The Bill Simmons Podcast - Bill Hader Live at SXSW (Ep. 338)

Episode Date: March 12, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined live in Austin by Bill Hader to discuss his new HBO comedy, 'Barry', some of his best stories from working on 'South Park,' and the state of satire in the world today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network is brought to you by ZipRecruiter, our old friends, our 2018 presenting sponsor. I went there last week, and they have a view in the office of the Pacific Ocean. That's all you need to know about how successful ZipRecruiter has been. Eighty percent of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site in just one day. They're powerful technology. It's a job that dozens and dozens of the web-leading job boards that identifies the right people with the right experience

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Use it this week for college hoops. Download the SeatGeek app or go right to SeatGeek.com. Buy it.com this week. We have a one and done Coach Calipari bracket that people are getting a kick out of today on a Monday. We have the One Shining podcast. They were there last night cranking it out. I'm so proud of Mark Titus. You know, the naysayers said Mark Titus couldn't tape a podcast on a Sunday night and then write a column about March Madness in the brackets. People didn't believe. He was like a plus 280 to pull it off,

but he did it. And he broke down everything that's happening in Madness, all the upset specials, all the storylines, everything. Subscribe to One Shining Podcast now. You can win your bracket. Why wouldn't you want to win your bracket? You lose every year to people who don't even know about college basketball like me. So check that out. Check out TheRinger.com all week. We're going to be covering college hoops, deep dive, not only on podcasts and on columns, but on Instagram as well, at TheRinger.

And don't forget, shot against all odds. Cousin Sal, they're blowing out a little March Madness thing on Wednesday. So all that's coming up. I know this sounds weird. I'm on the phone. Listen, blame,

blame, blame my car. I had to bring my car and I had to do some stuff, but we have some good stuff coming up for you. There's a great Bill Hader podcast that I taped at South by Southwest.

I also want to talk a little about some stuff that happened in sports this weekend. But first, here we go. Pro Gym. All right, taking this on a Monday. I apologize for the connection. Weirdly, it's probably the best I can do with this.

But coming up, we're going to have a little bit of a Bill Hader. I don't know how many times I've had him on. I think this is probably like the fourth or fifth time. I did make him do James Gunn. I feel like I have to do that every time we're together. But we talked about his new show, which is called Barry, which premieres on HBO, I think, two weekends from now. And I really liked it, which we dove into on the podcast. I thought it was really cool and really different.

I went to South by Southwest this weekend. I think this was like my fifth or sixth time that I've been there, and it's just always amazing how big that thing has ballooned. And I'm actually mad we didn't do more Ringer stuff there. We had a Ringer basketball panel on Friday. It was Chase Serrano, Chris Ryan, and Julia Littman and Kurt Goldsberry,

our old Grantland friend. And, and like 200 people were there. And then we did the hater thing and, and people couldn't get in. And it's just next year, we're going to bring a whole bunch of ringer people there and we're going to do it right.

But it's, it's really cool. I was there before it really blew up. And then I was there when it blew up and they didn't really know what to do with how big it had gotten. And now they have

a pretty good handle on it. Really well run. Uber and Lyft and all that stuff has helped people have been able to be able to get around and do all the stuff they need to do.

Sean Fantasy, I think he's seen like nine or ten movies in like three days. It's got a little bit of everything. It's got panels, clips. So it was a really cool place. I like that it's blown up and it's hit the part where it's not cool to say that South by Southwest is cool anymore. There's backlash to it, but then it's actually cool when you go. So I'm glad I went. And what was interesting about flying back yesterday was the Tiger Woods thing was happening.

And I was on Delta. And somehow we have not perfected the whole direct TV, putting on airplanes. I think there's a lot of, personally, I think there's a lot of chicanery going on with, with these airplanes can pretend they can and can't do. The wifi is still bad.

We still can't get satellite when we're on there. So anyway, I couldn't watch the Tiger Woods thing. And yet I was watching it because I was on twitter um and i of course i i had a movie on in the background so what better choice than fast five which i hadn't seen in a good six to eight months and uh really spectacular i can't believe how good fast five is i really think i'd sit in the conversation for best action movie of all time. It's just completely satisfying. But I had Fast Five on

because I like when I'm on an airplane, I like to watch stuff that I've already seen so I'm not too absorbed by it. And then I'm just watching the Tiger thing unfold on Twitter. And what was cool was between the Ringer Slack and Twitter, I really had a handle of what was going on.

I just couldn't see it. But then on Twitter, people would put up the gifs of the missed putt or whatever shot. So I did feel like I was belatedly following it. So when it got to like the 17th and he had like a long putt, I was like, oh, man, he's done. And then all of a sudden my Twitter timeline lights up with all these people getting excited about it and then the gif is on in in like two minutes later and I got to watch the 43 footer with this choppy gif on an airplane and I was just I was just pumped and the point of this story is there's really nobody like this anymore that that we all kind of want to succeed in sports tate are you there yes is

there any other athlete that has kind of a unanimous i want that guy to do well i i don't feel like in basketball this exists certainly doesn't exist in football it's just nothing it's really just tiger maybe michael phelps oh yeah i guess you're right at the olympics but that yeah you're right in the major sports. Yeah, you're right. In the major sports, yeah. I mean, it was amazing how many people were jumping back on the Tiger thing. And honestly, I really thought that he was going to make that putt on 18 and chase it to the cup like it was the old days. I'm sad he didn't.

So we got the Masters coming up in four weeks, which randomly I'm going to for the first time ever. And I'm bringing my dad, and it's his bucket list of all time thing that he wants to do now that every Boston team has won the title and was not expecting there was going to be this whole tiger, this crazy tiger woods wrinkle. And now I'm sure it's going to be like the, you know, the hottest masters event of the decade. Like who who's not behind him. Plus he was playing playing well and really just missing putts that if he had made three

of them, he wins the tournament. It's not like they were hard putts either. That's amazing. Then we have Madness coming up. The NBA season is closer to the finish line than it feels like it usually is when Madness comes. It feels like we're in a really nice sports stretch.

The NFL draft stuff, too. I like this stretch we're in right now. Tate, you and Titus did the Madness preview yesterday, Sunday night. And now what's the schedule for this week? Well, we got the first four games, which are in Dayton, which are on Tuesday. The most interesting game there is probably Arizona State, a team, the last undefeated team in the country in college basketball this season

that fell off the face of the planet. They're playing Syracuse and Jim Boeheim Tuesday night in Dayton. And then St. Bonaventure's plays UCLA also in Dayton. And then the other two games are the 16 games. That'll be a good one, right? Yeah, those are two good games. Bonaventure's is a nice one. My wife is a Bonavent fan, so I've been monitoring.

I think that's a nice matchup for them. Why should they be scared of UCLA? I think St. Bonaventure is going to be the favorite in that game, I would assume. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'll tell you right now. Tate, it turns out, I don't know if you knew this, but you can gamble on some of these games.

Did you know this? Yes, I heard about this. Yeah, they have spreads and everything. And, of course, see, the problem is you go on these online sites and they have all the tournament games. Because there's all these other tournaments now. Oh, there you go. St. Bonneville.

No, you're going to St. Bonneville. So I would take the Bonneys. Then we got Bayheim versus Arizona State in the other one, which is tremendous. So Tuesday night's actually a fun night of TV all of a sudden. Not usually the case. Not at all. But we get Bob Hurley coached against Jim Boeheim. That's fun to tune into.

We actually, Titus and I talked about this, but Oklahoma, you know, they get in the tournament. Trey Young gets in the tournament, your chosen son, Trey Young. We were saying that guys like Trey Young, if they really want to make the first four matter, these Tuesday games, put in the most interesting team. So Arizona State should have played Oklahoma in this first round in Dayton because they need to play themselves in the tournament anyway.

So people would have really watched if it was Trey Young, if it was Tuesday. Well, Trey Young hasn't really looked like Trey Young in about six weeks. And it'll be interesting if he can turn it back on. I'm still a believer. I just think, you know, the combination of the way defenses were playing him and just all the hype and all that stuff, you could see him cave a little bit.

