Bill Hader is one of the funniest actors of the modern day.

He can quite literally do anything. He slayed as a straight man in Trainwreck. He dominated as a city-knowlege savont playing Stephon on Saturday Night Live. Most recently, he has been doing an absolutely KILLER job on his HBO series Barry.

Barry follows the story of a trained assasin who falls in love with acting. Hader plays the title role. He also created. The love of live performance is not actually something Hader can relate to, which may come as a surprise on account of his incredible work on Saturday Night Live. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hader discussed the anxiety that he has battled through his life, including the time he spent at Saturday Night Live. He shared that while on the famous show:

"The live aspect of SNL - I'm just not built for it...Before shows, I would go into a bathroom that was way down this hall, go into a stall and have a full-blown panic attack, crying, the whole thing. And then I go and get in a giant banana costume. This voice would come on in my head of like, 'You fucking asshole, do you know how many people would kill for this? Dude, get your shit together, come on.'"

When it comes to the seemingly effortless product Satuday Night Live churns out every week, it can be easy to forget the time, toil, and stress that go into creating the long-running sketch show. It is also easy to forget that those up on that stage have to be there, regardless of how their mental health is, and that high-pressured environment can be taxing. It's also inspiring to know that someone as well-beloved and famously hilarious for his work on the sketch show was struggling with anxiety while it was going on.

Barry will be back with a new season on HBO on April 24th.


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Bill Hader