Bill Hader Interview – The Star on Barry Season 3: ‘He’s Smitten’

[Editor’s note: To mark the return of one of television’s best shows—that’s BarrySeason 3, which begins airing Sunday, April 24—AVClub Rolling out a different piece of content around the series over the next seven days. To start things off, we sat down with the same man, Bill Hader.]

It’s been three agonizing years since Barry Berkman took on Burmese and Bolivian Chechen gangs – and won – on a jaw-dropping killing spree that ended with an incredible second season for HBO. Barry.

After not too long “berkman > block” Aired on May 19, 2019, co-star and co-star Bill Hader received an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series while the show received four more nominations. Then, Hader and co-creator Alec Berg embarked on Season 3 with big plans (and just the same amount of pressure) to answer the question at every turn. Fan Mind: What will Barry do now that Henry Winkler’s Gene Couisneau knows who killed Janice?

Cut on a rumble in 2022, and chat about it Barry With AV . Club click zoom. The demand for his program (and the answers to his most pressing questions) He’s still on a fever pitch, but fans haven’t been with Barry in a minute – and the world he’s back in is completely different.

In our conversation, roar collapsed rewriting, reshooting, and finally back to Barryplus what to expect for the miserable, heart-breaking killer and season three that Hadeer is eager to watch.

Watch parts of our conversation with Bill Hader below, or read Turned on for full chat.

AV Club: So Barry Season 2 ended in May 2019. You are now returning for Season 3 in April 2022. What did you miss the most about working on your show?

Bill Hader: It’s probably the people who are out there, the crew and the crew and being with those people every single day. This was really something I missed the most if I’m honest. I didn’t miss the hours of filming. [Laughs.] But yeah, it probably is – it was great to see everyone and to have that kind of camaraderie again. It’s a nice family.

AVC: When we last left Barry, he was in a difficult situation – to put it mildly. How did you deal with writing and returning to a character who was left on edge for so long?

BH: Well we tend to write ourselves in the corners so we had no idea how to get out of that. So I remember the first day of writing season three, which was in October of 2019, we were saying, “That’s how Couisneau teaches. Shit. What do we do?” So we really had to try to figure it out.

AVC: Henry Winkler said the script has changed dramatically from what you had in 2019 to what you have now. What can you say about this rewriting process and how the departure from that angle has evolved over time?

BH: So much of it was that we started talking about season four and what season four would be. Then when we were talking about it, it made us go back to season three and change a bunch of things. Because we’re like, “Oh, if we’re going to go here, then maybe it’s better to set this up that way.” you know? So we were going through this process and then while doing that there were more and more things [we wanted to change].

Usually, you just want to go deeper. You should go, “Is this interesting? Is that really what this is?” and then you try to dig deeper into it. Then she shoots and thinks, “We got it!” And then you show it to people and then you say, “Oh, we didn’t get it.” We had to go back and reshoot some things and go even in Go deeper and try to make it as honest and truthful as possible.

AVC: At the end of season two, Barry dealt with finding he couldn’t really change. How do you make the lack of change compelling as a narrator?

BH: We always said it was like [Barry] He was an alcoholic and at the start of the season, he said “I won’t drink anymore.” And then, he doesn’t drink all season, but he wants to and the universe keeps putting things in front of him that make him want to drink. Then in the last episode, he goes on a bender. So it’s kind of trying to make these comparisons in the real world or the emotional comparisons to this spiraling crazy thing to the guy who’s a killer.

I think the third season is learning there [consequences]. Barry does many things where he does not feel that there are consequences to it. It’s pretty awful for the people he loves this season. When he stands facing a wall, he does not think about his anger and anger. Now, he learns that there are consequences to all of that.

AVC: Episode 1 of Season 3, Forgiving Jeff. Why is the season so focused on tolerance? Barry as a show?

BH: It kind of happened naturally. We were writing it, going scene after scene for what [Barry] passes through. Then the idea of ​​redemption and tolerance and these real things started to climb to the top. That was a lot of this rewriting process. It was like, ‘While these things are here, shall we explore it [deeply enough]? Ideas of “forgiveness to be won” and all that – that came during the rewriting process.

AVC: in file 2019 Emmy Acceptance Letterspoke at length about the process of cooperation and friendship with Barry Co-creator Alec Berg. How did your relationship change between seasons 2 and 3?

BH: It hasn’t changed much. The most important thing is that when we started, I had no idea what I was doing. It was like my older brother, he said, “I ran Silicon Valley And curb your enthusiasm And all of that.” He was really helping me and then I think during the second season, specifically with that “Ronnie/Lily” episode, he was really encouraging and was kind of going, “Yeah, start that!”

So it’s more of him telling me, “Yeah, run with that idea.” He’s this wonderful kind of collaborator – like – coach. I directed five episodes this season, so I directed the bulk of it. It was really cool and kind of relaxing.

AVC: Do you have an episode you’re most proud of this season?

BH: Oh, I really love them all. I’ll say the last episode I really liked – but I’m interested to see what people think. [Laughs.] She’s beautiful…yes. I don’t know. I don’t know what people will think. But I like it.

AVC: Now, I’m going to walk you through some quick questions. What is your favorite line that your character says?

BH: In the first season, where he says, “That’s toxic manhood” to Foch, he clearly doesn’t know what that means.

AVC: Have you ever taken a souvenir from the group?

BH: my shoes! the shoes. I have like nine husbands in my house. But it’s not like a keepsake. I’m lazy and wear it at home. I wear my wardrobe a lot because I direct and we’ll be in one location and the trailers elsewhere. And I’m like, “Oh, I’m going home in my costume.” Then [the wardrobe department] Always, “Can you take him back to work tomorrow?” And I say, “Sure.” Then, I bring up and say, “I forgot.” [Laughs.] So I have a lot of Barry Only clothes in my wardrobe. And yes, I have to put that back to work.

AVC: Description Barry Season three in just one word.

BH: [Laughs] The first word that came to my mind was “fucked”. [Laughs] Yes… I’ve fucked.