Growing Up ‘SNL’ With Bill Hader and Seth Meyers (Exclusive Video)

thewrap.com:

This story about Bill Hader and Seth Meyers and “Barry” and “Late Night” first appeared in the Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.The moment Bill Hader and Seth Meyers met on “Saturday Night Live,” Meyers immediately understood that Hader was a film nerd. “The first time Bill came into my office after he got hired, when he left, I somehow had a list of 12 foreign films to watch,” Meyers said during a lengthy joint interview conducted before the writers’ strike, the full version of which you can watch here or at the bottom of this article. “It’s like the guy from the video store following you around,” Hader added with a laugh.

And yet, even as the two became close friends on “SNL” (and an iconic duo via Hader’s Stefon on Weekend Update), Meyers could never have predicted that Hader would make something like “Barry.”The HBO series wrapped up its fourth and final season in May, with Hader’s hitman-turned-wannabe-actor comedy concluding in dark, emotional and notably cinematic fashion.

Hader served as star, showrunner and writer on the show, but he also directed 18 episodes including all eight of the final season.“Even with the people in the ‘SNL’ cast you’re really close with, it’s impossible to predict what they’re going to do next,” Meyers said. “The thing you’re most excited about is if they’re in control of it.

So I was really excited because I knew that Bill had written it and I knew it would have Bill’s steady hand all over it, but I would never have predicted it would be ‘Barry.’ That first episode is such a perfectly written pilot, and it didn’t look the way I expected it to look.