Bill Hader

Bill Hader moved to Los Angeles in 1999 with the goal of becoming a filmmaker and began working as a production assistant. He worked as a PA on James Dean (2001), Spider-Man (2002), Collateral Damage (2002) and the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004). He also worked as a post-production assistant on VH1’s The Surreal Life from 2003 to 2006 and briefly worked as a PA and stage manager on Playboy TV’s Night Calls. Hader later worked as a nighttime assistant editor at Triage Entertainment and as an assistant editor on Iron Chef America.

In March 2003, Hader began taking comedy classes at the Second City. He formed the sketch comedy group Animals From The Future with Matt Offerman, Eric Filipkowski and Mel Cowan, performing at backyard shows in Van Nuys. Following a recommendation from Megan Mullally, Hader auditioned for Saturday Night Live and subsequently received an agent and manager.

Hader joined Saturday Night Live as a featured player in 2005, making his debut on October 1. He remained with the series through 2013 and became known for his impressions and recurring characters, including Stefon. His impressions on the series included Vincent Price, Keith Morrison, Harvey Fierstein, Al Pacino, Rick Perry, John Malkovich, James Carville, Julian Assange, Eliot Spitzer, Alan Alda, Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen. In 2012, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on the series. He also received a 2008 Peabody Award in Political Satire for his participation in Saturday Night Live. Hader left the series after eight seasons, with his final episode airing May 18, 2013. He later returned as host on October 11, 2014, and March 17, 2018.

Hader made his film debut in You, Me and Dupree (2006). In 2007, he appeared in Superbad as Officer Slater, Knocked Up as an editor at E!, Hot Rod as mechanic Dave and The Brothers Solomon as a recumbent biker. He also appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Pineapple Express (2008) and Tropic Thunder (2008), and reunited with Greg Mottola for Adventureland (2009) and Paul (2011). Other film credits included Year One (2009), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), The Skeleton Twins (2014), Trainwreck (2015), Maggie’s Plan (2015), Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), Power Rangers (2017), It Chapter Two (2019), Beau Is Afraid (2023) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019). He also voiced Flint Lockwood in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its 2013 sequel.

Hader worked as a creative consultant, producer and voice actor on South Park beginning with its 12th season. He won a 2009 Emmy Award for Best Animated Series as one of the series producers and later rejoined the writing staff for the show’s 17th season. He also appeared in Punk’d and voiced characters on Xavier: Renegade Angel. In 2008, he starred in and co-wrote the Crackle web series The Line with Simon Rich and lent his voice to the audiobook of Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates. He also appeared on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and made several short films, including Back in the Day, Sounds Good to Me: Remastering the Sting and The Jeannie Tate Show.

Hader provided the voice of Professor Impossible on The Venture Bros. from 2010 to 2013 and voiced characters in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He played Kevin, Matt Damon’s copilot, in a live episode of 30 Rock in 2010 and voiced the USS Vengeance computer in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013. From 2011 to 2014, he hosted Essentials, Jr. on Turner Classic Movies, selecting 13 films each year for the family-oriented program. His selections included Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Band Wagon (1953), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and King Kong (1933). He also appeared in The Mindy Project as Tom McDougall and voiced Dr. Malocchio in The Awesomes. In 2013, he became the voice of Mr. Peanut.

In 2014, Hader starred in The Skeleton Twins alongside Kristen Wiig. In 2015, he voiced Fear in Pixar’s Inside Out and appeared as Captain Seth Dozerman on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He also joined the IFC mockumentary series Documentary Now! as an actor and writer. Hader provided vocal work for BB-8 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) alongside Ben Schwartz, with both credited as vocal consultants. He also voiced multiple characters in Bad Lip Reading parodies of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Hader co-created Barry with Alec Berg and began starring in the HBO dark comedy series in 2018. He served as an actor, writer, director and producer and received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the series. He won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018 and 2019 and received consecutive nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the series’ first two seasons. In 2019, he also starred as Richie Tozier in It Chapter Two, voiced Leonard in The Angry Birds Movie 2, Axel the Carnie in Toy Story 4 and The Wanderer in four episodes of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and played Nick Kringle in Noelle.

In June 2023, Hader was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That year, he appeared as a UPS driver in Beau Is Afraid. In March 2024, it was announced that he would voice the title character and serve as an executive producer on the animated remake of The Cat in the Hat. On February 14, 2025, Hader declined an invitation to appear in the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special due to scheduling conflicts.

Hader also has credits as a writer and comic book creator. In 2009, he and Seth Meyers wrote the Spider-Man one-off The Short Halloween, illustrated by Kevin Maguire. He provided his first video game voice role in Grand Theft Auto IV.

On April 13, 2026, Hader began production on his directorial debut, They Know, a horror film that he wrote and will star in.