Bill Hader Wants to Direct Movies in His Post-‘Barry’ Future, Has “Ideas That I’m Knocking Around”

With Barry‘s fourth and final season now in the can and starting to roll out on HBO, Bill Hader has his sights set on the next goal: directing a movie.

“I would do a feature, for sure. [Barry writer and co-executive producer] Duffy Boudreau and I have written something but there’s also things that I’ve done, there’s two other ideas that I’m knocking around,” Hader, who directed all eight episodes of Barry this season, told The Hollywood Reporter at the season four premiere on Sunday. “I’m just looking forward to taking a little vacation and then kind of being in sponge mode — read, watch some stuff. I haven’t had the space in my head to do it. We did seasons three and four back-to-back so it’s pretty wild.”

Asked if he would want to direct a movie that he’d also star in, Hader added, “I don’t know, it just kind of happens the way it happens. Like Barry, I learned anytime I try to predict how to do it or what to do, it just wants to go someplace else. I’m learning to just remain open.”

This season of Barry picks up right where the third left off, with hitman Barry Berkman now in prison after having been exposed by Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). Hader said that he never had a set number of seasons in mind, but ending with four felt right as “once he’s caught you’re kind of like, ‘This is just rolling downhill now.’”

The cast recalled receiving those final scripts while chatting at the L.A. premiere, with Sarah Goldberg saying, “I thought, ‘Well bloody hell, I guess we’ve just got to take a big swing and do it.’ They’re epic so I was thrilled, they did not hold back,” and Anthony Carrigan confirmed, “I was floored.”

“I was fearful for the fans, I have to say,” added Michael Irby, who plays Cristobal. “It gets really dark, for all the characters and everybody involved, and I knew once you start going down that road you’re at the point of no return.”

The costars revealed what mementos they took from set — after Hader joked, “I don’t do that” — with Winkler hanging onto Gene’s green jacket he’s worn throughout the series (“Which was what I originally wore to the audition, I have the one that they got for me”), Carrigan keeping NoHo Hank’s watch and a pair of volleyball shorts, Goldberg getting “copies of all of the Cousineau posters, like Cousineau as Macbeth — definitely framing those,” and Stephen Root taking Fuches’ tennis shows from prison (“They were very comfortable”).

Irby explained that he was gifted from set “a massive freaking 10-by-15 foot painting in my garage that I don’t really know where to put it because it’s a fake family, it’s not my wife and it’s not my kids. It’s massive and it’s really cool and they called and said, ‘Hey do you want this?’ and I said, ‘Yeah I guess, maybe I can auction it off at a school auction or something later.’ I would’ve loved his wardrobe, Cristobal is a very fun dresser.”

The group also offered thoughts on whether, in its darkest season yet, the show still falls under the comedy category, where it has competed for Emmys for the last three seasons.

“I think it’s a drama with jokes,” said Goldberg, as Root chimed in, “I think it does because all of the comedy comes from the character itself. It’s not a joke-setup-joke type of thing, so any comedy that you get out of this is real because it’s coming from the character, and you care about the character. I’m happy that we’re doing a show of subtle comedy.”

Added Carrigan, “I don’t know, was it ever a comedy? Let’s be real. I do think there’s some real genuinely hilarious moments and I think that fans are going to be in for a ride. No matter how you classify it, it’s going to be wild.”

Barry season four is now rolling out weekly Sunday nights on HBO and Max.