But I could see him turning it back on. The most fun thing that happened this week, which I know you guys covered on your pod, was Colin Sexton, a guy that we had been eyeballing for a while as somebody that seemed at least a little bit special and really seemed like a good teammate and played basketball the right way. Maybe his team wasn't that great. And then he had kind of a breakout moment, pulled them into the tournament. And Titus has been kind of clamoring for this year's kemba walker there

really wasn't the candidate and now it's like colin sexton's like the perfect candidate right he is the perfect candidate unfortunately he got a really bad draw they have a eight nine game they're in the east region so they play virginia tech in the first round uh buzz williams has been you know done a great job with this virginia tech team and virgin Virginia Tech kind of got screwed out of the ACC tournament against Notre Dame. There was some questionable calls down the stretch with Matt Farrell doing some dramatics, flopping out of bounds and leading to a technical against Chris Clark. So Virginia Tech has a little bit of redemption, and they face Alabama. And then if Alabama and Sexton are able to get past Buzz Williams,

then they have Villanova in the second round, which a lot of people think Villanova in the second round which is a lot of people think villanova is the best team in the country so uh that's a tough draw for colin sexton well villanova and virginia are the two favorites right now five to one who did you like for kind of mid-range sleepers we did this a couple weeks ago on my podcast and you guys nailed the michigan thing and they ended up winning the big 10 tournament is there anybody in that 20 to 30 to1 range that you guys are targeting? Kentucky's 28-1, by the way.

Kentucky's 28-1. We talked about that on your pod, I guess, last Friday when we came on. I think the problem with Kentucky is, again, they got a bad draw. I mean, they got the hottest team, the hottest mid-major team, and it's hard to even say Davidson's a mid-major team with Bob McKillop there. Bob McKillop is one of the best coaches in basketball at any level uh they face kentucky in the first round they have this guy kellen grady uh number 31 on davidson he's he grew up steph curry's like he was a fanboy for steph curry wanted to be steph curry when he grew up and now he's a you know a 6-5 shooting guard playing for davidson and uh does the things like

curry so that's a really bad matchup for Kentucky in the first round, which scares me about them. And some other teams, I don't really know exactly the odds. I don't have them in front of me, but just some teams to watch out for. That's a good thing. No, that's good. I'm glad you don't know the odds. Give me a couple teams. I'll tell you the odds. North Carolina, I know you're going to think

that that's a biased pick, but North Carolina, they got a great draw in this West region. Xavier is the fourth-ranked seed. They're going to be out in L.A. Carolina's been out in the L.A. bracket before when they lost to Wisconsin and Frank Kaminsky in 2015. And then you look there, Michigan's had two weeks off. We liked Michigan going into the Big Ten tournament,

but they went to overtime with Iowa in that tournament. They had some tough games that I think people have kind of washed away just because they won the Big Ten tournament. So I guess it's a sleeper pick, but I'm still a little concerned about them. In the Midwest region... Wait, hold on. Carolina, 18-1. 18-1.

So are they in LA this weekend or next weekend? It would be next weekend. So it'll be for the actual regional. The regional is out in L.A. for the West region. So if your team can win two games, your team's coming to see you in Los Angeles is what you're telling us. Yes, at Staples Center. When do we start the campaign to get Tate Frazier tickets

behind the UNC bench to get on TV? We'll start that next week. Maybe Siki can help us. Please. Please. We need that. I need to be there. And Mark Titus, his team is also, they also have a chance to be out in LA. Ohio State's the 5 seed in the West. So if Ohio State wins two

games, granted they have to play Gonzaga if they beat South Dakota State, which I'm not sure they can beat the Jackrabbits. But if they win two games, they will also be out in LA.A. So it could be Mark Titus, Tate Frazier, extravaganza out in L.A. So you guys could play potentially. You guys could go head-to-head.

In the Elite Eight, yes. In Los Angeles. Oh my god. Wow. Thank you, committee. That could split the podcast up. You guys might never be the same. Yes. If that happens, the three of us are going and uh and i'm gonna just instagram story the whole thing as you guys eventually fight to the death and then whoever wins the fight gets the podcast and the other one just dies did you did

you watch the selection show by the way the new selection no because i was on an airplane i saw people you know it's really interesting how Titus did a good job of skewering it today. A lot of people did, but it's really interesting when they oversink things. When it's like, this is such a simple idea. It's just like, hey, here's the bracket show. Here are the brackets. And this team's playing this team.

It's like, you can't screw that up. It's impossible. The only way you can screw that up is by not giving people the brackets on a bracket show and confusing them and enraging them and making them wait to see. You know, I just don't understand the logic. I know they have to, you know, they can drag the ads along if they drag the show along, but to just make people, like, really violently unhappy seems like a bad game plan, right? It seemed like they tried to make it an event by having a crowd there. They tried to make it as if it was

a game or a part of the NCAA tournament atmosphere and experience, which makes no sense. But why? I have no idea. It's illogical. You already have the show. It would be like if they just changed the Oscars next year. Like, alright, before we get to these five things, let's go over the nominees for another hour and a half. Like, put the brackets up. And especially like in 2018, where when you screw up that stupidly, it's just so, you just get it dragged, you know? And it's just why, who was in the room looked around and said no this would be fine

people will be fine with this and obviously not people are nuts they'll never do that again i don't i don't think so but i can't imagine i think they were trying to do it for a general audience you know they were trying to do it for you know people don't really care that diehard fans may care about the bracket but you know general audience just wants to see the teams that are in so they treated us like we were stupid, and this is what came out. It was really bad. In 2018, when you treat people like they're stupid, it doesn't go well. It's just there's no track record whatsoever of it going well.

So that was dumb. So we have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, after we figure out these playing games, which I was against the playing games, but now that there's actually a couple good games, I'm a little more warm to them. But is there a day? There's always Thursday or Friday.

One of those days is the good day, and one of those days is the bad day. Which day would you say is going to be the a day? There's always Thursday or Friday. One of those days is the good day, and one of those days is the bad day. Which day would you say is going to be the good day? I think it's Thursday this year. You've got Trey Young, DeAndre Ayton, a bunch of big matchups. Davidson, Kentucky is a big game. It's the first day of games, so tune in on Thursday. I'm excited.

When's the next One Shining podcast? One Shining podcast. We're doing a bracket tomorrow where we're picking all the games. Kenny and Charles Barkley couldn't agree on any games they just put question marks so titus and i may have that same issue so who knows if we can give you any clarity we may just put question marks and exclamation points and you know other things like that uh on our bracket but um yeah we're doing that tomorrow and then we're doing a podcast after uh tuesday to preview all the games uh and to make picks and try to help out with the general fan. And then Cousin Sal is going to call us on Tuesday night.

So it'll be a full day of podcasting tomorrow. And then Tuesday night, Cousin Sal will get into the gambler's perspective, give out odds, give out some long shots. NC State is a long shot I love. Rhode Island is a team I really love, not to win the title, but to maybe make some noise, get some upsets. So we'll give out all that stuff on Cousin Sal's podcast tomorrow night, too.

And I know at least one of the three trifecta guys will be diving into the women's tournament with some thoughts. There's just no question. It would seem like the greater inefficiency would be the women's tournament, because there's so fewer people who actually know what the hell's going on with women's

basketball. That that's when you exploit, you know, and with college hoops, everybody is targeting the same. This team looks good. Their brackets, easy,

their brackets hard, which is why every year there's so many upsets and people go, Oh my God, my brackets done already. But the woman, you really might get, you really might be able to get some value. All right, one-shot podcast this week. This is why we created this podcast for the next couple weeks.

Hopefully you guys survived the Ohio State-North Carolina blood fight. Coming up, we're going to do the Bill Hader podcast from South by Southwest. Here's this live podcast that we did with Bill Hader. It was in front of about 125 people in a room at the very awesome box set up on Saturday. And then we had like 300 people in an accompanying room in a big bar watching it on TV. So it was fun. He's somebody that I think the first time on TV. So it was fun. He's somebody that I think the first time he came on my

podcast was 2009. And it was even before he had done Stefan. And he was taken off on SNL, but not totally. And then by the next couple of times he'd come on, his career had gone up a couple notches. So yeah, almost

10 years of podcasts with Bill Hader at this point. Here we go from Austin, Texas, Saturday, Bill Hader. How are you? Hello. You look like... Wow, that's right. You look like you haven't slept in a couple days. Man, okay, so last night we had the premiere of the show,

and I don't really drink, and then someone's like, here, this thing is called Electric Jellyfish. It's this great beer, and I had like 20 of them, and I got super trashed, and then I had to get up at 9 a.m. and do a bunch of, no, I had to start doing interviews at 9 a.m., and then Amy Gravitt, who's like the head of comedy at HBO, called me and was like, let's go have breakfast tacos.

