Bill Hader: The Star Wars movie was like winning a race

April 30, 2023

The “Barry” star thinks his role may have just been a favor from JJ Abrams, but admits it’s “really cool to see his name in blue at the end.”

Bill Hader is running really well right now. The fourth and final season of “Barry,” of which he directed all eight episodes, is receiving strong reviews and delighting audiences with unexpected episodes. In addition, he also makes a scene-stealing appearance as a nervous delivery driver who stumbles over some very bad news in Ari Aster’s acclaimed “Beau Is Afraid.”

Of course, it is nothing new for Hader to lend his voice to a small part of a big film. Along with Ben Schwartz, he was also credited as a vocal consultant for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” helping voice the orb droid BB-8. In a new interview The independentHader recalled his experiences working in a galaxy far, far away.

“My kids love ‘Star Wars,’ and I really loved it when I was young,” he said, adding that he spent a lot of time playing with the Millennium Falcon as a child. “I was flying it around my house… I caught the edge of a wall and it bounced back and hit me in the face. He knocked out his teeth!”

Hader said he believes his smaller role in the beloved franchise had more to do with JJ Abrams giving him a solid performance than his actual skills. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t excited about the opportunity.

“I mean, that’s weird.” Only JJ Abrams was a nice guy. It was like doing it for someone who won a race,” he said. “But it’s great to see his name in blue at the end.”

Hader hasn’t made many genre films outside of the “Star Wars” franchise, but that could change in a big way soon. He recently revealed that he is developing three feature films and may direct and star in a horror film as his next project.

“I would star in the horror movie. I wouldn’t be in the other two right now,” he said. “But I’ve done that before when I talk about things, and then as soon as it turns out, you’re almost completely confused.” So, we’ll see. It’s always the thing you focus on, the thing that’s going well, and then this thing here that you’re half thinking about, that’s what (takes off). I mean, that’s what happened to ‘Barry’.

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