwing rocks at me to make me break. And it works.
jesse
I wanna play another clip from Barry, which is my guest, Bill Hader’s, new show. He stars in it and cocreated it and directed a bunch of it, including this episode. So, Barry’s a hitman who takes a shine to an acting class, accidentally. And his—in this scene, he is talking—he’s basically trying to talk—accidentally trying to talk his way into this acting class. He’s come to one and accidentally been involved in it and thought this is kind of amazing. And it had never occurred to him that something could be this magical. And he stops Henry Winkler’s character—his name is Cousineau. He’s the acting teacher—in the parking lot and is talking to him through his window. And Cousineau basically tells him, “You stink. Go home.” [Bill affirms.]
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Barry: You wanna know what I’m good at? I’m good at killing people. [Beat.] Yeah, when I got back from Afghanistan, I was really depressed. You know, like I didn’t leave my house for months. And this friend of my dad’s, he’s like an uncle to me, he helped me out and he gave me a purpose. He told me that what I was good at over there could be useful here. And it’s a job. You know? Like, the money’s good. And uh, these people I take out—like, they’re bad people. You know? Like, they’re pieces of [censored]. Um. [Sighs.] But lately, you know, I’ve—[sighs] like I’m not sleeping. And uh… that depressed feeling’s back. You know? Like—like I know there’s more to me than that.
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jesse
And he says, “Oh, did you improvise that?”
bill
Yeah, yeah, he thinks it was from a play. Yeah. [They chuckle.] Yeah.
jesse
Did you worry that you would be paralyzed by your influences? In that you have—you’re such a connoisseur of film especially and comedy—that that would tighten you up? Especially writing in a world that has—there’s some really, really great hitman things. [Bill agrees.] Like all of 1990—all of the ’90s was people trying to make cool hitman things, and some of them are real good.
bill
Yeah, I know. Well, yeah, we didn’t like that. We didn’t—we wanted to be more real and kind of—you know, when people read the synopsis, they go, “Oh, it’s like Get Shorty.” And we go no, it’s not. You know, like Get Shorty—you could make a Get Shorty—you know, kind of version of this, but we wanted how he was feeling to be real. And we wanted the violence to be real and brutal, because it's a world that he doesn’t wanna be in anymore. So, you should show it for what it is instead of cool or funny. You know, doing some sort of Weekend at Bernie’s bit with a body, and he runs into—you know—someone from the acting class and has to pretend that they’re not dead. You know. It would’ve been easy to do that stuff. But you know, again, I just feel like it would be selling it out and also kind of weirdly inappropriate. You know what I mean? So, that’s the kind of tightrope that the show walks. You know? Saying, yeah, you know the violence is kind of what violence is. It’s brutal and sad and—you know, he’s confronted in the—what was it?—the second episode, with the father of someone that he’s responsible for their death. And he's never seen that before. He goes, “Oh, right, someone dies, and all these other people are affected.” You know? And this father’s never gonna be the same again. It’s that guilt, you know? And him—and then the acting people going, “Yeah! Yeah! No, those feelings you have—you know, use those! You know, in your work!” And so, it’s just him trying to get into tune. You know? And just trying to access some emotion so he could be human. You know? And that’s kind of what the story is.
jesse
I mean, I think the thing about people saying, “Oh, those emotions are important; use them in your work,” is that it’s both completely true, and it is like so gross and embarrassing and—you know what I mean? [Bill agrees.] And that it is—both of those things at the same time makes it real hard to, I guess, be an artist.
bill
Yeah, I know. It’s like that’s the weird thing is that’s why people get cagey about talking about it. Like, the—you know, because you just don’t think of it that way. You’re just kind of instinctively doing something, and then people try to dissect it and go, “Well, you know what it is. It’s this.” You know? And you go, “I don’t wanna think about this, ‘cause I have to go back and keep doing it, and I don’t wanna be aware of it while I’m doing it.” You know? But yeah, I mean to go back to your earlier question about influences and things like that, I mean it was trying hard—and I don’t know how well I did it—you know—this season. And hopefully we’ll get more seasons to keep working on it, but just trying to follow the characters—you know?—and base it more on—you know, I would watch the documentary Restrepo and watch those guys. And I can go, “Yeah, one of those guys became a hitman, and—” You know what I mean? Instead of looking at movies.