So I did that. And Austin is great. So yesterday was emotional for you because the show you've been working on for a while, that was the first time you had shown it to an audience, Barry. Yeah, yeah. At the Alamo Draft House, which is one of the greatest ideas I've ever seen for anything.

Like, they just bring you beer and popcorn nonstop. It's like a movie nerd's dream. Like, I don't have to go nowhere. They bring the beer to me. I watch my Godzilla movie. Yeah, no, it was great. And, yeah, it's, yeah. And yeah, it's like, it's not nerve-wracking or anything. It's just kind of like you do that,

and then that lifts the embargo on reviews. Right. Which I didn't know about. So it's like it's aired, and then I'm sitting there with HBO, and they go, oh, Hollywood Reporter review just came in. Oh, Variety Review just came in. And then I was like. You're like, what'd they say?

I just got drunk. When you're listening to the audience reactions for stuff like that, what are you listening to? I don't. I don't. I don't. Oh, you weren't even in there. No, I don't go.

I just go, okay, you guys have fun. Because for some reason but you were there i was there but i left and and uh we introduced it and then alec berg who i co-created with he stayed but i leave and uh i don't like what you got like to an alley yeah i just stood in an alley just by myself just like the ending of Blair Witch, just staring at the wall. So you come back, and they tell you how it went. And they come back,

and I go, and they go, yeah, yeah, yeah, they're laughing. You know, it was very Larry David-like reaction. It was like, yeah, yeah, yeah,

I mean, you know what? It was a comedy, you know? They liked it. People were laughing throughout. It's a really different show. And when I read about it, I was a little worried because we've known each other for a long time. And I'm like, wow, that's kind of ambitious.

I loved it. I'm not just saying that because she's sitting there. Which was the nicest thing in the world. I wanted to see it. I was excited. He came out. He was like, that was great. And I went, oh, you showed up to the thing.

That's so sweet. It's about this kind of tortured hitman who basically has not a midlife crisis because he's younger but all of a sudden has this life crisis and just the world i don't want to spoil too much of it but he just he's like a he's like a depressed he's a former marine who now works as like a hitman and he's unhappy in his life and he travels to la to kill a guy, and he tails him to his acting class in the valley, which is run by Henry Winkler. So, needless to say, I'm in.

Just that sentence. And then he decides, he sees all these kind of, it's kind of like a version of Travis Bickle meets the William Money character in Unforgiven. Like, Tax Driver Unforgiven guy meets the people from Waiting for Guffman. And that's his salvation. But the violence in it's very brutal and kind of real. So yeah, it's a tonal tightrope in a way.

When I started to, we became friendly early part of this decade i was always interested you were like a super movie nerd and kind of fell into this ass backwards getting into snl like you were you were basically trying to you were like a lot of people out here that are in la that move move there and they think i'm gonna direct a movie something yeah yeah i wanted to be that that's what i wanted to do, is write and direct movies. So give them the 35 second this is how I ended up from there to all of a sudden I'm on the cast of SNL.

35 seconds and go. I moved to LA and I was a PA and then I was an assistant editor and I worked on a bunch of movies and then I was trying to make movies and I didn't and then I ended up This is great. I was at Second City LA taking a class, something to do,

and Megan Mullally from Will & Grace saw me in the class. Because Nick Offerman, she's married to him. His brother, Matt Offerman, is my friend. We were in a group together. And she said, you should... She called me the next week and went, I had dinner with Lorne Michaels

and I told him about you. And I ended up getting SNL. But that's literally what happened. That is what happened, yeah. Megan Mullally changed my life. And then now I'm getting to do the thing I wanted to do initially. I mean, it's just a very weird, circuitous thing. My favorite of all those jobs you had,

weren't you on Playboy Night Calls at one point? Yeah, yeah. I worked on Playboy Night Calls. Do you guys, you can admit it. You know that show? This guy, one dude's like, yeah! Night Calls, the Playboy channel was a show with these two women that gave sex advice. And guys would call in and they'd start having sex with their girlfriend.

I mean, it was, needless to say, not a show that could have been on network TV, I don't think. Yeah, and so my job was I would go get coffee for the porn stars. Yeah. And that was funny. I was like, I have an order for Candy, Candy, Cindy, Stormy, whatever, you know, all the names on the cups. But and then, yeah, I would be sitting there and someone would call in with like a fantasy. And the guy would come over. He's like, hey, Bill, can you get, you know, Cindy and whoever ready?

And I was like, hey guys, so you guys are going to be having sex together. So just go out there and do whatever they ask you to do. I think it's some sort of cowgirl thing. So get ready. I'm Bill, I'm the new PA. Nice to meet you guys. Can I get you a water?

Can I get you guys a water? Maybe after. Maybe after a shower. Okay. But it was sad, you know? I mean, in all seriousness, it is that Boogie Nights thing where it was a bit like, you know, it was a bit sad, you know? Well, one of the reasons I like Barry so much is it's set in this part of L.A. that I've always been fascinated by.

It's not anywhere near where I live, but it's the valley, but it's kind of deep valley. Yeah. A lot of actors working as waiters and waitresses and bartenders. There's scenes in the show where the acting class goes and gets beers, and that's kind of this whole area of L.A. Yeah, this area that's like strip malls, and it's like the opposite of La La Land. It's not going on the lot and dancing and stuff. It's more kind of the valley that me and my friends knew when we grew up. Or when we moved there in 99, we all lived in North Hollywood, Valley Village, all these areas.

And all your friends were struggling, you know, filmmakers and actors. Swingers was like the first one that really tapped into that. Yeah, that was like the Los Feliz thing. Yeah. And those shirts. And people. Those bowling shirts. Everybody had their own car and low jack.

Yeah. Driving around. We thought those guys were douchey. We thought, oh, those guys are doing the, not the guys in the movie, but the guys who were trying to do swingers. We thought were like, come on, let's go to the Dresden. It's like, shut up. What did you think, what made you stand out in the 03, 04, or 05 range from a comedy standpoint where Megan Mullally would tell Lorne Michaels?

I don't know. Impressions or what? No, it was just doing voices. And I didn't do impressions until my SNL audition. I had never really done it before. And so I was sitting there kind of just, it was an improv show. And she happened to come on a night. If she had come on Saturday instead of Sunday, I might not have gotten that call because on Sunday I just was hot.

Like, it just worked. You know, an improv show, one night's terrible and the other night's great because you're improvising it. And she just happened to be there on a night where I was really funny. And thank God. What would you rank the ratio of people happy for you that you got the call that you worked with versus like bitter and resentful?

Oh, no, most people were happy. I mean, we had to do the show for Lorne Michaels in New York. And so we had to go with my three friends and they knew that they weren't going to get a job out of this, but they went to support me, which was really cool. And one of those guys is Mel Cowan, who actually went to school out here now. He's a teacher at UCB.

And they were just the best. Yeah, I mean, when I did my last show, the next morning I called all those guys and I was like, thank you so much again. Like, I just finished SNL for eight years. Yeah, eight years of it. You guys, like, you guys, that was so cool that you guys did that.

It was so meaningful, you know? So it was cool. There's two types of people on SNL. The type that they just love it and they soak it in. And then the type who are just stressed out the entire time about the week leading up and you were in that camp. Yeah, I did not. I wasn't, like, yeah, some friends,

some people on there just were so laid back, you know? Like, my Rudolph could just be having a conversation with you and then they'd be like, and we're on. And she would just, you know, do a thing and then cut. And then she'd be like, so anyway, boy, you know? And I was like, and I would be shaking. One time I was Ryan Seacrest and I was having to do

American Idol and it was a cold open. It was a Mary Catherine Gallagher cold open where Molly Shannon came back to host and she came out in a cold open and I was Ryan Seacrest and I was shaking. I started shaking. I was looking at the ground and I'm just like,

oh God, I have to open the show. And Maya Rudolph just right when the show started, she just put her finger up my ass. She just grabbed my ass and went like this, and I went like that, right as they were going to countdown. Just, it was sweet. It was like, it was nice. It was just like, relax.

And I was like, whoa, whoa. And they're like, go. And then I was out of my head, you know? So that was a good thing, the old finger up the ass. Good note for the future cast members. Yeah, yeah. Hey, man, if things are going bad, put your finger up her ass. What?

