1999–2004: Early career Hader's aspirations of becoming a filmmaker eventually led him to drop out of college and move to Los Angeles in 1999. His parents supported his decision, and let him use the money they had saved for his education for his living expenses. He regularly worked 18-hour days as a PA, leaving little time to pursue his creative ambitions. He was also a post-production assistant on the
VH1 reality show
The Surreal Life (2003–2006). He was briefly a PA and stage manager on
Playboy TV's sexual fantasy show
Night Calls, but soon quit as he feared it would disappoint his parents. He eventually quit being a PA altogether after a bad experience while shooting
The Scorpion King (2002). Desperate for a change, he began attending comedy classes with friends at
improvisational comedy enterprise
the Second City in March 2003. which they called Animals From The Future, and performed frequently for small audiences at backyard shows in Van Nuys. After attending one of their backyard shows, Mullally told Hader she wanted to discuss him with
Lorne Michaels of
Saturday Night Live (
SNL). After Mullally's recommendation, Hader was invited to fly to New York to audition for
SNL producers. He had no material prepared when he was invited to audition, and was nervous and struggled to display his strengths during the audition. This resulted in his spontaneous imitation of an Italian man he had once overheard; the impression later become Vinny Vedecci, the first of his many recurring characters on the show.
2005–2013: Breakthrough and Saturday Night Live '' from 2005 to 2013. Hader was hired as a featured player and made his debut on the show on October 1, 2005. His first role was as a
psychologist giving his views about life and death during the emergency landing of
JetBlue Airways Flight 292. He felt he had gone from "preschool to
Harvard." His list of impressions includes
Vincent Price in the Variety Vault sketches,
Keith Morrison,
Harvey Fierstein,
Al Pacino,
Rick Perry,
John Malkovich,
James Carville,
Julian Assange,
Eliot Spitzer,
Alan Alda,
Clint Eastwood, and
Charlie Sheen. On July 19, 2012, Hader received his first nomination for a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on
SNL. He is the first male
SNL cast member to receive this nomination since
Eddie Murphy in 1986. Among the characters Hader played was
Stefon,
Weekend Updates flamboyant New York correspondent, whose recommendations consisted solely of bizarre nightclubs involving nightmarish characters, and was in love with and married to
Seth Meyers. Stefon was originally a one-shot character on a season-34 sketch where a screenwriter named David Zolesky (played by
Ben Affleck) invited his estranged brother Stefon over to pitch a family-friendly sports drama about a college student who bonded with his grandfather so he could try out for the college football team. He was based on two people that fellow
SNL writer
John Mulaney and Hader met: a wannabe club owner who always invited Mulaney to weird underground clubs, and a barista Hader had met who looked, spoke, and dressed like Stefon. Hader made his film debut in the comedic film
You, Me and Dupree (2006). The following year he took numerous roles including a supporting role as Officer Slater alongside
Seth Rogen's Officer Michaels in the
Greg Mottola directed
Superbad (2007). His role in
Superbad helped boost his public awareness and allowed him to appear on mainstream programs like
Total Request Live,
The Tonight Show, and MTV's
Video Music Awards. Other roles that year included as
Katherine Heigl's character's editor at
E! in the
Judd Apatow directed comedy
Knocked Up, the acid-taking mechanic Dave in
Hot Rod alongside
SNL castmate
Andy Samberg, and a recumbent biker in
The Brothers Solomon starring
Will Arnett and
Will Forte. Hader worked as a
creative consultant, producer, and voice actor on
South Park, beginning in the series'
12th season. His involvement in the series stems from his friendship with
Matt Stone; the two held a similar sense of humor and Hader began going on writers' retreats with the staff. Hader won a 2008 Peabody Award in Political Satire for his participation in
Saturday Night Live. Hader lent his voice to the
audiobook of
Sarah Vowell's
The Wordy Shipmates. Also in 2008, Hader appeared on
Tim and Eric Awesome Show impersonating the recurring character James Quall on the episode "Jazz". He appeared in two other Apatow projects:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall and
Pineapple Express. He also starred alongside
Ben Stiller,
Robert Downey Jr. and
Tom Cruise in the action comedy
Tropic Thunder. Hader re-teamed with
Superbad director
Greg Mottola in the comedy films
Adventureland (2009) and
Paul (2011). He lent his voice to his first video game role in
Grand Theft Auto IV, which also featured his SNL castmates Jason Sudeikis and
Fred Armisen. Hader and
SNL castmate
Seth Meyers penned a Spider-Man one-off entitled
The Short Halloween. It was illustrated by
Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009. It was given three and a half out of five stars by Benjamin Birdie of
Comic Book Resources. He made a small appearance in the 2009 comedy film
Year One, with
Jack Black and
Michael Cera. Hader lent his voice to the
Sony Pictures Animation film
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, as well as its
2013 sequel, playing the lead role of Flint Lockwood as well as his invention in the films, the FLDSMDFR. He voiced a gazelle in
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and appeared in the fantasy film
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in 2009 as
Major General George Armstrong Custer. In April 2009, Hader was a part of
Vanity Fair list of "Comedy's New Legends". Hader took on the voice role of Professor Impossible on the fourth season of
The Venture Brothers (2010–2013), a part originated by
Stephen Colbert. He voiced the Pod in the
Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "IAMAPOD", as well as Hitler in the episode "Der Inflatable Fuhrer". Hader played Kevin,
Matt Damon's copilot, in the live episode of
30 Rock, recorded October 14, 2010. He portrayed "The Voice" in the action-comedy film
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), the disembodied voice that pops up during certain moments of the film's video game-inspired fight scenes. He also had a small cameo as the voice of the USS
Vengeance computer in the science fiction film
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). From 2011 to 2014, Hader hosted
Essentials, Jr. on
Turner Classic Movies. Hader received the gig after he was a guest programmer with host
Robert Osborne who was impressed by Hader's eclectic choices, such as
Billy Wilder's 1943
Five Graves to Cairo (1943),
Robert Altman's 1970
Brewster McCloud (1970), and
Akira Kurosawa's
Rashomon (1950). TCM asked him if he would like to host its summer
Essentials Jr. showcase that introduces younger audiences to seminal movies from the golden age of Hollywood and international cinema. He was chosen because Hader has a "certain energy and appeal to younger people. He is very passionate about the subject. He isn't just reading a teleprompter. He really cares and knows the movies." Hader was the guest star in the series premiere of the comedy series
The Mindy Project, where he played as Mindy's ex-boyfriend Tom McDougall. His character returned later in the first season. Hader voiced Dr. Malocchio in the
Hulu animated comedy series
The Awesomes. In 2013, Hader replaced
Robert Downey, Jr., as the voice of
Mr. Peanut. Hader decided to leave
SNL after eight seasons, informing cast and crew of his decision in February 2013. He came to the conclusion that he needed to leave when his then-wife and he were constantly having to travel to Los Angeles for work, which made it difficult for their children. "It was a hard decision, but it has to happen at some point," he told reporters. "It got to a point where I said, 'Maybe it's just time to go.'" On October 11, 2014, Hader returned as host with musical guest
Hozier and on March 17, 2018, with musical guest
Arcade Fire.
2014–present: Film roles and Barry Hader starred in a dramatic role in the 2014 film
The Skeleton Twins, opposite
Kristen Wiig, with whom he worked on
Saturday Night Live. The film won for 'Best Screenplay' at the
Sundance Film Festival. In 2015, Hader voiced the character of Fear in the Disney/Pixar film
Inside Out, and was attached to voice a dinosaur in the Pixar film
The Good Dinosaur. However, Hader, alongside
John Lithgow,
Lucas Neff,
Neil Patrick Harris, and
Judy Greer, left the project after their characters were redesigned. In 2015, Hader appeared in
Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Seth Dozerman of the 99th Precinct. Also in 2015, Hader reunited with fellow
SNL alumni Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers for the
IFC mockumentary series
Documentary Now!, wherein he was an actor and a writer. In December 2015, Drew McWeeny of
HitFix reported that the voice of
BB-8 in
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was supplied by Hader and
Ben Schwartz, both credited as "BB-8 vocal consultants" in the film. The voice was created by Abrams manipulating their voices through a
talkbox, attached to an
iPad running a sound-effects app. Hader also voiced multiple characters in YouTube channel
Bad Lip Reading's parodies of the
Star Wars original trilogy. Hader also played a minor supporting role in The Lonely Island's 2016 film
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, produced by Judd Apatow. Hader had his first leading man role in the romantic-comedy opposite
Amy Schumer in
Trainwreck (2015) and continued in these romantic roles as a former college boyfriend to best friend of
Greta Gerwig's title character in ''
Maggie's Plan (2015). Hader voiced Alpha 5 in the 2017 film version of Power Rangers''. In 2018, Hader co-created (with
Alec Berg) and began starring in the
HBO dark comedy series
Barry, for which he received eight
Primetime Emmy Award nominations as producer, writer, director, and actor. He won Emmys for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in both 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 its first two seasons. In 2019, Hader starred in the supernatural horror film
It Chapter Two as
Richie Tozier (sharing the role with
Finn Wolfhard), alongside
Jessica Chastain,
Bill Skarsgård,
Isaiah Mustafa,
Jay Ryan,
James Ransone, and
James McAvoy. Hader received acclaim for his performance. In 2019, he voiced Leonard in
The Angry Birds Movie 2, Axel the Carnie in
Toy Story 4, The Wanderer in 4 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 same year he had a cameo role as a
UPS driver in the
Ari Aster directed
surrealist tragicomedy Beau is Afraid (2023) starring
Joaquin Phoenix. Aster said of his casting, "We're friends. I was looking for a place to put him and [that] felt like the funniest, the most effective possible place. I love his performance in the film. It's a covert performance. A lot of people don't know that's him on the phone when they first see it. But it's a great performance." In March 2024, it was announced that Hader will star in the upcoming animated remake of the
Dr. Seuss children's book
The Cat in the Hat, in which he will voice the titular character and serve as an executive producer. The film will also star
Quinta Brunson,
Xochitl Gomez, and
Bowen Yang. Hader and
Mindy Kaling did not return to voice their roles as Fear and Disgust in
Inside Out 2 reportedly due to pay disputes.
Tony Hale and
Liza Lapira replaced Hader and Kaling in taking over their respective roles. On February 14, 2025, Hader declined an invitation to appear on the
Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special due to scheduling conflicts. On April 13, 2026, Hader began production on his directorial debut
They Know, a horror film which he also wrote and will star in. ==Influences==