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Music: Upbeat, sci-fi music. Dan McCoy: Hi! I’m Dan McCoy. Stuart Wellington: I’m Stuart Wellington. Elliott Kalan: And I’m Elliott Kalan! Dan: And the three of us host The Flop House. It’s a podcast where we watch a new bad movie and then we talk about it. Elliott: Dan, you say it’s hosted by the three of us, but we’ve had a lot of great guest co-hosts, like Gillian Flynn, Jamelle Bouie, John Hodgman, Jessica Williams, Wyatt Cenac, Joe Bob Briggs, Josh Gondelman, Roman Mars. Stuart: Yeah, and you said new movies, but what about the time we did Meatballs II? Dan: Okay, okay. Yeah, sometimes we do older movies and sometimes we have guests, but mostly it’s about us talking about like recent bad movies. Stuart: And don’t forget about the ones where I made you do a roleplaying game where you played cartoon doooogs! Dan: Alright, yeah, but— Stuart: Shouldn’t a promo be a really simple explanation about what our show’s about? So, what’s the show about, Dan? Elliott: What’s it about? [Dan sighs.] Stuart: What’s it about?! Dan: [Frustratedly.] It’s about friendship, alright?! It’s about our friendship and how we love each other! Stuart: The Flop House. It’s a podcast mostly about bad movies on Maximum Fun. [Music ends.]
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jesse
It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. My guest is Bill Hader, star and cocreator of the HBO show Barry. Let’s get back into our conversation. Let’s play another clip from my guest, Bill Hader’s, new show, which is called Barry. It’s on HBO. This is you in acting class. Henry Winkler, who plays your acting teacher, Cousineau, is onstage. You have shot one of the people in the class. Shot and killed—well, you were—you didn’t actually do the shooting. You were—yeah.
bill
[Stammering.] I was—yeah, I—we’ll see. You’ll see it from the show, yeah.
jesse
Okay. But the point is that you had a—you had—you accidentally made a connection with this guy who got you into the acting class, and now that person has been shot and killed. [Bill confirms.] And Henry Winkler is announcing this to the class.
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[Quiet crying from the class.] Cousineau: Now, I wish I could say that this was the first time that one of my students was gunned down in the street. But it’s not. And as much as it pains me to say it, it is most likely not the last. So, where do we go from here? I say we do what Ryan would’ve wanted us to do, and we use it. Barry: Sorry, uh, Mr. Cousineau, what’s that mean? “Use it”? Cousineau: [Entirely too casually.] Use Ryan’s death, the way that you’re feeling right this second. The sorrow, the rage, [whispers dramatically] the terror. You know, I use my past all the time in my work. If I want pure sorrow, I call up Princess Diana’s death or the day that my dad fell off the roof when I was a kid. Kerplunk.
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jesse
[They laugh.] Kerplunk!
bill
Yeah, he added that. Kerplunk. [Chuckles.]
jesse
There is—this character is so—it’s the most broadly drawn character, at least in the first few episodes, even more than the Chechen gangster. And I think he has such a sincere quality to him. And he’s so apparently sweet that it really lets him behave monstrously. And you’re like, “Well, he’s just doing his thing, man.” [Laughs.]
bill
Yeah, no, he’s just—I mean, well, you know. In that world—in that little place, in that acting class, he is a king. He’s the ruler. He’s the decider. He’s the whole thing. And then, the minute he steps out of that, he’s just an out of work actor. It was interesting to watch Henry—you know—saying that to him. You know, “When you’re in here you’re in king, but when you step out you’re an out of work actor.” And he went yeah, no, I get it, and played that—you know—in the scenes, which I thought was really great.
jesse
Have you taken acting classes? Like acting class acting classes?
bill
No, not really. I took an acting class at a community college once where did some—we didn’t really do scene work that I remember. Um. And—
jesse
I took an acting class at San Francisco State University, and I remember that I was supposed to go to the zoo, observe an animal, and then come back and act like the animal. [Bill agrees with a knowing chuckle.] I didn’t go to the zoo. In retrospect, I should have. I’ve gone to the zoo a lot lately, and it’s actually really a lot of fun.
bill
[Chuckling.] Yeah, to act like an animal. Yeah, I feel like there’s more—if we got a second season, there’s more of that stuff that we could do. You know? It was—because we only have 30 minutes, it’s a lot of having to try to streamline things and going, “Oh gosh, we had this big idea, but now we can’t do it ‘cause we have to service the story we’re telling. So, we gotta cut all this stuff and—you know. So, I would love to get more of that stuff in if we got to do more.
jesse
There’s a beautiful scene in the pilot episode—I think it’s in the pilot episode, might be in the second episode—where your character, Barry, has stumbled into this acting class and ends up going out afterwards with everybody. You know, Barry is a hitman. He’s fundamentally alienated from others. [Bill agrees with a chuckle.] You know, by design, right? [Bill confirm.] And it is a—it’s a very beautiful moment of him almost like recognizing that he could enjoy human contact. [Laughs.]