When did you shake off the fear that you were just going to get the call from Lauren that you were done? Like halfway in? Yeah, it was my season four as Seth Rogen hosted. And I remember at the after party, Lauren came up to me and said, you can work here as long as you want. And he was like, relax. Like, you got the job. You just need to relax, man. I was like, oh, okay, okay, okay.

Because I would be pacing around going over and i still do it i mean i i'm hosting next week i'm gonna be doing it next week i'm gonna be walking around you know going over my stuff how do i do this whatever and and it's more the anticipation of it and then you get out there and then you it just all kind of goes away and you're like the last time I hosted uh John Mulaney wrote my monologue and he put my first line was I'm so nervous because he knew I was going to be nervous so I go I'm so nervous Bill shouts I'm so nervous what was that like did you feel like the kid who was in college who was going back to high school for the homecoming game? I mean, no, it's more like you're... It's like going back home, you know? It's like your older brother's like,

Hey, squirt. You know? Hey, man, shut up. It's like you immediately go back to where you were when you started, you know? Where it's like, hey, how's it going? I've had some success and I'm doing all right, you know? And then someone's like, that wasn't funny. And you're like, yeah, right you know and then someone's like that wasn't funny and you're like yeah no no you're right it wasn't

funny i'll stop right now but you when you go back there's that day when the host is going through with the uh everyone's pitching them ideas right so you'd never been in the power seat position no i was in the power yeah when i did that and i actually got really nervous it was very sweet because lauren we have a meeting with him and then he says okay i'm gonna bring everybody in and i go okay and he goes are you ready because i had been in that meeting as the person sitting on the floor pitching and the office is like from like there to the door super small and we pile in and everybody's piled up on stuff and i always have my spot was on the floor and i would sit down and sometimes it was awesome. But for like five hours?

No, it's... Or not that long? No, I mean, you usually go like 30, 40 minutes or something like that. But Lorne Michaels goes like, this is Natalie Portman and we all go... And we apply and then he goes, all right, no. And he points to someone and they go,

yeah, so I had an idea where maybe we would do blank and then he just goes around the room to everybody and you have to have an idea. And it was terrifying. The best guy was J.B. Smoove, who was a writer when I started there, and he was the funniest guy on Monday pitch meetings. Because he'd be like,

yeah, so I got an idea where you got basketballs for eyes. He goes, you fall on your face bangs right back up i remember one time for uh for uh steve martin steve martin he goes uh oh one of his ideas was uh uh and he had a little book and he was going through the book and he goes uh uh and he would take his time everyone else you want to get there, he would just slow it down and go, helicopter family. Helicopter family, they walk like this. He goes, you're a guy who used to work at a bank, but now you work at a deli, and no one likes it because you make the sandwiches like this.

And then the best one he did, the best J.B. Spitz, it's not, I don't know why it's funny, but Steve Martin was hosting, so Steve Martin's in the hot seat, and we're all kind of like, it's Steve Martin. And he goes, hey, Steve Martin. And we all kind of, we're all giggling, because it's like, what's it going to be?

And he's like, I got an idea. You're smoking an extra long cigarette. Just Steve Martin just looked at him like, okay. And it just, the balls that he had. You know, I was up the night before going, oh, God, Steve Martin, my idea's got to be good. What's it going to be? And JV just didn't give a fuck, and he just went in there,

and I was like, wow, okay, I got to be able to get to that. So you only get to pitch one idea? Sometimes people would pitch a couple or um usually it's like if you wanted to lay claim to something that happened in the news or if it was like a holiday I would say oh you know I do Vincent Price we were gonna do a holiday thing so hey just so you know I'm doing a Halloween sketch I'm you know that kind of tells the room okay there's gonna be one of those so if we're writing um Fred Armisen used to play a joke where if something really terrible had happened in the news, like Albert Fritzl, that guy raised a daughter and impregnated her or whatever, you know, some terrible story. It would always be Colin.

He'd be like, Colin wants to do something about Albert Fritzl, which I think is really uncool. And Colin Jost would be like, I did not, I do not want to do anything about it. It's like, no, you were just saying, come on, man. I think it's fucked up, but he wants to do that. Anyway, like.

Do you, do you, you look back with some distance now on that cast? What's that? Because that cast was, I mean, in retrospect, like, a lot of people went into a lot of stuff. Yeah, I came was, I mean, in retrospect, like, loaded. A lot of people went on to a lot of stuff. Yeah, I came in. I started not just like, I started with Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, and Kristen Wiig.

Those were who I started with. So we all showed up. That was your rookie class. That was our rookie class. And then Colin Joe started as a writer. And Brian Tucker, who's now one of the head writers, was there. We had a great year. Yeah, we were kind of just like, and the Lonely Island guys were the other writers. So, I the head writers was there. We had a great year. We were kind of just like, and the Lonely Island guys were the other writers.

So I mean, it was crazy. Very lucky. You miss it a little bit. I miss the people there. Right, you don't miss the fear. Yeah, I don't like going up, you know, just pitching stuff. I mean, I already had it on the phone.

I was talking to Eric Kenward, who's one of the producers there, and he goes, hey, you got any ideas? And I mean, I already had it on the phone. I was talking to Eric Kenward, who's one of the producers there. And he goes, Hey, you got any ideas? And I pitched him some ideas and it's like, Oh, okay.

Yeah. And it was like, it all comes back where you're like, all right, well, fuck it. You know what? Forget it.

Forget it. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know why I want to do this anymore. Yeah. Yeah. No. And, uh,

yeah. What, uh, what movies from that decade? You were in a few of the Apatow comedies. Yeah, I was in Superbad was the first one. Which one did people bring up to you the most? Superbad or Pineapple Express.

I was the guy at the beginning of Pineapple Express getting stoned. Train Wreck Now is the other one that people like. Oh, that was nice of you guys. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has had a big cable. Oh, yeah. It's on a lot. Oh, yeah, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But Jason Segel's penis, you never know when you're flipping channels.

Yeah, I never got to see the penis. Staring at you. I never saw his penis. So when you were thinking about... No, no, never saw his penis. When you were thinking about Barry and what you want to do with that, what lessons from, what was that? It sounded like a phone ring.

It's the tiniest band in Austin just played. It's like, I see a bird, I see rain. What lessons did you learn from those 10 years that you incorporated into Barry? Well, so much, because, you know, on Saturday Night Live, I remember Chris Rock said, what do you want to do, man? And I go, I want to direct something. And he's like, if you've been on SNL, you can direct,

you know, because you write the thing, and then if your sketch gets picked, you go and say, okay, so you go to all the department heads, and you go to production, and you say, here's what the set should look like, and here's what everybody should be directing. And you cast it, you do all that stuff. The only difference is you get to work with a DP, a cinematographer.

And so I felt really relaxed actually making Barry you directed the first episode the first three episodes I directed and then

and then Maggie Carey Hiro Murai and Alec Berg directed the other three did you direct it anything like

no that was the whole reason I moved out to LA was to direct and I finally got to direct and that was fun I fucked up because I

worked so hard in pre-production on directing and then I showed up and realized I didn't I hadn't made a choice on how to play Barry yet oh no on the first day so like you saw it but it's a scene that takes place in a backyard where these guys are telling me my mission to kill a guy and if you notice I don't say anything really in that scene because I didn't know how to play the part right so I was like I don't think I need to that scene because I didn't know how to play the part. Right. So I was like, I don't think I need to say that line there.

I think I get it. So I'm like, it's me not doing my actor homework. What's the biggest thing you learned about directing from those first three episodes? Just keeping it simple,

you know? Oh, Clint Eastwood style. Yeah. But even like, you know, it's kind of like, what's the emotion that you're trying to get and know what comes before and what comes after and not try and let people do their jobs.

You hired people for a reason. Yeah. On all counts. So it's let, tell the DP, you know, I kind of see it this way and I like this. And if it's not right, then say something. But don't micromanage. You know, people don't work well that way. And just honestly, it because it's my thing. And I just know this from working on other things is, if you're just kind of maintaining a cool attitude and being, you know,

in a good mood and kind of light that sets the tone for everything so if i seem calm everyone else will be calm even though everything's going to shit right you know um by the way this works in sports because you see this with coaches oh yeah especially in college basketball like there's coaches that they're panicking in the last four minutes it's like that's not helping your players no yeah um yeah poor bastard yeah he'll do that from time to time no it's like that's not helping your players no jump up harry um yeah poor bastard yeah he'll do that from time to time no it's like if you could just be calm and hang out because i always remember that as a pa as an actor and anything if you saw the director going like this you went oh we're fucked like what's happening why if he's freaked out then what's going on you know what

about matt and trey in the south park what'd you learn from those guys with this um the structure how does right in the writer's room so like alec berg and i you know we were the showrunners and so it was us and you know about you know four to five other writers and it was how to run a writer's room you know know, which is kind of a conversation between me and Alec and everybody else is kind of throwing in their two cents, you know. But that everything has to be kind of led by emotion. That was the thing I learned from Trey and Matt. So even if it was like, okay, Cartman has to like kill this guy and eat him or something, you know. It's like, what's his emotion?

