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It's one of life's toughest trade-offs: balancing a dynamic career with the needs of family and kids at home. And when it comes to the demanding career paths in Hollywood, that tug-of-war can become downright heartbreaking.
Bill Hader is the latest star to learn the nature of this incredibly difficult dichotomy. After a long and celebrated tenure on Saturday Night Live that ended in 2017, 2018 saw Hader co-creating his own television show, Barry, for which he won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy this past fall. And he just may take home a new statuette later this month--he's nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy.
But such dynamic success comes at a cost. In a wide-ranging interview with Variety about his career, his tenure at SNL, and how Barry came to be, Hader was overcome with emotion as he talked about how his runaway 2018 has impacted his family life.
"I think I saw my kids a total of five days all summer," Hader told Variety as tears came to his eyes.
He continued:
"It was terrible. So I'm going, 'Next summer I'm taking off. And I'm going to spend every day with them.' It's this weird thing where when you're in this industry, you don't have time to be with them, and it's really, really difficult. I'm getting emotional right now talking about it."
Later in the interview, Hader quipped: "Congrats, it's the first interview I've ever cried in."
Hader also revealed that the birth of his second child was the reason for his departure from SNL:
"It could not have been easy on my wife at the time. I was so consumed with work and anxiety … Once our second child was born, I had to leave 'SNL.' It was hard with one kid, let alone two. Because I was just never around."
On social media, Hader's situation and his emotional rawness resonated with fans:
i’m really excited about what bill hader has in store but also i worry about him. bill, please get enough sleep and… https://t.co/nYKyJJ1iQ5— alexa 🌹 (@alexa 🌹) 1546499510.0
/ i love him :(( https://t.co/xZAoi0drfZ— Richie Tozier. (@Richie Tozier.) 1546614588.0
Bill Hader Cries During Interview Talking About Only Seeing His Kids 5 Times Last Summer https://t.co/BqLtwsqhcU I… https://t.co/dgH8JMrcOZ— JB (@JB) 1546540826.0
Love Bill Hader. Hope he gets to see his kids more often. https://t.co/KrpBa3PC9T— Secret Asian Man (@Secret Asian Man) 1546565661.0
@etnow Finally a man who's honest about not being with his kids and not blaming everybody else in the world. Please… https://t.co/YG3BBqkUc8— Sarah Somers (@Sarah Somers) 1546534848.0
And this honest glimpse into his personal life seems to have only made his fans love him all the more!
a v.good dude. everyone's watched Barry, right? https://t.co/bLuEVpCFKR— sugar spell it out (@sugar spell it out) 1546597869.0
i cannot wait for bill hader to win a golden globe on sunday https://t.co/mKt2ExyoD7— Kristen Bolden (@Kristen Bolden) 1546532315.0
Everything about this article is perfect. https://t.co/zuyNtPnUhU— Junk🥵 (@Junk🥵) 1546471294.0
@Variety Never thought I could love a man more— 💙Emma/B99/BARRY💙 (@💙Emma/B99/BARRY💙) 1546452960.0
I am sobbing https://t.co/GiLgctOUlR— eva stabouli (@eva stabouli) 1546442288.0
@Variety I seriously love this man. He was my favorite on SNL at the time. Always made me laugh. ❤️ #billhader— Chantal (@Chantal) 1546477006.0
So what's next for Hader? After season two of Barry wraps, he'll spend the summer writing a screenplay for a film he will direct--in part so that his kids "can see me all day if they want, they can really get sick of me."
Sounds like a great plan!