As 'Barry' comes to an end, Bill Hader the auteur rises
LOS ANGELES — HBO's dark comedy "Barry" is ostensibly the saga of a hit man trying to find himself — and redemption — through a North Hollywood acting class. But one of its most fascinating story lines is the growth of co-creator/showrunner/writer/director/star Bill Hader as a filmmaker.
His credentials as a performer and writer from "Saturday Night Live" sold HBO on the show, co-created with his friend Alec Berg (an executive producer on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Silicon Valley"). In a meeting with the brass, Hader laid down his one condition: He would direct the pilot.
"They said, 'Have you directed anything before?' 'No,'" Hader recalls in an April conversation, laughing. "All eyes went to Alec Berg,