What's he going through? You know, what's the relatable thing, you know. And everything has to be causal. That was a big thing with Trey and Matt, which was you can't say this happens. If you're outlining your show, your story, you can't go this happens and this happens and this happens. You have to say this happens, so therefore this happens.

So therefore this happens, but then this happens. So now therefore this happens. I went to dinner once with matt and trey and him and at some point you and uh and trey you started doing this improv voice like you you just went to some place and i was like i'm don't belong at this table it was like because he he he like loses it every once we both while. We both start acting crazy. And you're just like, all of a sudden, there was nine other people at the table, but there was really only four people there?

Yeah, we were just doing all these bits. We're having this whole group conversation. You should have seen when I was in the room when we came up with PC Principle, because that was me talking about something, and we just started going like, we were just like, it's like the frat, you know? Right.

And it was like, wee, wee. It was like, hey, that is not cool. You cannot, you know, we were just doing this thing, and then it became this character. But watching him do PC Principal made me laugh so hard. And any time they do, the hardest I laughed in that room was when we did this Canadian, any of the Canadian stuff made me laugh the hardest.

Right. It was a Canadian sex ed video. I don't know if you saw that episode, but it was like, if you're watching this video, that means you're going through puberty. He goes, you might be noticing differences in your body. For instance, when you fart, your dick gets hot.

He goes, here's how babies are born. It's like, the man takes out his penis. The woman has a vagina. Then she puts her vagina on the man's face and queefs. That's how babies are born. And it's like, the man takes out his penis. The woman has a vagina. Then she puts her vagina on the man's face and queefs. That's how babies are born. And then he goes, what? That's not how babies are born? Then why my wife queef in my face?

And we would do that for like five hours. Just walking around going, why my wife queef in my face? Hey, why'd you queef in my face? And then his wife would be like, I was just being silly. And we just do those voices. And Angarifino, the producer, just leaves. Because I'm just going to hear a queef in my face for the next five hours. Were you worried about those guys at all?

Because I did a pod with them last year when they were coming off the season when Trump got elected. Oh, yeah. And they were in a dark place when Trump got elected. Oh, yeah. And they were in a dark place with just how it all played out. Yeah, I was in the room after the election and it was just kind of like, God, what do you do? You have this guy in there.

What do you do? Did they have to scrap the show and redo it? I don't know about that. I just know that it was a bit like, you know, SNL is going, satire is just kind of hard i guess right now because you have you know it's it's a there's a whole thing called a hat on a hat which means you put a joke on a joke right i was the king of that like i would be like i'm doing peter falk teaching people how to do star wars impressions right and people are like no that's like a joke on another joke.

So doing satire on Trump is like a hat on a hat. It's like this joke on a joke. And so it's just difficult. Yeah, it seems like the best impressions are always like a piece of who you're making fun of,

but then like the distorted, crazy version of it. Yeah. And that's usually when it works the best. You know what's been fun? I think South Park and obviously SNL have done well. You know what else is good is The best. You know, it's been fun. I think South Park and obviously SNL

have done well. You know, also because The Onion has been really funny with Trump. They really make me laugh. The Mueller, the Robert Mueller,

they had one that was like, Robert Mueller eats, eats five chicken nuggets in one sitting to get into Trump's head. It's just Robert Mueller like looking at like,

it's like, it's like five 20-piece nuggets or whatever, just looking at this chicken nugget. And, oh, my God, that made me laugh. Quick break to talk about soothe. March Madness is coming. That means you're going to spend an insane amount of time watching TV on a sofa.

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If you busted your bracket, don't take it out on the TV. Keep calm with a Soothe Massage. Download Soothe, S-O-O-T-H-E, and enter the code Bill. That's my name, B-I-L-L, to get $25 off your first massage. Let's go back to me and Bill Hader, live, not really, from Austin, Texas. What did you learn from Apatow that you used for Barry? I think it was just that looseness and trying to find, and just letting things be, especially in the writer's room,

letting the emotion play the way it needs to go. Like not, again, it's kind of like not trying to micromanage stuff. For instance, there's a part in the movie or the show where Barry, this doesn't ruin too much, but Barry hooks up with somebody and he gives that person, he notices her laptop's broken and so he gives her a laptop the day after they sleep with each other. And I go, and the guys in the room, we were like, hey, that's a nice thing. You know, he gives her her laptop. And all the female writers were like, that's creepy as fuck. They were like, if I slept with a guy and he brought me a laptop i'd be like what is this

no and we went oh and then we had to rethink it and we were went oh no keep it that way actually that makes it really interesting okay no that's awesome you know it's it's like letting it be what it wants to be instead of like no i had this idea and so we have to keep it that way. You developed the show for a while. Yeah, I had a deal. How long was the process? I found out I had a deal on the set of Trainwreck. So I was on the set of Trainwreck, and my agent called me and said, hey. So that was like 2015.

2014. Yeah. Yeah, and then so we wrote it, pitched it, shot the pilot in 2016, shot the show in 2017. So the pilot that was the pilot I watched last night was a year earlier. Two years ago, yeah. Because I noticed your hair looked a little different in the second one. Yeah, fuck off, man.

It's a little bit different. Go fuck yourself. No, you know what it is, too, is there's a scene with me and Henry Winkler at the end where I'm talking to him and he's in his car yeah and that was my half was totally reshot so when you see him in the car that's 2016 and me is 2017 16 oh that's interesting yeah so what what was the biggest hurdle to get over in the development process nothing it was just you know h hpo just had a lot of shows so it it was just kind of like... Just waiting your turn. We just were waiting our turn. But it was...

And they were just cool. Like the fact that I came in and pitched the show with Alec and we just were talking, like I said, just talking about, yeah, it's like Travis Bickle. And you're talking about Taxi Driver and Unforgiven when you're pitching a 30-minute comedy. Most places would say leave. But they had seen me in this movie, The Skeleton Twins,

and they liked that. They liked the kind of... Yeah, the vibe of it. They liked me playing like a dramatic, a dramedy type thing. How many people in the room know what Henry Winkler is the most famous for, just out of curiosity? Man, guys. Because when I was a kid, Henry Winkler was... Sc famous for, just out of curiosity. Man. Because when I was a kid, Henry Winkler was... Scream.

Oh, fuck yourself. No, I forgot he was in Scream. When I was a kid, he was the most famous person in the world. In the world. I don't know if anybody realizes that he was the most famous person in the world. And the coolest person in the world, which seems improbable now. He was tall. Yeah, I know.

You meet him now and he's like, hello. Oh, my, that man stepped on me, you know? Right. But he's so sweet, and he's very, he's just a great guy, and he's very, he's just, on set, he's so great and gracious with the actors. You know, he always comes up to them and goes I saw what you did there

that was beautiful oh you know he's just a very sweet man cause when like I think about now if you ask somebody who's the coolest person

alive now you get 50 different choices right in 1977 I think anyone under 12 would be like the Fonz

without a doubt yeah even though I was born in 1978. Sorry, Bill, burn. No, I'm joking. I'm sorry I said fuck you to her, I said scream. I'm sorry. I'll give you some money.

I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I was looking at Wikipedia to see how many people watch Happy Days once, and it was like 35 million people per episode a couple years. We had like three channels back then. What the hell is happening? It's like Happy Days was a very important show,

and now there's content left and right. Well, if it wasn't for Peak TV, all the TV shows I'm involved with would not exist because all my stuff's so weird. It's like this, Documentary Now, they wouldn't exist without a ton of TV shows on it. Yeah, let's talk about Documentary Now. How many seasons are we up to? Well, we're talking about a third season right now.

What's your favorite one so far? Pick one. I like the Spalding Gray one we did because me and John Mulaney, the one where I was the monologist in the second season, I think because John Mulaney and I, we got this scheduling snafu happened where we had to make an episode.

