Bill Hader's Homosexuality

Saturday night feels less exciting without Stefon, the magnificent "Weekend Update" club correspondent, a role that transformed actor Bill Hader into a comedic sensation. But, never fear. Though Stefon has stepped away from "Saturday Night Live" to reside in a "haunted diaper" in Chelsea, as Hader shared in our recent conversation, the comedic performer exhibits his impressive dramatic capabilities in "The Skeleton Twins," portraying Kristen Wiig's sibling, Milo, a struggling actor.
Moreover, he is gay.
Throughout our talk, Hader elaborated on his "permission to be totally fabulous" as Milo, his regrettable transgender-focused "SNL" sketch, and the delightful highlights of his A-list make-out experiences.

Your lip-syncing to Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" in "The Skeleton Twins" would fill everyone on "RuPaul's Drag Race" with pride.
(Chuckles) You absolutely must get me on that show! That would genuinely be the best.

How much drag did you and Kristen observe during preparation for the famous lip-syncing scene?
Well, we had to learn that song, and we enjoyed doing that, however, we didn't have a great deal of time. There was not a lot of time in the day to dedicate to it. It was certainly a quick "we need to get this done; we have a great deal more to film today" moment, so it's fantastic it all turned out so well.

Thus, what you're communicating is that you were already skilled in that sissy walk.
(Laughs) I knew… I mean, I've socialized with sufficient of my gay companions to be aware.

The finger in the ear during the high note—was that influenced by Mariah Carey?
No, no. It was simply me fooling around. So much of that was me merely trying to make Kristen laugh, and just knowing her sense of humor and what would make her laugh. I believed that was something that would.

You're a natural in that feminine attire.
Oh, thank you.

Prior to "The Skeleton Twins," how experienced were you with cross-dressing?
Well, I had done some of it at "Saturday Night Live," but not in my life. Not a lot of cross-dressing in my life.

Not yet.
Not yet. Perhaps I will now. I recall we did a senior sketch in high school where we poked fun at a group of moms called the "Brown Bag Lunch." They were these mothers who invested a considerable amount of money into our high school, who would have these brown bag lunch gatherings where they'd sit around and gossip about school—a bunch of affluent mothers, truly. We performed a sketch at our homecoming, and I portrayed the main mom. We recently viewed that - my dad unearthed it - and I'm essentially doing Stefon. I mean, it's pretty insane. I'm in high school! It's quite insane. However, I look goooood! My wife's like, "Wow, you look fantastic. You're an attractive woman."

There's a scene in the film where you go to a gay bar just to discover yourself there on "dyke night." What's been your genuine gay bar experience?
You know, I haven't spent that much time in gay bars, but I don't frequent bars in general. I remember going to one with the writers from "SNL." There was a group of us, and we went to a gay bar, because two of our writers were gay. It was fine. I had a positive time. However, I don't actually go out. I'm soooooo boring. (Laughs)

You're such a father figure.
I am completely a dad. I'm truly boring. I remain at home and I read. Because I portrayed Stefon, individuals assume that I go to all these clubs, and I am invited to numerous of those things, but nope.

And yet you live this fascinating life onscreen. I mean, you've possibly made out with more men than I have… and, Bill, I am, actually, gay.
(Laughs) I have my wife run up to me a lot of times and say, "Don't brush your teeth. Allow me to kiss you. This is the closest I'll get to kissing James Franco," or whoever it is I just made out with. I've kissed Paul Rudd so many times on "SNL" it's insane!

You kissed Ty Burrell during the filming of "The Skeleton Twins."
Yeah, yet it didn't make the cut. I'm going to tell you right now, that was actually quite hot. It was a fiery scene.

What is Paul Rudd's taste like?
He tastes like chicken, and James Franco tastes like cinnamon.

You even got to caress Paul's man-aries.
Yeah, I touched his nipples.

Bill, this doesn't sound like a very boring life to me.
Yeah, I realize. It's weird because we'll be doing it, and our wives are merely watching the show in the green room like, "Hahaha. OK, guys."

