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Bill Hader was an actor most people saw as a quirky goofball, relegated to a comedy specific career. After he left Saturday Night Live, many thought Bill Hader would follow a similar career path of Andy Samberg or Will Ferrel. Though his turn as Barry in the HBO backed series, proved that Bill Hader had more than comedic talent. Barry proved to audiences that Bill Hader was a real actor, with range and intensity. Though one moment in Barry was the focal point of Bill Hader proving he was a serious actor.
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New York's hottest club is spicy
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This is Bill Hader. From the incredibly odd short film that started his career
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to the stint on SNL that cemented it, Bill Hader has always been associated with comedy
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He has a keen understanding of what makes people laugh, and he has used that Hollywood superpower
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to great success over the years. I need you morons to work eight times harder
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than you've ever worked in your entire life! I'm having a heart attack
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Get back to work. Essentially, Hader created an image for himself as a light-hearted and hilarious everyman
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So it came as a surprise to us all when we found out that he is also capable of so much more
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It's a job, you know, the money's good, and these people I take out, like, they're bad people
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Oh, and prepare for major spoilers for the first season of Barry. When Barry was first being marketed in 2018, most of the trailers made it seem like a pretty standard fit for Bill Hader
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who is also the co-creator alongside Silicon Valley producer Alec Berg. The music was bouncy and the clips were cut together to make everything feel comedic and snappy
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I just saw you go to a place tonight I have never seen before
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Okay, I see you're still in that place. I'm going to leave you in your process
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The only difference here seemed to be the premise. Hater would be playing a hitman looking for purpose in a washed-up star's acting class
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The hook of a tall, gawky Bill Hader playing a role typically reserved for muscle-bound leading men was more than enough to draw an audience
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And once we sat down to watch the first season, it became clear that Barry was much more than what the marketing materials would have you believe
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The black comedy drama was weighed down by tragedy and hyperviolence, but provided plenty of levity between its harrowing story beats
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Hader's award-winning performance as the titular hitman-turned-actor is commendable across all four seasons of Barry
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Through several impressive monologues, quiet moments, and explosive scenes, he shows us that he much more than a guy on SNL or a funny voice for an animated character He an actor with an impressive range of talent that crosses genre boundaries You do whatever it is you good at because this is not it
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You want to know what I'm good at? I'm good at killing people
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But there was one specific moment in Barry that stands out, one where we had no choice but to take Bill Hader seriously
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and it shows up on Shakespeare night in the seventh episode of the first season
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Loud, fast, and keep going doesn't seem too out of the ordinary on its surface
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There's the fallout of the poorly planned attack on the Bolivian gang, Barry murdering his friend, and the definitely equally high stakes of an acting showcase
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This is fairly familiar territory for the show as Barry struggles to break free of the criminal
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underground and live out his more legitimate and less murdery dreams. But episode seven takes things to a new extreme
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We're Marines, you know? We're, we're, they're criminals. What do you think we were doing out there
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What do you think I do for a living, Chris? After an already chilling scene in which Barry shoots Chris in an attempt to maintain his cover
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he goes directly to Gusino's class. While Barry only has to deliver a single line during Sally's monologue
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his less-than-stellar acting abilities have everyone around him doubting whether he can pull it off
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Barry, however, has other things on his mind. In a behind-the-scenes interview with HBO
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Hayter confirms that Chris's character was essentially just a representation of who Barry wanted to be
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When he decided to kill Chris, he was also symbolically killing the part of himself
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that could imagine being a wholesome husband and father. I didn't want to kill a Marine. I'm not going to kill a Marine
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And because of that, now he has to kill the Marine. So in Barry's mind, this act of murder he has committed is doubly grievous
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And Hayter brilliantly puts that turmoil on display. While waiting in the wings, Barry strips off the old military uniform costume Sally puts
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him in. He's sweating and slowly falls to pieces as images of Chris and his young family flash
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in his mind and on screen. You can see the pain in his expression as he tries to force out the intrusive thoughts but they just keep coming while Sally bombs on stage Initially it seems like Barry will miss his cue and leave Sally standing up on stage completely on her own
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But from out of the darkness, he appears. Sobbing and barely holding it together
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he delivers his line. The Lord. The Queen is dead. The crowd perks up
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perceiving what they believe to be the first solid performance of the night
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He exits. allowing Sally to finish her monologue with renewed sincerity and receive a standing ovation
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It's a powerful moment made all the more intense by the fact that we've never seen Barry cry before
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Actually, we have never seen Bill Hader have that kind of emotional reaction on screen before
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As he told Entertainment Weekly, Those other more seasoned actors were like, oh, you're fine
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I can do that like this. But for me, I had never really done anything like that
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In previous episodes, we had seen Hater fly into horrifying rage or make genuinely moving speeches
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But one thing we hadn't seen up to that point was a true emotional meltdown
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So his crying on stage felt different. It felt vulnerable and agonizing and more than a little uncomfortable
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And we don't get time to sit with those feelings because Shakespeare night isn't over
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After Sally's standing ovation, we follow Barry deeper into the community center as he continues to struggle
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Kusino comes in to congratulate him on his performance, and Barry only breaks down further
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Unlike the quieter and more intimate moment on stage, this outburst isn't completely unexpected, though
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It's just as effective. Henry Winkler plays the moment with the perfect amount of humor
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You know, I have a few notes. They can wait till Monday
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But we're still left feeling viscerally uneasy as an audience, as we watch Barry push through his pain
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Even though this man is directly responsible for the death of a good friend, We feel for him
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When he emerges from the rec room to stand totally alone in a room full of people
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it's heartbreaking. And when Sally confronts him to tell him he's a real actor
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Barry's response is even more of a gut punch. That was acting Barry You were a real actor I am Yes There desperation in Hayter tone here and an almost childlike gratification upon hearing Sally praise
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She leaves on the tragic and hilarious advice. Whatever you did tonight to get to that place, that's your new process, okay
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All you have to do is do that every time. Barry once again finds himself alone
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He stands center stage, and after a moment of contemplation, his bewildered face changes
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and we're left with a more ambiguous yet solidified expression. And then the episode ends
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Because of his inner conflict, we as an audience don't know what Barry is thinking at that moment
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He's more of a wild card now than ever before. It sets up the final episode of the season perfectly
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and that conflict only escalates through the rest of the show. But it all starts here
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And Barry is the one responsible for stirring up all these feelings
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So this is the part where we remind you that up to this point in his career
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Bill Hader was best known for doing stuff like this. I'm a first-time caller, so I don't know if anyone has ever mentioned this
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but that guy Greg is an alien, right? Greg is not an alien. It's easy to demiss comedic actors as shallow, low-brow performers
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that are only good for a laugh, especially when the person in question is Stefan
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Well, they have a Jewish Dracula. Oh, what's his name? Sidney Applebaum
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With Barry, Hader didn't just do a surprisingly good job. He, along with Alec Berg, created a character and TV show
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that was meant to showcase his heretofore unknown acting abilities. Chances are, nobody else would have given him the chance, so he did it himself
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Through that drive and creative ambition, he fundamentally changed our perspective on who he is as an actor
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Not only that, but he likely altered his career trajectory for the rest of his life
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He shattered his SNL image with a single on-screen meltdown and pulled double duty as a comedic powerhouse and a tortured veteran
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Luckily for us, Hater has gone on record to say he's only interested in making weird things moving forward
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That means we'll get to enjoy more of his writing and acting talents as time goes on
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But for now, we'll just keep rewatching Barry