We had to write and make an episode in like 48 hours. And we came up with that episode in 48 hours and did it. And 48 hours later, it was fully done. so a lot of the actors in that episode they auditioned and then immediately went to set and did their part so they're all a little like i just went in for an audition they're like you're great you need to go to this place right now and they went oh okay and so it was uh madness are you amused by what's happened with john Mulaney over the course of this decade?

I love it. Because when you invited me to an SNL show, it was like 2010, and he had written Stefan. Yeah, you were at the very first Stefan show. Yeah. And then he was like, that's the guy who wrote Stefan.

He's a great writer. He does stand-up too. And he was like, he was very mellow. And I'm like, oh, really? He's going to be a giant. I just was like, this guy's the funniest human being on the planet.

And then eight years later, he's co-hosting the Independent Spirit Awards. He just sold out Radio City Musical. Like for four days, right? Yeah, it was insane. He's one of the greatest guys in the world. How many people do you think write for that show that are thinking, this is my gateway to actually do this? I don't know.

And it's funny because I look back. Hannibal Buress wrote when I was there and, you know, a lot of people did. Just that J.B. Smoove wrote there. It's so weird. He was writing there, yeah. And he just made me laugh super hard and then we could never do his ideas. He also did a guy doing a drive-by in a snowstorm

where you go break yourself break yourself he would just do that in the writer's room and i'd be on the floor laughing i just kind of butchered it you could do it really well but have you noticed any trends in comedy that you don't like? I don't like? I don't know. I kind of, I don't watch. What?

People a little more tight? I don't know. I don't really, it's weird. I kind of, I don't pay attention to stuff as much as I should. You know, I like that show,

Nathan, for you. I thought that show was funny. Yeah, that's. Um, I like Detroiters. My friend,

Tim Robinson does that show. But yeah, I mean, Iroiters my friend tim robinson does that show but yeah i mean i don't really watch a lot or pay attention you still watch snl not really no i don't i i the music starts and i'll be like oh you're just yeah i just uh but i like i i watch clips you know but also i have like three little kids and i'm like now that person that's like asleep at 9 45 you know let's talk about everyone's leaving oh what have you learned from having three little kids oh man like uh it's a good comedy audience right yeah they'll laugh at anything as long as there's a fart joke or yeah joke or some go-to moves with kids. Yeah, but just farts, even when kids are just before they even know, like when they're just babies, they'll fart and start laughing.

So you're just like, oh, okay, so it's just there from the beginning. No, I love it. I mean, some of the stuff in Barry, I don't think Barry would be so kind of like emotional of a show or kind of examine this guy. You know, it's like you get older. You know, like when I was in my early 20s, we liked, you know, just really crazy punk rock humor and, you know, fucking with the form and all this stuff

and kind of crazy Zucker Brothers style stuff. And I still love that. It's not against that. But as you get older, you, you know, bad things happen to you or people you care about. And you start to have more empathy towards things. And you start kind of realizing things about yourself and things like that. And so you, it finds its way into your work, you know? And I think having children, and you know, you're like,

God, I gotta be alive for this thing, you know? And I've never loved anything as much as these three children. And I just, God, if anything happened to you guys, I don't know if what I'd do, you know, it's that you suddenly have these feelings. And so it was like, oh, that starts to end up in the show, whether you know it or not, because it's just who you are now.

The acting class is a good device for a TV show and a movie. Yeah. Because you can go a lot of ways, and there's a couple people in there who are always way too terrible. So you can have these moments. I always felt it was kind of underexploited. Yeah. It's also like therapy.

I don't know if anybody's ever been in an acting class but when you take acting classes people just really want to overshare like immediately right and for a guy who's like trying to hide his identity who murders people it's a funny position for him to be in because the minute you walk in people just kind of go hi my name's soand-so, and this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. So, yeah. Yeah, the... I don't know how long the acting class gimmick goes. Does it go through all the first season?

The part I was excited about was, obviously, they grabbed different movie speeches. You could have somebody doing Emilio Estevez's Breakfast Club monologue. Yeah, the problem we found out with that was that we went to all these acting classes in L.A. and they only do scenes from movies. Yeah. They don't do theater.

And we watched these guys do a scene from Training Day and a guy went, so I'm playing Denzel and he's going to play Ethan Hawke. And we were like, those aren't the characters' names. Those are the... Like the script doesn't say Denzel Washington, the actor, who I guess is also a crazy cop. You know, and, you know, you would watch, you know, that. But, yeah, it became really expensive.

Oh, do you have to get the rights? Yeah, it's like licensing a clip. Yeah, so I mean, we used a scene from Magnolia in the pilot kind of solely because it wasn't as expensive as the other one we had written. No offense to Magnolia. And I asked Sarah Goldberg, the actress, I said, what's a scene that people usually do?

And she goes, well, Julia Moore flipping out in the pharmacy in Magnolia. And I asked Sarah Goldberg, the actress, I said, what's a scene that people usually do? And she goes, well, Julia Moore flipping out in the pharmacy in Magnolia because it gives people a chance to have a breakdown and cry. What about James Gunn? Oh, man. I love James Gunn. Can you get the rights to James Gunn for a scene?

Would Barry do James Gunn? Is that what you're saying? Potentially. Somebody in the class could do it. I don't know. I'm basically setting... You want me to do James Gunn right now? It's his favorite thing I do. It really is.

You know who that is? That's the bad guy from Silence of the Lambs. And we did a sketch once on the show that never made it. I didn't do it. It was a Jamie Gunn talk show. Hey, how you doing? It's the Jamie Gumm Cosplay. The thing was that he was so

chill and kind of a great dude. Like, the joke was that the guests were kind of freaked out, but he was just like, and then, how'd that go, man? Was that fun? And they were like, yeah, no, I did that. like, and then, how'd that go, man? Was that fun? And they were like, yeah, no, I did that. And it's like,

hey, that's cool. I love that movie. Like, he wasn't creepy at all. And then his co-host was the girl in the well, so it was just a shot of the well with a voice. Like, our first guest is, and it was just a shot of a well. And yeah, that was deemed weird. I also did a Chris Hansen one.

That one got on to John and Sally Raystrow, where it was Chris Hansen talk show, you know, the guy to catch a predator guy? Yeah. And it was like a Conan, you know, Conan like late night talk show set. But in our first guest, Philip Seymour Hoffman

and Sudeikis comes out as Philip Seymour Hoffman, but there's no host there. And he walks in and no one's there. And there's a plate of cookies on the desk. And he goes there and get a plate of cookies and it cuts that high wide shot

like in the Catch a Predator. And he eats the cookies and I would come out as Chris Hansen. I'm like, can I get you a glass of milk? No, no, no. We're just going to talk. So what are you here for? I'm promoting a movie.

Oh, you made a movie. What's the movie about? That was one of my favorite. Can I get you a glass of milk? That was one of my favorite. What was the guy, the guy Keith from NBC? Oh, Keith Morrison. Yeah, he's my favorite guy.

You kind of ruined that guy a little bit. Because he's still on TV, and every time I see him, I think of your impression of him. Yeah, the sing-song kind of like, oh, no. Yeah, we used to do a thing. He goes, one time he went, but then there was that DNA. Oh, that pesky DNA. Like, you got to know, you're just like,

and these are people who lost loved ones. Like, you imagine them wanting, like, that's my dad you're talking about. One time he said, this woman was like, my husband went missing, and they found his car out in the woods, and they found his car out in the woods, and they popped the trunk, and they looked, and he was inside. And Keith Morrison said, was he all right?

He's like, no, he wasn't all right. He was dead. He goes, oh, no, that's true. Was there anyone from the last five years that you're like, shit, I wish I was still on SNL? Oh, yeah, I'm sure. That could be a wheelhouse. Oh, man, I don't know.

Break it out next week. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, there's always somebody that we kind of, I don't know. It's always week by week, maybe. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, there's always somebody that we kind of, I don't know. It's always week by week, too. I mean, it's never like a, I rarely would, you would rarely hold on to a thing. Anytime you would try to pre-plan, like even right now, people are like, oh, what are you going to do? I'm like, I don't know.