Considering your history of make-out sessions with men: If you could play spin the bottle with any gathering of guys, who would you invite to that gathering?
Paul, James, Ty…

However, they've already been to the party.
Yeah, they're already a part of the party, but I just know they're all adept kissers. I presume those fellows, and then to diversify it, Danny McBride, because I sense I'd have the crap beaten out of me.

"SNL" has been criticized for its portrayal of the gay community and some of its homoerotic cheap shots. Did you ever reject a skit, or were you ever hesitant to do a sketch because it may offend the gay community? As a comedian, how aware are you of evading stereotypes, whether on "SNL" or in "The Skeleton Twins"?
In "Skeleton Twins," I honestly didn't ponder it. The thing I liked about the script was that Milo being gay was not his issue. That wasn't the main issue in his life. He had a lot of other issues, and he just happens to be gay, which I thought was really great.
A journalist from another gay magazine said something that I appreciated - that I didn't strive to iron out his gayness. He's flamboyant, but he's drawn from people I know, people I'm friends with, people Craig (Johnson, the director) knows. I mean, that dyke night scene was me basically just mimicking Craig. (Laughs) When Craig went (to me), "You know, you sit down" - and I could tell it was something that had probably happened to him before - "and you look around, and it's fucking dyke night! You kind of go, 'Where's the boys at?'" So that is me impersonating Craig.
As for "SNL," Stefon was the same thing. His joke isn't that he's gay - the joke is that he's just really bad at his life. And that he's on a lot of drugs. I don't know if I ever said no to anything, but I realize the transgender community got really upset at a sketch I was in about estrogen - Estro-Maxxx, about a pill - which made total sense. However, it happens, and the show takes accountability for it. We have a ton of gay people who work on the show.

In retrospect, would you have declined that skit had you known it would offend the transgender community?
Yes. I mean, I believe the writers wouldn't have written it. I do not think anyone wrote it to wound anyone's feelings, but once that transpired, it was like, "Oh yeah. Point taken. Sorry."

Actors who accept LGBT roles often state you can't genuinely play gay, yet you're effortless as Milo. What's the secret? As a heterosexual man, how do you transcend sexuality for a role?
I didn't think about it that way, to be completely honest. You simply kind of do it, and you discover a part of you that's this Venn diagram, where you overlap with the character. So, my connection with Ty Burrell's character: I just thought of high school romance; that's what I thought of - a girl I dated in high school and how that made me feel. And it's also just kind of hanging out with Ty. He's a really funny, nice guy. Things like that - genuine feelings of like, "What a great guy, he's so nice" - play into it. You have to be very open. He's giving you something, and you have to give back, and you just play off each other. However, I trusted Craig. I was just like, "I'm going to try a bunch of things," and Craig would tell me if it was too much. Frequently, his note was, "You can go a little further with it. You don't have to be so subtle."

And if a gay man is giving you permission to go gayer, you know you can.
Yes, exactly. He's like, "I believe you can be a little bitchy to (Kristen) now. Be a little flippant. I believe he would be sassy with Kristen right here." I remember when I was in drag, and he was like, "You have complete license to be totally fabulous," because (I was portraying him) the opposite. I would try to sometimes portray him in a way that was too subtle, and Craig was like, "Don't be concerned about individuals saying it's going to be stereotypical - these are my friends."

Because of your part as Stefon on "SNL," how often are you pitched gay roles?
Actually, not that often, to be truthful. Let me contemplate. This might be the only one that I've been sent. It's fascinating. During the Q&A, after the initial screening of the movie at Sundance, somebody inquired about (the similarities between) Stefon and Milo, and I exclaimed, "Oh, yes!" Craig, who is gay, took the question because I didn't know how to answer it. I went, "Uhhh." The sole commonality those two fellows share is that they're gay, which is an effective way of answering it.

Would Stefon and Milo be friends?
Craig says no, and I believe he possesses a superior understanding than I do. Craig was like, "Oh my god, no." I believe Stefon would freak Milo out.

I think Stefon would unnerve a lot of individuals.
Yeah, you would be missing for a couple of weeks. If you went out with him, you'd have companions, parents, people pleading on the news, "Where's our son?"

Where is Stefon these days?
He's on the intersection of twenty-third and ninth, somewhere. Somewhere in Chelsea, hanging out inside a haunted diaper.