Thank you so much for being here,
and congratulations on, uh-- how many Emmy nominations?
21 Emmy nominations for your show?
Yeah, between Barry and Documentary Now!
-another show I work on, yeah. -21 Emmy...
-Yeah. -I mean, come on. -(cheering, applause)
Thank you. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah.
That's, like, it's just your night.
-No, it's not. That'll be... -It is.
No, but that's like... that's like Game of Thrones,
when they are, like, nominated, Game of Thrones,
"20 nominations," okay, and that's, like,
just, like, you in your world.
You're just, like, you are Game of Thrones.
-No, no, I'm not. -You are Game of Thrones.
-No, no, don't say that. -He said it here, folks.
-No, I did not say that! -(cheering) -He said it here.
-No, I didn't. -He is Game of Thrones.
Oh, no, I'm not!
No, but I-I have to congratulate you,
because, I mean, like, Barry has become a smash hit
-that people are falling in love with. -Oh, thank you.
You know, um, it's one of HBO's most popular shows
-that people watch live. -Thank you. Hey.
Like, when you started the show,
did you think people would fall in love with a-a killer?
People were just like, "Yeah, yeah."
No. No, not at all. We started that...
Alec and Berg and I, uh, created that,
uh, and we went in to HBO, and we were like,
"So yeah, it's about a hit man,
uh, who's sad, and so he wants to become an actor."
(laughter)
And then they just started throwing money at us.
We just made puppy dog eyes
until they just gave us the money.
That's how it works. And that's how Game of Thrones worked, too.
-That is Game of Thrones. -Yeah, George R.R. Martin walked in,
and he was like, "It's about dragons."
(laughter)
And they just were like, "We want him out of the office.
-Give him a show." -Um...
The show is successful.
It's really funny.
People-People are calling it, like,
one of the smash comedy hits, you know,
like, just, I guess of this generation.
People are watching it live, as well,
-which is really interesting. -Oh, yeah. That is, yeah.
You know, that's become a new phenomenon.
-I know. Isn't that weird? -Right?
People are like, "People watch your show when it comes out."
Yeah. That's weird when people now say that to me.
They're like, "I watched it when it came out,
-like, when it aired." -Yeah.
-Like, in the '90s. -But what...?
-But why do you think that is? -I guess they just like it.
I mean, the reason is season two is 'cause we were after
Game of Thrones, I think.
I think Game of Thrones ended and everybody was like,
"Oh." And then they went to do something,
they're "What is this other show with, uh, yeah, the guy
-from SNL on it?" -So people are just used to it now.
-They just, like, watch you, -Yeah.
and they're loving the fact that you're, like,
they watch you live as it airs, which is a new feeling.
Yeah, I know. It feels nice.
It is nice, like, if it airs on Sunday,
then I go outside, you know.
I'll go get something and I know when it's airing
'cause I'll be going through, you know,
at the grocery store or something,
and someone will come up and be like,
"Hey, man, y-you got problems.
I don't think that guy's ever gonna figure it out, man."
I go to Dodger's Stadium and there's one guy
who works at Dodger's Stadium, every time I see him, he's like,
"Hey, man, that guy, he's-- you just should go away, man.
"He should just find a house, move away, make his money.
"He's never gonna make it as an actor.
You are a terrible actor."
I'm like, "Do you want to be in our writer's room?"
The, uh, the show is a huge hit.
Documentary Now! is a huge hit.
And now, you are coming back to the big screen
-for the sequel of It, right? -Yes.
And It was one of those sleeper hits,
where people were like, "Uh, is this movie
gonna blow up again?" Then it was, like,
one of the highest-grossing horror movies
-of all time, ever, I think. -Yeah. Yeah.
And now you're back with Chapter Two.
How does this work? Didn't they beat the clown?
That's what I said. (laughs)
My agent called me, they go,
"We're gonna do It Chapter Two.
And I was like, "But... they... what?"
I'm like, "Didn't they kill the clown?"
Uh, but, no. It comes back every 27 years.
-Um, and so... -Oh, man.
-That's Stephen King, man. -Aw, man.
And then I forgot that, you know,
the book's, like, 15 billion pages long.
And, uh, which is a fact.
(laughter)
-Yeah, I think it's actually... -Don't laugh at that.
Wh-- It's actually, like...
-It's, like, a thousand pages, right? -It's, uh...
-Yeah, it's a thousand pages. -A thousand-page book.
Not a billion. I don't know, um... yeah, numbers.
But, uh, but-but I, uh, and then, um, uh...
And so, yeah, the sequel, um...
it takes place 27 years later.
Me and Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy,
a bunch of great actors, we're, uh, playing the kids grown up.
And then the kid who got-- Finn Wolfhard, who got--
who played Richie in the first movie, Finn,
-(whoops) Stranger Things, -(whooping, cheering)
uh, he got me the job.
He-- They interviewed him, and they said,
"Who do you want to play, you know, you,
you know, grown up?" And he said me.
-And so... -Wow.
And then my agent called me, and I was like,
"That kid's so powerful.
"Wow.
Got to get away from him. He is powerful."
I'm like, "I didn't know.
You're just, like, a goofy little kid."
And he was like, "No, man. I want you."
I was like, "Okay. Cool."
(laughter)
You know, one of the things that people love about you
is-is the fact that you're funny.
Another thing people love about you
is that you're in great shows.
But th-this... There's a new side of Bill Hader
that I think a lot of people have seen.
I mean, it... The video just went viral
on Twitter yesterday again,
you know, where you talk about anxiety.
-Oh, yeah. -And I, like, I know I appreciated it.
A lot of... a lot of parents appreciate it
because it's, like, a video aimed at kids.
-It's, like, a four-minute video... -Yeah.
-Yeah. -...where you talk about your anxiety
and how you deal with it.
But that's a vulnerable thing to do for anybody,
-to come out and say that. -Yeah.
Why did you do it, and-and, like,
why do you think so many people connect to it the way they do?
Well, there's a great organization,
Child Mind Institute,
and it's about kids with, uh, anxiety.
And, um, and I just got a call about it
'cause I talked about it in a... in a, uh...
uh, a lot of interviews
'cause I was on Saturday Night Live.
(laughs): That's, like, the worst show to be on
if you have anxiety.
And-and, uh, and, so, they say, "Hey, would you record a thing?
What you would have said to your younger self."
And, uh, and, so, I...
Yeah, I just did it and just tried to be honest.
And the couple things that never really goes away,
you just manage it.
-Right. -That was the big thing
that I had to learn,
where I would just keep fighting it.
And I was like, "Oh, this doesn't work."
So then it was just kind of like,
"Just-just accept it."
And then the other interesting thing I learned
was take out the narrative in it.
It's like, "Oh, I'm nervous that I have to take a test."
Just say, "Oh, I'm nervous," and then it kind of dissipates.
-Huh. -And, so, it was, like, all these things I had to learn
while I was on Saturday Night Live,
so mine was more like,
"Don't laugh during a sketch 'cause you're nervous,"
or, "Don't mess up your lines," or whatever it is.
Or, you know, "Show up on Saturday even though
-you don't want to 'cause you're terrified." -Right.
Yeah, because... No, because that anxiety can be crippling.
-It's... it's powerful. -Oh, it's crippling, yeah.
I didn't know what it was. Mine would take place and...
People always think it's, like, heart palpitations.
I would feel like I had the flu.
I would just go like, "Oh, my gosh, I'm really sick.
I can't go out there. I can't..."
-Wow. -I don't know, I would get, like...
My head would... Everything would start spinning.
And then, yeah, I just realized it was, um...
I went to, like, a doctor, and he was like,
"Do you... do you think you might have anxiety?"
I was like, "You think that's what it is?
(laughter)
-You know... -"But yeah."
You know, what I love about your story
is I feel like it all ties together,
because, in many ways, that's the clown in It,
-is that it's, like, how you perceive... -Yeah. Yeah.
-It is like anxiety. -Yeah.
It's, like, how you treat it, how you...
-How it, like, taps into your mind. -Yeah.
-You know, and then, like, you... -My God, you're right.
-Yeah. -(laughter)
And then, like, you've made this, like, this video
to help kids, and then a kid helped you
-get the job in It. -Job in It.
(laughter)
What are you?!
Who are you?!
(laughter and applause)
Oh, man, thank you so much for coming to the show.
It Chapter Two will be in theaters
and in IMAX on September 6.
Bill Hader, everybody.