'Barry' creator Bill Hader puts narrative first in final season

HBO’s Barry hits the screens for its final season, Bill Hader divulged his approach towards the series climax.

Bill Hader who is the protagonist as well as the creator of the hit dark comedy Barry, spoke to Deadline about his philosophy.

According to Hader, the key to a successful story is staying true to the journey and allowing it to guide where the plot will go rather than worrying about how it will end and trying to force a certain outcome. The focus, he stressed, should be on remaining faithful to the narrative. If the story feels authentic and genuine, then the ending will naturally fall into place.

“I had moment where I did write things, and we actually filmed some things that were much more “fan service.” Like, “Oh, this is something the fans will like to see.” And then you would get into the edit, or you’d read it and go, “Oh man, this is just glaringly wrong. It’s a different show for one scene.” And so you would reshoot it or cut it. And I really thank people like Duffy Boudreau and Liz Sarnoff, the writers, but also our editors, Ali Greer and Franky Guttman, for pulling that sh*t out and saying, “This is kind of lame. Why are we doing that?” [Laughs] It’s like, “You should write this like there aren’t fans. Just write it for the story.” You know, that’s not them saying that to me; that’s me saying it to myself.”

Taking inspiration from his meditation practice, Hader said:

“You know, I do transcendental meditation, and when you meditate, you’re supposed to have a mantra. And that sometimes becomes my mantra, which is like, “Don’t do it for what you think people want to see. Do what is right for the story.”

The upcoming season 4 of HBO’s Barry will be its last, the cabler announced. The final season consists of eight episodes and premiered April 16.

Barry is created by Bill Hader and Alec Berg, and first aired in 2018. The show follows the story of Barry Berkman, a hitman who goes to Los Angeles to carry out a job but ends up enrolling in an acting class taught by Gene Cousineau. Through his experiences in the class, Barry starts to question his life choices and tries to leave his criminal past behind. However, his past actions continue to haunt him and he struggles to escape his former life as a killer.