This story about Bill Hader and Seth Meyers and “Barry” and “Late Night” first appeared in TheWrap Awards magazine’s comedy series issue.
The moment Bill Hader and Seth Meyers met on “Saturday Night Live,” Meyers immediately understood that Hader was a movie nerd. “The first time Bill came to my office after he was hired, when he left, he somehow had a list of 12 foreign films to watch,” Meyers said during a lengthy joint interview before the writers’ strike, whose full version you can see here or at the end of this article. “It’s like the guy from the video store is following you,” Hader added with a laugh.
And yet, even when the two became close friends on “SNL” (and an iconic duet via Stefon de Hader on Weekend Update), Meyers could never have predicted Hader would do something like “Barry.”
The HBO series wrapped up its fourth and final season in May, with Hader’s comedy about a hitman-turned-aspiring actor concluding in dark, emotional and remarkably cinematic fashion. Hader served as the show’s star, showrunner, and writer, but also directed 18 episodes, including all eight of the final season.
“Even with the people on the ‘SNL’ cast that you’re very close with, it’s impossible to predict what they’re going to do next,” Meyers said. “What excites you the most is if they are in control. So he was very excited because he knew that Bill had written it and he knew that he would have Bill’s steady hand all over it, but he would never have predicted that he would be ‘Barry’. That first episode is such a perfectly written pilot, and it didn’t look the way he expected it to look. It wasn’t the kind of story I expected Bill to tell, but as soon as it started, I was thrilled to know how great the idea was for his sensibilities.” Meyers, beaming with pride, looked directly at Hader and said, “You are an outstanding director.”
Similarly, when Hader first saw Meyers’ transition from “SNL” cast member and head writer to host of his own late-night show on NBC, he found he was a perfect fit. “He’s really very curious about people, and he’s incredibly funny,” Hader said. “I grew up watching Letterman and Conan, and I was so happy to see my friend there doing that.” The “Barry” creator added that he was excited to see his daughter talk to his friends about “Late Night With Seth Meyers” in the same way that he and his friends talked about Letterman and Conan when he was younger.
Meyers quipped, “When my 7-year-old talks about ‘Barry,’ I’m like, ‘Who’s letting you watch?'” distress!”
Meyers has carved a niche for itself with its Segment “A Closer Look” on Late Night, which delves into a specific political issue. For Hader, the segment stands out for the host’s lack of swagger. “That’s where I get my news,” Hader said. “Everyone talks about how clever he is and satire and everything, but it all comes from a very deep intellect… It always comes from genuinely trying to figure it out. We are all trying to understand what is happening.”
Hader said he “feels right at home” when he’s a guest on “Late Night,” though both Hader and Meyers get butterflies when they physically approach the “SNL” studio, reminding them of the routine on the NBC series. “The moment the elevators open, my stomach is in knots,” Hader admitted. “At one point I thought I was going to cry or throw up, but none of that is joy,” Meyers said with a laugh.
Despite lingering anxiety, both have applied the lessons learned from their time on “SNL” to their current career paths — specifically, the lessons learned from each other.
Hader, for example, began to broaden who he was writing for. I would write these Sketches by Vinny Vedecci and he’d throw them at you, and you’d go, ‘Great. What can the host do?’” Hader said. “Do you want to write something that [someone else] I would want to act, and I learned that from you,” he told Meyers, adding that in writing “Barry,” he began writing about his actors’ strengths.
“Sarah Goldberg is really good at monologues, so okay, let’s give her a super long monologue.” Hader also credited Meyers for insisting that she not “do audience homework” and for teaching her a key lesson in writing jokes. “Seth had a huge effect on me and all of us,” she said.
Hader then told a story from his first season on “SNL” when he learned the importance of simplicity in storytelling. “I did a sketch where I was Peter Falk giving a class on Star Wars sounds to Natalie Portman,” he began, barely containing her own laughter at the ridiculousness of the premise.
“Mad Libs was the head writer,” Meyers quipped, making Hader laugh even more.
Hader continued: “Seth, after reading the chart, said, ‘I don’t know if you need to be Peter Falk. I feel like you might just be a boy. He feels like a hat on a hat. And I was like, ‘What does hat on a hat mean?’ Seth said: ‘It’s one idea on top of another. If you put a hat on top of another hat, it looks silly.’” Hader wanted to test the sketch anyway, so he did. And he bombed “horribly.” “I remember sitting there in a little bit of shock and looking at Seth and him [mimicked putting a hat on top of a hat], and I was like, ‘Now I understand,’” he said. Meyers jumped. “Now I’m mad I didn’t run to the coat room during dress rehearsal and say, ‘I need two hats!'”
