Bill Hader's daughter didn't love his work in “It Chapter 2”: 'First movie was better'
"They don't really give a s--- about it."
Bill Hader is one of the most successful comedic actors of his generation, but he still can't win over one key demographic: his children.
The Saturday Night Live alum discussed his kids' disdain for his work during a conversation with Ted Danson on his podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name. "The only thing my kids have ever been interested in seeing [involving me] is, I was in It 2," Hader said. "I was in the It movie and they've been to different sleepovers, and that's like a movie kids put on at sleepovers."
Hader's daughter didn't have particularly kind words for It Chapter 2. "So my kid did go, 'I saw you in It.' And I was like, 'Oh, what do you think?'" he remembered. "She was like, 'First movie was better.' I was like, 'Okay.'"
Critics and audiences agreed with Hader's daughter's assessment of the two-part Stephen King adaptation. The first part of the movie, which followed a group of teens warding off a demonic force in 1988, is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an 85% approval rating from critics and an 84% audience score. The film also holds a 69 rating on the critic aggregator Metacritic. The 2019 follow-up, in which Hader plays the adult version of Finn Wolfhard's character Richie from the first film, was far less warmly received, with a 62% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, a 78% audience score, and a 59 on Metacritic.
Hader said that his kids' criticism of his work doesn't particularly bother him. "I like it that they don't — I'm their dad, that's the best," he said. "They don't really give a s--- about it."
The actor was amused, however, when his children's former nanny, The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden, had a far more positive reputation among his kids and their peers. "[D'Arcy] would come to one of my daughter's dance performances and people... 'That's Janet!' and all these kids would run over to her to get pictures," Hader remembered. "And my daughter is very like, 'Yeah, that's my nanny, that's my nanny, my nanny is Janet.'"
Hader jokingly tried to tout his own industry cred with one of his darkest projects. "I was like, 'How about your dad's Barry?'" he said. "She was like, 'No one watches that here, Dad. We're in elementary school. Come on. That's not a comedy.'"
Hader also recalled his kids being "embarrassed" to hear his voice in animated movies. "I remember taking my daughter to see Finding Dory, and she heard my voice at the beginning and she stood up and just walked out," he recalled. "And I had to walk after I go, 'What's wrong?'"
The comedian's daughter didn't want to watch the rest of the movie if her dad was in it. "[She said,] 'Are you in the whole thing?' 'No, that's the only scene I'm in,'" Hader said. "She's like, 'You swear you're not in the rest of the thing?' She's like, 'All right.' And she like came back in like super pissed off, with little like cat ear things on.'"
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Hader said that he completely understands his kids' hesitation to watch him on screen. "I get it," he said. "If my dad showed up in the Millennium Falcon, I'd be petrified like, 'Hey guys, Bill Senior. Hi, Chewie, Bill Senior.' That'd be terrible. That sucks."
Listen to the full conversation between Hader and Danson above.
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