Bill Hader Leaving 'SNL' After Eight Years on the Comedy Sketch Show
Saturday Night Live cast member Bill Hader will leave the long-running sketch comedy show after eight years, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The actor is known for playing the Weekend Update sketch as correspondent Stefon, who always knew what New York's hottest club were and all the weird characters therein. Hader also was famous for his impressions of James Carville, Vincent Price and Julian Assange.
"It was a hard decision, but it has to happen at some point," Hader told the newspaper in a recent interview. "It got to a point where I said, 'Maybe it’s just time to go.'"
Hader has previously appeared in the films Superbad, Tropic Thunder and Men In Black 3, and recently appeared on The Mindy Project and fellow cast member Fred Armisen's IFC show Portlandia. The To Do List, co-starring Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat and Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza, is among his recently completed projects.
Hader was also nominated for an Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2012.
Lorne Michaels, Saturday Night Live's longtime executive producer, said that even from the first performance he saw, the actor was reminiscent of SNL alum Dan Aykroyd.
"In terms of intelligence and talent, he was in that same tradition," Michaels told the newspaper in a telephone interview. "He was so completely committed to the art of it and enough a student of it that there's something strikingly original. He didn't explode onto the air, but gradually he found his voice, and that became a huge thing."
Saturday Night Live recently lost head writer Seth Meyers, who will take over Late Night from current Jimmy Fallon.
At the end of last season, cast members Kristin Wiig and Andy Samberg left the show. Jason Sudeikis was also rumored to be leaving last year, but currently remains on the show.