You know, I mean, you show up and, you know, I always knew as a cast member, you kind of didn't like it when someone showed up with like an arsenal of stuff and they're like, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. And then this person's coming in and you, as a cast member, you go, well, I'll be over here, you know, and you just kind of not do anything. So I kind of like the sensibility of the show is different from when I was on. And that's cool. It's like a different comedic sensibility of the show's different from when I was on and that's cool it's like a different comedic sensibility so you kind of want to just fit in there and go with them you know what was the runner-up title for Barry what was your second choice what was the one you really wanted but there

wasn't one it was Mike Lombardo and the medium was like oh you should call it Barry and that was it I don't think about this shit man I just kind just kind of was like, oh, that's cool. Right on. And they're like, that might be a dumb title. And I'm like, oh, it is? Okay. Well, do you want to do another one? No?

Okay. And they just gave me a show. I mean, I'm an idiot. They were like, is it about Barack Obama? And I'm like, no. We're going to take some questions. We have the microphone? Uh-oh.

Yeah, this could get lively quickly. Raise your hand if you have a question. Nobody has a question? There's one in the back. You guys can ask us anything. Yeah, seriously. We're right here. Hey, so my name's John Mark Junkins.

Daniel Day-Lewis famously gets into Method and does a lot of crazy stuff for his roles. What's the weirdest thing LeBron James did for Trump? Oh. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. LeBron was awesome.

He was so laid back. I mean, he just was kind of chill and just hanging out. And he loved the idea that he was cheap. I go, what if you were cheap? he goes what do you mean like we're sitting there shooting the scene i go what if it was just like you were cheap like you split the check and he he just started laughing he was like yeah yeah yeah let's do that like you could just say shit to him and and he would just go for it. And when we do this scene, we're playing one-on-one. Chris Rock was on set, so Chris Rock was shouting out shit for him to say. Like, his whole thing about, like, then you'll meet her, and then you'll buy her a nail salon, and you'll do that.

Like, oh, that's Chris Rock. And that was nerve-wracking, man, having to play basketball with LeBron James. I didn't... You guys still hang out? No. I mean, I got to go to Akron, and we went to Akron, and, you know, he's like the king of that place. Well, he's the king, I guess, you know, but we went to Akron

and walked around and went to his favorite burger place. But he knew you were a Thunder fan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's probably kept his distance with you. But he knew you were a Thunder fan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's probably kept his distance with you. Yeah, he didn't give a shit. He's like, well, we beat him, so I don't give a fuck. That's true. But he was very sweet and very cool.

And there was one moment we were in Akron, we were just hanging out with his friends, because his best friends are his friends from high school. I mean, that's who he hangs out with. And there was this moment where we're all hanging out and his wife was like, hey, do you want to get another speaker and we'll have a little dance party here

at this after party that we had for Trainwreck? And he was like, okay. And then the guys were like, hey, LeBron, can you also pick up this and this and this? And he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Wait, what do I have to get again? And it was just like, you know, anybody. I was like, pick this up, pick up that,

and they were calling him and making him do all these runs. So he showed up with like a speaker, but also like, you know, soda and this and that and some aspirin for this guy or whatever. What else do we have? Anybody out there? No one gives a shit. Any questions? I know. When Stefan got popular,

was there ever a consideration of a Stefan movie? And did you ever brainstorm any ideas for one? No, me and John Mulaney, they talked to us about it. And then John and I were kind of not really into the idea, I think. Who's they? Like Paramount and stuff.

And not like, they didn't say, we want to make one and Lorne Michaels wasn't like you have to make one it was kind of like if you wanted to make one I'm sure we could do that and you know what do you guys think and we I remember I was just like it didn't work as a sketch

yeah that's why it's on update because the sketch made no sense so I don't know how you make a movie out of that and the reason people like it is because John makes me laugh during it That's why it's on update, because the sketch made no sense. Yeah. So I don't know how you make a movie out of that. And the reason people like it is because John makes me laugh during it. What was the funniest thing he put into the card that you didn't know was coming? Because there was one time that he destroyed you.

Oh, when he's a Jewish Dracula was the one that destroyed me. When he said, you know, this is Blackula, the Black Dracula. Well, you know they have a Jewish Dracula was the one that destroyed me. And he said, you know, this is Blackula, the Black Dracula. Well, you know they have a Jewish Dracula. And Seth Meyers knew what the thing was by then. And he said, oh, what is it? What's his name? And I said, Sidney Applebaum. And I laughed for like 20 minutes.

And then one time he put Spud Webb in all the clubs and didn't tell me. Yeah. And then the last time he put Dan Cortez in all the clubs and didn't tell me. Yeah. And then the last time he put Dan Cortez in all the clubs and he didn't tell me. And one time he said a kid had knees like biscuits. So you're reading the cue cards and you have no idea he stuck these in. No, and the thing flips over and it says he has knees like biscuits. And I just went. And the funny thing is, like, as I'm walking out there, people are laughing, the cue card guys are laughing,

everyone is laughing. That's what no one sees, is that everyone's laughing. People on the other side of the cue card's laughing. You know, but whatever. Sandberg's like, it's an act. What else, we have anybody else up there? We have a hand up here. Hi.

Who is your all-time favorite character from SNL that you didn't play? Oh. They didn't play? Interesting. Probably Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Phil Hartman. And I love deep thoughts, whereas Alec Berg and I actually were just doing a bit of deep thoughts.

We were texting because they put us apart, and so we were texting deep thoughts to each other. And he said, I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they don't want anybody walking in and lying down in the crash stuff then when somebody comes up act like they just woke up and go what was that I mean those are the funniest. Free Dummy was our favorite one,

which is if you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go limp like a dummy and someone will catch you. Because, hey, free dummy. But Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer was the hardest. That was the thing that unlocked my brain in some way of what you could do in sketch comedy where it was this weird combination of a weird concept idea, but it also had a great performance

by Phil Hartman in it. Good theme song. Yeah. Everything. They probably only did like three. Yeah. They only made a couple. He's like,

your world frightens and confuses me. All that shit just made me laugh. Anybody else? Oh. And there's someone over there, too. Hey, down here. I was wondering what the first idea you pitched when you started SNL.

Oh, the very first pitch meeting, very first thing, I pitched to Steve Carell that he would play Bobby Flay in Iron Chef and that he would get electrocuted. Because I worked as an assistantay in Iron Chef and that he would get electrocuted. Because I worked as an assistant editor on Iron Chef and Bobby Flay got electrocuted.

And it was my favorite piece of footage because he grabs a thing, he grabs this thing and he just goes, boop! And he just drops. He's like doing all this stuff and he just goes, boop! Like one of those things where you're like he probably shit himself

like it was just and we were like did you see this? and we just kept playing it over and over again and slowing it down and like we were like oh man

he was like oh yeah who else is out there this one I have a question who are you most intimidated by like doesn't have to be a famous person

even but like who in your life are you most intimidated by that's an interesting question I don't know it's interesting I still have the kind of relationship and they're wonderful, very warm people.

But like when you were a freshman, how you always think the seniors, you're always kind of intimidated by the seniors. So anytime I see Tina Fey or Amy Poehler or Seth Meyers or, you know, Fred even to an extent, I'm always like, can I get that for you? Can I, you know. They're always, you know.

You're like the rookie. I'm always the rookie around those guys. If we're around Steve Martin and Marty Short, I'm more comfortable around them

than I am if Tina Fey's there. I'm always like, oh, was that funny? And I want to make it very clear, they're not that way to me. They're just normal,

nice people. It's my own... I'm just a rookie to them. You said the scene in Barry when he leaves the acting class and goes to get beers and he's super uncomfortable around them

was based on you and Amy and Tina, right? Well, me going to a bar and you would go to a bar with all these people, like Parnell. Same thing with Parnell, Rachel Dratch, any of those people, Daryl Hammond. Anytime I see any of them, I'm so kind of immediately a freshman. And, yeah, I just so badly wanted to fit in there you know and they were perfectly nice to me I just was so uncomfortable um and also to be honest my eight-year-old daughter I'm super intimidated by her she's just way too smart anybody else a couple this person's been super, super...

Well, first you owe me money. Okay, give her the microphone back. I fucking help you out. You throw it in my face. Give her the fucking money. Do you prefer drama or comedy? I kind of like them both, you know? I never see it that way, drama or comedy. I kind of like them both, you know? I never see it that way, drama or comedy.