bill
Yeah, yeah, that he could be a person. Yeah. That’s in a community. Yeah. Yeah, no I relate to that. You know. I remember moving to LA and not knowing a whole lot of people and just—you know, you latch onto people who are in the same place that you are. You know? You just kind of—you know, just hold onto them for dear life. And then, out of insecurity and all this other stuff—especially when you’re young—then there’s infighting and you know, people being jealous that this person got a job on this thing, and you know. You know. I remember a friend got a job as a PA on A.I. [Whispers.] You know, oh my god. He’s—that’s— ‘Cause we were doing these super low budget movies, and now this group of people were kind of pissed. [Laughing.] And it’s just so silly. It was just really dumb and just being young and insecure.
jesse
But it means a lot to have a place where you belong.
bill
Yeah! Yeah, and I think he realized that. I mean, for me that was SNL. That scene was—that scene is me in my first season with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Fred Armisen and Rick Dratch and all these—Seth Meyers, all these people at that table getting drinks and me just thinking, “Gosh, it’s great to be a part of this company, and I just feel like I’ll learn so much and become a better performer and writer if I just can hang with them and not get fired.”
jesse
I feel a little weird—and this is something that the audience wouldn’t know, but I feel a little weird because your dad is right over there.
bill
Oh yeah, my dad’s here.
jesse
And you’ve actually—you’ve talked about your dad a little bit on the show. [Bill confirms.] I guess imagine he’s not sitting there. [Bill laughs and agrees.] What would you tell me about him?
bill
Oh, my dad’s great. My dad’s the reason I like—he liked all the good stuff. When I was growing up, he was—you know, showing me Monty Python at a very young age. He showed me Clockwork Orange when I was way too young. [Jesse laughs.] Um, The Wild Bunch. You know, all these things. I got kind of this excitement being exposed to these—you know, the good stuff. You know? Spinal Tap we used to watch constantly. And Saturday Night Live, and—you know, my parents were very young parents. And so, they let us watch what they were watching. And I think my obsession with movies kind of came out of that, ‘cause every—we would always just rent movies, and I’d watch whatever they were watching. Or seeing Raising Arizona when it first came out on VHS and then we—
jesse
[Chuckles.] That seems very inapprop—you must have been like nine or something?
bill
Yeah, I was nine. And then, I told this story before, but he also helped me—you know, we watched the movie The Abyss, and there’s this scene where Ed Harris is having a problem in his marriage, and later in the movie, this door—this big metal door is about to close. And if it closes, he’s gonna drown inside the submarine. And he wedges his hand right as the door is closing and his wedding ring stops the door. And then saves his life. And I remember my dad going, “[Groans.] Oh. Get it?” [They laugh.] And at that age—again, I was like 9 or 11. Yeah, 10 or 11 going, “Okay, that’s lame. Okay, yeah. Don’t do that.” [Jesse laughs.] “That’s stupid.”
jesse
Well, Bill Hader, thanks so much. It’s always—
bill
Thanks, man!
jesse
It’s always good to see you here. I’m so happy for the new show and all your success.
bill
Aw, thanks, buddy! It was good seeing you, man.
jesse
Bill Hader. The third season of Barry is airing right now on HBO. It’s dark, it’s weird, it’s got some really great acting from Henry Winkler. You should go watch it now.
music
Folksy music with a steady beat.
jesse
That’s the end of another episode of Bullseye. Bullseye, created from the homes me and the staff of Maximum Fun, in and around greater Los Angeles, California. I bought a mango tree at the farmer’s market last year, and it was kind of do-do-doing along, not doing much. And then in the last six weeks or so, it has totally bloomed and blossomed and grown. It is extraordinary. I’m really looking forward to having some mangos in the next few years. Our show is produced by speaking into microphones. Our senior producer is Kevin Ferguson. Our producers are Jesus Ambrosio and Richard Robey. Our production fellow at Maximum Fun is Tabatha Myers. We get booking help from Mara Davis. Our interstitial music is by Dan Wally, also known as DJW. Our theme music is by The Go! Team. It’s called “Huddle Formation”. Our thanks to The Go! Team for sharing it with us, along with their label, Memphis Industries. Bullseye is also on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find us there and give us a follow and we will share with you all of our interviews. And I think that’s about it. Just remember: all great radio hosts have a signature signoff.
promo
Speaker: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR. [Music fades out.]
jesse
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About the show
Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.
Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.
If you would like to pitch a guest for Bullseye, please CLICK HERE. You can also follow Bullseye on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. For more about Bullseye and to see a list of stations that carry it, please click here.
Get in touch with the show
@bullseye.bsky.social
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