“What I also learned from Seth was how to be honest with someone,” Hader added. “And critical without being, he never felt cruel. He was always compassionate and helpful. It wasn’t like, ‘Get this out of here. It was like, ‘OK, here’s the problem with this, this is where things aren’t going to work, and here’s what I think you could do to make it better.’ I’ve taken that away from him, and that’s how he runs the writers room in Barry. That’s how I work with actors.”
While Meyers was the head writer during Hader’s time on “SNL,” the “Late Night” host was quick to point out that he also learned a lot from Hader. The pride with which he spoke of Hader’s talent ran deep.
“Bill has been very complimentary and it means a lot, but I also have to say that I feel like I learned from you,” Meyers said. “You’re a taste gauge, you always have that, ‘Let’s try to get a little better on this joke.’ It’s so nice, when I go back and look at the things I wrote with you, I can always see that. If I’m doing stand-up, there’s not a moment where I don’t think, ‘I wouldn’t have done that if I never met Bill,’ or ‘I wouldn’t have done that if I never met Bill.’ i met will [Forte].’”
Meyers and Hader also highlighted the talent of the entire cast from their “SNL” era, which included Kristen Wiig, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte and Kenan Thompson. “I was saying this to Andy recently, I think our era was ‘benevolent snobs,’” Meyers said. “Everyone had a snobbery, but not about style. I think everyone appreciated that there were different voices in that era of the show, so the one thing people were dissatisfied with was any writer who didn’t write to match their talent.”
Hader added, “Seth was the person who taught me that the DNA of ‘SNL’ was competitive, but we don’t have to be competitive with each other.”
Meyers said he found a comfortable rhythm with “Late Night,” especially when it comes to the delivery of jokes, something he appreciated on “SNL.”
“’SNL’ was a really fun time in my life. But for me, really, I’m not just saying this for the current company, it was fun to be around Stefon, because I didn’t have to do any of the heavy lifting,” Meyers said. “But like telling jokes, I never started Update thinking it would go well. And now, with ‘Late Night,’ I’m pretty sure it’s going to be all right, and it’s a great feeling.”
Hader and Meyers’ “SNL” era gave birth not only to “Barry” and “Late Night,” but also “Ted Lasso,” “Bridesmaids,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Documentary Now!”, ” Portlandia”, “Brooklyn Nine”. -Nine,” “The Last Man on Earth,” and other beloved stand-up shows, movies, and specials. “One of the many gifts of being a part of that group of people is how deeply shameful it would be to get out of there and then do something now,” Meyers said.
In fact, Meyers, Hader and fellow “SNL” alumni Fred Armisen, John Mulaney, Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas created their own show on “Documentary Now!”, an IFC series in which each episode parodies a different documentary. some iconic, some obscure. .
The idea was inspired by an “SNL” sketch in which Fred Armisen played “the only punk who loved Margaret Thatcher,” and Hader went to Meyers’ office after the show and said they should turn that into a series of television. “I give you all the credit for saying, ‘That’s always the kind of show I’d like to do,’” Meyers said.
For Meyers, “Documentary Now!” – which has just aired its fourth season – is a good opportunity to do something very different from “Late Night”.
“It’s the opposite of ‘Late Night,’ which is about half the value the day after it airs, while ‘Documentary Now!’ It’s so much fun to make a show that I don’t think it gets old at all because it was already so out of date,” he said. Hader added with a laugh, “It was the perfect example of Peak TV because it’s like, ‘How is this a show?'”
While “Documentary Now!” Amassing a small but deeply passionate fan base, Meyers and Hader found even greater acclaim with “Late Night” and “Barry.” Meyers won a Critics Choice Television Award for “Late Night,” and Hader earned three DGA Awards for directing “Barry,” two WGA Awards for writing the show, and two Emmy Awards for his performance.
But Hader still credits “SNL” (and Meyers) for getting him there. “He never would have been able to play Barry if he hadn’t done ‘Saturday Night Live,'” Hader said.
“I don’t think any of us could have done anything,” Meyers repeated.
Read more of the comedy series edition here.
