Saturday Night Live: Bill Hader

If NBC’s Saturday Night Live ends up returning on May 6th with SNL alum Pete Davidson hosting (the WGA strike deadline is midnight tonight), there might just be a chance that Barry star & Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader will show up for a return appearance by Stefon. Why does that matter? Because it marks a change in how Hader viewed the character and the appropriateness of Stefon (and his playing him) from only a year ago. “I’ve never had any gay man come up to me and be offended that I [played Stefon],” Hader shared during an interview with The Independent. “I’ve always had people come up and say how much they love those roles. Honestly, I don’t know why I said [I wouldn’t play him anymore]. I probably would play him. I think just being asked the question at that point in time kind of made me anxious.”

During an interview with The Guardian in 2022, Hader shared that there was talk of his character – the openly gay NYC tourist expert for “Weekend Update” who’s known for his over-the-top recommendations (and for the writers trying to get Hader to break as much as possible) – making a return to SNL. “I was like, ‘I don’t think that’s really a good thing to do now.’ I mean, we had an openly racist, homophobic, and misogynistic president, and half the country voted for him – twice! So [those attitudes] are really prevalent. That was a big eye-opener for me, and it made me back up a bit and say, ‘Wait, maybe people see this character a different way.’ Because I really love Stefon, and it never occurred to me that he would be seen as a stereotype, and that really hurt.” Until that return does happen, we have a look back (courtesy of NBC’s SNL) at all of Hader’s visits to “Weekend Update” as Stefon: