Bill Hader

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

 

  1. Josh Duhamel, When in Rome, 2008. In the mix for Nick, one of the guys in thus cut-price rom-com take on Three Coins in the Fountain, 1953.  Just the one girl this time – Kristen Bell – and she takes five coins out of the Fontana di Trevi and gets hit on by suitors galore, from  Will Arnett and  Danny De Vito to her real husband, Daz Shepard.      

  2. Seth Rogen, Paul, UK-US, 2009.   They had their alien.  They had their Hollywood deal. All they needed was Pauj’s voice.  Funny Brits Simon Pegg and Nick Frost suggested Jack Nicholson  – they wanted their great alien to have oldish tones.  They actually suggested Jack or Rip Toprn.(Ho, ho!  Jack had famously taken over Torn’s role in Easy Rider).  Finally, Universal said Rogen (and not Bill Hader) should supply the Paul-speak.

  3. Peter Sohn,  The Good Dinosaur, 2009. The one that got away. The role. And the film. Only Frances McDormand of the original voice cast survived a ton of necessary changes in the toon that began in 2009, was continually respun, only titled in 2014, and finally released with Sohn (the director) taking over the Stryracosaurus called Forrest Woodbrush. By then it was much better, of course. Just not up to Pixar’s ususL shyscraper-high standards. Hader, the ex-Saturday Night Live star, is the voice of ‘em all – from Tony Blair, Peter Falk, Al Pacino impressions to South Park and Simpsons characters, five Judd Apatow films, Steven Spielberg’s The BFG. And the sketch comedy group Animals from the Future.

  4. Jason Schwartzman, Funny People, 2009.    The new Mayor (for some reason) of movie mirth (aha, alliteration!), LA auteur Judd Apatow knew Bill was funny, butfelt Jason was funnier…

  5. Hugh Jackman, Rise of the Guardians, 2011.   Possible voices for the Easter Bunny ranged from those of Ed O’Neill, at 65, to Eddie Redmayne at 29..!  Bill Hader, Michael Keaton and Daniel Stern were also heard before Jackman won his second DreamWorks toon… this time retaining his strine. Other guardians included Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, Tooth Fairy and a Santa Claus complete with tatts and a Russian accent!
  6. Ryan Potter, Big Hero 6, 2014.  “We didn’t set out to be superheroes. But sometimes life doesn’t go the way you planned.”  What were they thinking? Obviously Jack Black, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Jason Lee, Justin Long, Patton Oswalt were way too old for voicing Hiro Hamada, a robotics prodigy of 14, in Disney’s first Marvel subject, winning  the best animation Oscar.  It unfurls in 2023 (we all know that computer battery number, right?) in San Fransokyo (‘Frisco rebuilt by the Japanese after an earthquake) and deals with a super-troupe behnd the titular collective name… that nobody ever uses.  Portland’s Potter, 19, continued in the Big Hero series and then voiced Keji Kon in Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, 2020-2021.
  7. Colin Farrelll, Dumbo, 2017.    If elephants could fly…  Well, they do at Disney. Three times, the 1941 toon, the 1985-1986 toon series and now the live-action version, Hader, Casey Affleck, Chris Pine, Will Smith passed the code-named Big Ears (wow, wonder what that’s about!)  to an exceedingly interested Farrell. Because he was a Tim Burton fan, loved working with (the circus) horses and longed to make ““something as sweet and fantastical and otherworldly, while being grounded in some recognisable world.” Story-wise, this was more Free Willy revisited.

  8. James Ransone, It Chapter Two, 2018.   For the 262nd of Stephen King’s staggering 313 screen credits, director Andy Muschietti was determined to include  his favourite Saturday Njght Live star.  But as who? Ah, yes, well, how about for the adult version of Eddie Kaspbrak …?

  9. Andy Bean, It Chapter Two, 2018.   Or, then again, why not the grown up Stan Unis?  No, Muschietti decided to have Richie Tozier written for him – loosely, so that others could be considered. And then tightened up to match his style, once he agreed to join the film of the book he’d found “way too long.”  (King Kameo: The pawnbroker).

  10. Ben Schwartz, Sonic the Hedgehog, 2019. For the new movie version of the video game, 11 actors tested for the voice of the Blue Blur:  Hader, Charlie Day, Dane Dehaan, Adam Devine, Will Forte, Josh Gad, , Freddie Highmore, Dylan O’Brien, Adam Pally, Jim Parsons,  Andy Samberg, Playing Sonic was an insane honour, said Schwartz. As was co-starring with his hero, Jim Carrey, as the evil Dr Robotnik.

  11. James Marsden, Sonic the Hedgehog, 2019. A further 15 actors jostled for Tom Wachowski, the Montana cop helping the speedy blue blur alien from another planet in his fight against Jim Carrey’s Dr Robotnik. They were:  Hader again, Jack Black, Ansel Elgort, Chris Evans, Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Adam Pally (also seen for Sonic, he wound up as Wade, Tom’s deputy), Chris Pratt, Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, Justin Timberlake, Milo Ventimiglia, Owen Wilson and Marsden, who was ready for “as many as they want to make. it was so much fun to see Jim enjoying himself again.”

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  12