Emmys 2019: Bill Hader wins Outstanding Lead Actor for HBO's 'Barry', thanks co-creator Alec Berg for 'molding' his performance
Bill Hader won the 'Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series' for playing Barry in the hit dark tragicomedy HBO television series, 'Barry'. The series follows Hader, a marine turned hitman with an aspiration to become an actor. However, he finds himself caught between the shallow superficiality of the entertainment world and the dark and seedy underbelly of L.A.'s organized crime scene.
Hader rose to fame as a cast member on the NBC variety series 'Saturday Night Live', for which he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Peabody Award. This was this third Emmy and the actor thanked the creator Alec Berg. "How do you direct yourself?'" he said holding the Award. " The person I usually go to is my friend and co-creator, Alec (Berg) and I ask him how the take goes. Thank you again for molding my performance and I don't know where I'll be without you" he said. Hader is also nominated in the writing and directing categories for the series, which received 17 nominations in all.
The actor also had supporting roles in the films 'Superbad' (2007), 'Tropic Thunder' (2008), 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' (2008) and 'Ralph Breaks The Internet' (2018). His other TV works include 'Silicon Valley', 'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' and 'Saturday Night Live'.
Hader pipped stiff competition from the likes of Anthony Anderson, 'black-ish', Don Cheadle, 'Black Monday,' Ted Danson, 'The Good Place', Michael Douglas, 'The Kominsky Method', and Eugene Levy, 'Schitt’s Creek'.
'Barry' has received critical acclaim and various accolades, including 30 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning three for its first season. The series was renewed for a third season on April 2019. The first season of Barry received positive acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a 99% approval rating with an average rating of 8.28/10, based on 79 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "PTSD and comedy make strangely endearing bedfellows in Barry, which proves more poignant than its sketch show premise."