“People have said they feel less alone after seeing this film” – Bill Hader on The Skeleton Twins at 10

From Saturday Night Live’s MVP to indie-movie darling, Bill Hader explains how this small emotional indie paved the way towards his critical hit Barry.

“I know I wouldn’t have been able to make Barry if hadn’t been for The Skeleton Twins,” admits Bill Hader, tracing the lines that connect his unassuming 2014 indie-drama to the critically acclaimed HBO hit-man series he made just four years later.

Before starring in director Craig Johnson’s second movie, Hader was best known as one of Saturday Night Live’s most valuable performers; a comedic powerhouse with memorable characters and impressions to spare. It was a reputation that had quickly earned him equally memorable spots in big-screen comedies Superbad, Tropic Thunder and Hot Rod but deep down he yearned for something meatier. “I was excited to try something different,” he tells Little White Lies, “and I was very lucky that Craig saw something in me to be able to play this part.”

The part he’s referring to was about as far from a typical Hader role as you could get. While his SNL fans were used to seeing him trying not to break in a big blonde wig on sketches like The Californians or tipping Seth Meyers off about New York’s newest hipster hangouts as uber-cool culture correspondent Stefon, The Skeleton Twins invite Hader to open his heart and his wrists to play someone more grounded, authentic and complex.

In Johnson’s world, he played Milo, a gay thirty-something who suddenly finds himself back in his childhood hometown after a failed suicide attempt, living with his twin sister Maggie, played by Hader’s Saturday Night Live co-star Kristen Wiig. As we watch Milo try to mentally put the pieces of himself back together we learn that Maggie has her own demons that are slowly doing their best to erode her marriage with her perpetually happy hubby Lance, played by Luke Wilson. So far, so serious – so how did Hader overcome his reputation as a laugh factory to land such a layered role?

“The kind of stuff [I was getting offered at that time] was mostly authority figures based on Superbad and this movie I did called Adventureland,” says Hader. “I really love those movies but [the roles I was seeing] were always the young protagonist’s doofus boss.” Determined to mix things up, Hader decided to take part in an unpaid table read for a different genre of script to prove that he wasn’t just a funny face. “It was Kate Winslet, Bradley Cooper, Paul Dano, Greta Gerwig and me,” he remembers. “I was like ‘What am I doing at this table…’”

Imposter syndrome aside, Hader’s stint at the table read was a success and impressed the right people. A few weeks later, he received a phone call from the casting director who had set it up, this time with a new proposition. “She said, ‘There’s this script called The Skeleton Twins and I think you’d be really good for it.’ I read it, loved it and went to meet Craig.” A period of development hell followed while the film struggled to secure financing but when it landed on the desk of a fresh-from-Bridesmaids Wiig, everything changed. “Suddenly, we had the money overnight and we were ready to go,” recalls Hader.

From the start, Hader knew that his portrayal of Milo had to be different to the other gay character he was synonymous with playing on Saturday Night Live. “I remember saying [to Johnson] ‘I don’t want this to be Stefon. I like Stefon but this isn’t Stefon,’” he says, of wanting to deliver a more three-dimensional portrayal of an openly gay character.

“The writing was beautiful and I responded to that. I so badly wanted to do something different. It’s funny,” he continues, “I feel like if I did that movie now, I’d probably put in a little bit more subtlety.” To illustrate his point, Hader recalls the way he handled an early scene where Maggie first meets a teary Milo after a decade spent apart – and his unsuccessful suicide attempt. “I found out later that [Johnson] was like, “I didn’t really want you to cry during that scene’,” he laughs. “All actors just want to find someplace where they can cry – and I fulfilled that cliche.”

The vulnerability demanded by the role was no small thing and made even more daunting thanks to his reputation as a breakout comedian. Despite a decade having passed since The Skeleton Twins came out, Hader still has trouble recalling certain moments, like the first scene he shot where Milo visits a local bookstore and unexpectedly comes face-to-face with the former teacher whom he had an illicit underage affair with whilst still in school.

“That was my very first shot [as Milo]. We’d never rehearsed and Craig had no idea how I was going to play it. Even I had no idea how I was going to play it,” says Hader, remembering the scene he shared with Ty Burrell’s teacher Rich. “I remember Craig coming over to me afterwards and saying ‘Oh, so he’s out…’ and I said ‘Yeah, I kind of see him as out.’ It was so nerve-wracking. Even today, if I see a still from that [scene] I get massive anxiety because there’s always a fear that you’re going to do something and the filmmakers will look at each other and say ‘This is not what we wanted at all.’”

Thankfully, having a close-knit set and his Saturday Night Live colleague of the last eight years by his side gave Hader the confidence to lean into a new side of his personality. “Kristen was and is a beautiful person, very empathetic and a real friend. Our first scene together is where we’re in the bar, I’m in drag and we slow dance together,” says Hader, recalling a rare moment of levity in Johnson’s film. “That was her first day seeing me act as Milo and she was such a great cheerleader. We’ve worked with each other for so long, it did feel very much like a brother and sister [relationship]. There wasn’t much discussion, we just kind of felt it out. We knew what the other would do and we just did it. There was a feeling of fearlessness.”

Throughout the film, Maggie and Milo share various ups and downs as they grapple with their broken psyches. This turbulence helps them reach euphoric highs, like the fully-improved scene in the dentist’s office where the pair goof around. However, it also delivers some painful lows, like the moment Maggie finally airs her unvarnished true feelings about Milo’s affair with Rich.

“The dentist scene was fun because we were both just laughing,” remembers Hader. “Kristen’s such a good improviser and so good at playing off of you and feeling your energy. We were all in awe of her. What I remember most about the argument scene was that we filmed it on the morning of the awful Sandy Hook massacre,” he reveals, explaining how The Skeleton Twins’ most painful scene was shot amid a real-life tragedy where a shooter opened fire in an American elementary school. “We were all in a very weird, devastated headspace. When I see that scene, what I remember is hearing this truly awful, unimaginable news and that somehow being a part of it,” adds Hader. “Also, Kristen and I having to hurt each other didn’t feel good.”

Shot in just 22 days, The Skeleton Twins debuted at Sundance in January 2014 before going on a limited theatrical release later that year. Hader still remembers the film’s grand festival premiere as a “nervewracking experience” – so much so that he had to abandon the screening entirely and wait it out at a nearby coffee shop. However, when he caught wind that the film was being warmly received – especially during the scene where Milo playfully lip-syncs to Starship’s ‘Nothing’s Going To Stop Us Now’ – he tentatively headed back inside the cinema.

“People liked it,” smiles Hader. “I remember that night, someone from Sundance said ‘Tonight, you guys are the toast of the festival. Enjoy it because tomorrow night this movie Whiplash is premiering and no one’s going to be talking about you’ – and he was right,” he laughs, referencing the arrival of Damien Chazelle’s drumming drama.

10 years later, The Skeleton Twins has ended up helping people on both sides of the camera. For Hader, it paved the way towards his critically-lauded hit-man drama Barry: “[HBO] said we’re interested in working with you but not based on the work you did on Saturday Night Live, we really like what you did on The Skeleton Twins,” he reveals For audiences, it has emerged as an unlikely therapeutic tool. “I’ve had people come up to me who have dealt with depression or had a relationship with an older man in high school and felt shame about it say they feel less alone after seeing this film,” he smiles. “That’s been really rewarding.”

Published 11 Mar 2024

Tags: Bill Hader Craig Johnson Kristen Wiig