The Saturday Night Live alum shows off some major acting chops in the delightful dramedy The Skeleton Twins , but getting to this moment took Hader on some unexpected detours.
The Skeleton Twins director Craig Johnson and Bill Hader at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival
Larry Busacca / Getty Images
To understand Bill Hader's outlook on his place in show business, you should start with the fact that he landed his first role as an actor by accident, and it wasn't even in a comedy.
"My high school girlfriend was like, 'I'm auditioning for The Glass Menagerie. Do you want to come audition with me?'" Hader told BuzzFeed News. At the time, Hader dreamed of leaving his Tulsa, Oklahoma, home to to become a filmmaker, or at least someone who worked behind the scenes, but he had never considered acting before. "And, um, then I got a part as the Gentleman Caller. That was a surprise."
Today, the 36-year-old Hader is widely regarded as one Saturday Night Live's best ever cast members, an elastic performer equally adept at creating vivid characters (from Stefon to Vinny Vedecci) and killer off-beat impressions (from Alan Alda to Vincent Price). This weekend, however, he will likely surprise audiences by stretching more than he ever has in his career, with his first starring role in the lovely and poignant dramedy The Skeleton Twins, opening in limited release today.
Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig in The Skeleton Twins
Roadside Attractions
A major hit at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, the film follows twin siblings Milo (Hader) and Maggie (Kristen Wiig) after news of Milo's unsuccessful suicide attempt interrupts Maggie's own imminent attempt to take her own life. The dour premise gives way to an often delightful dark comedy when Milo leaves his life as a struggling actor in Los Angeles and moves in with his sister and her husband Lance (Luke Wilson) in upstate New York.
The role certainly makes good use of Hader's innate comic timing, but he delivers a performance that is just as often heartbreaking, as Milo attempts to rekindle his highly questionable relationship with his old high school teacher Rich (Ty Burrell). The film has won Hader outright rave reviews, swiftly establishing him as a nimble and nuanced actor much in the same way that Bridesmaids made his co-star Wiig a bona fide movie star.
The path Hader took to get to this moment is littered with even more unexpected hairpin turns like the one that had him suddenly performing Tennessee Williams as a teenager. This is how navigated them.
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