Here’s the First Look at Bill Hader’s Barry

Barry may be able to take out a target with a single bullet, but he’s not quite off book yet. Bill Hader plays an assassin in the new HBO black comedy about a hitman who decides to pursue his new dream of becoming a Hollywood actor. The career change may be a bigger challenge than any of the deadly assignments he’s received. A teaser for the series shows off a deep bench of comedy actors including Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, and Pete Holmes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc5WOUt5NRE

The teaser runs less than a minute, but it shows off the situational irony that Hader is brilliant at. It opens with a blood red HBO trailer, and then turns to talk of ‘the business’ and a bloodied victim in a warehouse who promises to deliver a talented assassin, all of which sets up a dramatic tone that is shattered by the glorious Henry Winkler. Hader then fumbles a line in a stage production, and we’re hooked. We never would have expected him to be cast as a cold-blooded killer, but this is precisely why Barry is so intriguing.

We don’t know much about the show yet, but here’s the synopsis from HBO: “Hader stars in the title role as a hitman who, after following his intended target to an acting class, finds himself intrigued and decides to become an actor and change his life.”

After his eight year run as a fan favorite on Saturday Night Live, Hader has taken starring roles in film and TV projects from Trainwreck and Inside Out to Documentary Now!, which he co-created. For Barry, Hader pulls double duty and goes behind the camera for his first turn at directing. He co-wrote the scripts with Seinfeld and Silicon Valley writer Alex Berg. This initial glimpse is very brief, but the recipe seems perfectly designed for comedy gold.

Barry doesn’t have a specific release date yet, but HBO has it scheduled for this spring. The show will premiere alongside the final season of Veep, season 2 of Westworld, and season 5 of Silicon Valley, all slated for spring 2018 releases.

Featured Image: Bill Hader in Barry. Courtesy: HBO

TAGS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelle Long

Kelle has written about film and TV for The Credits since 2016. Follow her on Twitter @molaitdc for interviews with really cool film and TV artists and only occasional outbursts about Broadway, tennis, and country music. Please no talking or texting during the movie. Unless it is a musical, then sing along loudly.