Bill Hader surprised SNL fans earlier this year when word broke that he wouldn’t be appearing in the 50th anniversary special, but the actor has been mum on the reason for his absence—until now.
Some had speculated that his absence could be tied to his past experiences with anxiety on the show, and Hader confirmed as much in an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers last night.
“You were very open and honest after you left SNL about the anxiety that you had when you were working there,” Meyers recounted to Hader during their chat. “And then for the SNL 50th, I think people were at first disappointed that you weren’t coming, but that was the reason.”
Hader’s decision to skip SNL50 was initially reported the morning of the show. At the time, Puck’s Matthew Belloni reported Hader was “a polite decline.”
But the anniversary special came close to seeing Hader not only participate, but also address the topic of anxiety head-on. Andy Samberg originally Hader in mind for the co-lead in the SNL50 Digital Short “Anxiety,” which tackled SNL players’ long history of anxious tendencies.
“Andy called me and was like, ‘We’re doing this short about how everybody had anxiety,’” Hader recounted. Samberg explained the short would be based around Samberg calling Hader.
“When he told me about it, I was like ‘I don’t know if I want to do that,’” Hader said, prompting Samberg to ask him why.
“Because I’m anxious!” said Hader.
While Samberg tried to talk Hader into it, the part ultimately went to Bowen Yang.
In the interview, Hader revealed that he recently suffered from shingles as a result of stress and anxiety, and also recounted how anxiety triggered a migraine aura that caused him to lose vision during a live sketch in his first season.
Even in his absence from SNL50, Hader did have tangential involvement in the anniversary. The actor reprised his role as Devin from “The Californians” alongside Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig in a Volkswagon commercial that aired during the broadcast.
For people who have never suffered from Anxiety/Depression, you are fortunate. I hope that Mr. Hader seeks the assistance he needs.