I kind of just see it as a story, you know? And you kind of, you do the story and sometimes it's funny or sometimes it's dramatic. I kind of feel like if something's all of one and I don't enjoy it as much, you know? I kind of like a combination, you know? Because I just kind of feel like that's how, when you're trying to figure out the truth of a thing, you know, like there's, I've been in very awful situations

where something really funny happens, you know what I mean? I think we all have, or you're in a funny thing, and then suddenly something really terrible happens, and everyone, now you're in a new mode, you know, it's, those are the parts in life i think i'm the most interested in and those are the kind of books i like i like you know george saunders is a writer he's so beautiful at doing that stuff you know of writing these stories that are that'll um that ride that so well tobias wolf's another guy i really like and so anyway And you're getting no money. Oh, wait, come. This guy. Oh, wait, was it him?

Yeah. Oh. Fuck you, dude. No, give it, you can give it to him after. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I can only,

I can't see over there. Yeah, it's hard to see. So I was just wondering, like as a dad, how do you, how do you give your kids perspective about you being famous and like that not everyone's dad is famous what they don't give a shit i mean they really don't

care how do you like expose them well they'll see the billboards of me up on the in in la right now there's like the there's like these giant billboards of me everywhere and they're just like and I go and my five-year-old I'm like hey look at that bill there's your dad you know and she goes get over yourself and then I took him to go see uh Finding Dory okay so they saw me in Clive a Chance of Meatballs and I'm like that's dad and they went we don't want to watch this movie anymore. And then I took them to go see Finding Dory, and I'm in the very beginning of that movie, and my voice, my five-year-old just stood up

and walked out of the theater. And I went out, and she was kind of like, like, dude, you should tell me you're in this thing. You can't just spring that on me while we're in the theater. But I kind of get it. Like, if my dad showed up in the Millennium Falcon I'd be fucking terrified yeah it's like hey Chewy Han Bill Senior how are you hey guys whoa whoa I don't want to get in the way here I know you guys are doing stuff but

Bill Senior I'll be over here you know that'd be terrible so yeah they don't they could give a shit and like their friends will be like oh i saw your dad in a thing and they're like okay i when they get older they get they actually get legit mean yeah my 12 year old daughter is like just so throw a barber once just cut your soul no it really does really does. Yeah, it's hilarious. Shut up, Dad. You don't even play basketball anymore. You're like, hey. Oh, Jesus.

Shut up. Well, you're dumb. You know, no, I don't know. Yeah, you can't really fire back at your kids. You can't. No, my five-year-old, the oldest got her, the tooth fairy came, and the eight-year-old got her, the tooth fairy came, and the eight-year-old got her, the tooth fairy came, and then I go, hey, you know, tooth fairy came last night,

and the five-year-old went, wait, someone was in her house? I was like, yeah, no, the tooth fairy came, and she's like, so someone's just in a house while I'm sleeping. I'm like, I'm on the bottom bunk, and she's on the top bunk, and you guys are just cool with that. Like, that's fucking weird. They're just not into it. And I try to get them to watch stuff.

I try to get them to watch the Goonies, and they were like, this looks old. And they just want to watch, like, these mermaid shows on Netflix, where it's, like, from to watch, like, these mermaid shows on Netflix where it's, like, from Australia that's like, we've got to get back to the water. The time's almost up. You know, like, these things.

And I'm like... None of them are in the YouTube stage yet, right? No, but they did watch... That's a dark stage. Some kid showed him Stefan, my oldest daughter Stefan, and she was like, these kids at school showed me this thing where you're covering your mouth. And I was like, yeah, it's a character I play called Stefan. And she went, all right.

And the other guy, that's your boyfriend? And I went, yeah, that's my boyfriend. And she went, all right, well, that's cool. And I was like, so what's the story with you guys? I was like, well, he's the guy in the news, and I'm supposed to do this. And then she goes, and then you guys became a couple? And I was like, yes, we actually got married.

And she was like, oh, that's cool. Well, all right. Yeah, it was just a normal conversation. Anybody else out there? Oh, that dude. Oh, yeah, that guy. He's been waiting. Were there any non-comedic hosts on SNL

that you thought would have made great writers full time? Oh, Jon Hamm was really funny when Jon Hamm would host, we always were like wow, geez, Jon's really funny Bieber Fuck Bieber

I was my least favorite host was Justin Bieber. And I have no, I'm, I don't talk shit about anybody publicly ever except Justin Bieber. He was such a, he was, he's very rude to people. I think he's in a better place now. I hope so. Cause when he hosted, he was, I just was like, why is he being so rude to people? Let me try to think. Ham. Who? Oh, well, Justin Timberlake.

Yeah, he was really funny. And Timberlake would just show up with nobody. These people would show up with like tons. That was the thing with Bieber, had like a giant entourage with him. Yeah. He had more people than Obama when Obama came. Like he had more. And remember one time he didn't like,

he had like a guy who held his pizza and he had a guy that held like a Diet Coke and all that stuff. And at one point he didn't like the, because you have to do a quick change. And this Donna would, she would do a quick change where she takes your, you know, changes you to the next costume. You got like 30 seconds.

And Justin was like, I don't like you touching me what are you doing like he didn't like her grabbing him or whatever and the guy who held the pizza and he went justin justin she's just trying to change y'all clothes the entourage thing is funny though Because I Like when people come over To do podcasts with me It's always funny Who just shows up solo Like Kurt Russell was like The best dude ever

By himself He's like I'm just here He smelled the cigarettes It was 10 in the morning Yeah It was like everything I wanted From Kurt Russell Man Kurt Russell

I saw him at a Christmas party And fully just geeked out I was like dude the thing Is like one of my favorite movies. And he was like, oh, man, I want to tell you some shit about that. And he just started telling me Thing stories. And J.J. Abrams was there. I'm doing so many name drops, sorry.

But then J.J. Abrams just came over and was like, wait, what? And we both were like, he was just telling us Thing stories. And we were like, ah. It was rad. But, yeah, Timberlake just shows up by himself and can kind of just do anything, and you throw anything at him and he can do it. The people that come in by themselves and just try to fit in are always the heroes.

Yeah, they kind of are the ones that you kind of feel really like, oh, they get it, you know? Franco was kind of that way. Anne Hathaway was that way a bit. Scarlett Johansson was that way. Scarlett Johansson would just be hanging out and be like, what do you guys want me to do? Okay.

Anyone else out there or should we wrap it up? Let's see. Oh, you got one more? All right, let's take one more. Any good Amy Schumer stories from shooting Trainwreck? No, I mean, we just, I mean, yeah, I mean, it was like the longest tour of our lives. Like, we just, we went to Australia, we went to, we went everywhere. The thing I think that Amy did was the first time I met her and her sister,

I auditioned for the movie, and then we went to the Girls 3 premiere party in New York. And we watched the show, and we're sitting there, and Amy and I are kind of chatting, and she's like, so... Basically, it was like I'd done my callback, and it was

essentially like, I think I got the movie. You know, Judd Apatow made us go have a date together, and he watched us. Seriously? Yeah, it was awful. Was he like the waiter? No, he was like, why hello.

So, what are you guys doing? Specials today? And that became a Netflix special. Yeah, there was. But no, he said, you know, he said, I want to see how you guys interact with each other. So he took us to this restaurant and made us, like, just talk to each other, and we were just looking.

And he's just sitting there looking at us while we ate and kind of just looked at him, and it was so bizarre. I hope he doesn't do that with his daughters. Yeah, that'd be weird yeah but amy and i so we kind of was like i think i got the part i was feeling like i did but i hadn't officially gotten so we were chatting and it was a really nice thing we had this really awesome kind of getting to know you talk and then when i went up to put on my um coat i felt like my coat was really heavy and I didn't know why.

And then when I walked out, I realized she and her sister had put all the silverware in my coat. So I got caught. I was trying to steal all the silverware. They played a practical joke on me. It was really funny. We're wrapping this up. Check out Baird.

It's really good. And I think it's a fun little next step for you. Yeah, thanks, man. Yeah, it's really good. Thanks, guys. Thanks for coming out. Really appreciate it. All right, that's it.

Thanks to Bill Hader and thanks to everybody at Vox for setting that up. Thanks to ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. My listeners can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com. Thanks to OneShiny Podcast. Don't forget to download them this week and watch all the stuff they do at Ringer on Instagram, on Twitter, and a whole bunch of other places. Thanks to ZipRecruiter. Later in the week with two podcasts and also shoot mention.

The rewatchable is coming back this week. We did Creed and it's almost two hours and it's really good. It goes in a lot of directions. So I think we're putting that up on Tuesday. Be ready for that one. Thanks for listening. I don't want to see them on the way so I never say I don't have feelings with them. On the wayside, on the way so I never say I don't have feelings with them.