Bill Hader joked about the numerous afflictions and anxiety-induced maladies he suffered while a cast member on Saturday Night Live during a new interview with his old coworker, Seth Meyers, on Late Night.
Hader has spoken before about how anxious he was during his time on the show, and this was ostensibly part of the reason he chose not to participate in the SNL 50 special earlier this year. While a rep also said he had a “longstanding scheduling conflict,” Hader did reveal on Late Night that he declined Andy Samberg’s offer to be in a pre-taped digital short about SNL-related anxiety for a very simple reason: “Because I’m anxious.”
Despite the challenges he endured, Hader maintained his sense of humor about his time on SNL, laughing as Meyers joked, “The top 10 weirdest things that happened to any cast member I ever worked with were all Bill Hader. It’s like, if you look at who led the NBA in scoring in the Nineties, it’s Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan. That’s you.”
For instance, Hader said he frequently got (and still gets) severe migraines. During his first season in 2006, one came on as he was preparing to go out for an “Appalachian Emergency Room” sketch that also featured Jason Sudeikis and cameos from Johnny Knoxville and musical guest Neil Young.
“We’re backstage and I’m really anxious, I’m muttering to myself, like freaking out,” Hader recalled. “And then my vision goes. I get aura — I don’t know if anybody has ever had migraine aura, where suddenly it’s like you can’t see anything. And of course, we’re dressed as these two weird hillbillies, and I had a dart through my hand. And you’re backstage with Johnny Knoxville and Neil Young.”
Hader said he remarked out loud, “I can’t see,” then joked that Young replied, “Oh no! Hey, that’s too bad!”
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Despite being far away from SNL, Hader said he still suffers from severe migraines and had one so bad just last week that he had to get an IV fluid. He also just went through a bout of shingles, another malady brought on by stress. And earlier this year, he missed the Golden Globes because, as he put it with a laugh, “My eye exploded.”
Hader continued: “I have vasculitis in the retina of my eye, and I lost vision in my eye. I had to get a shot in my eye.”
