Bill Hader reveals reason behind his absence from ‘SNL’ special

Actor Bill Hader revealed the real reason that he did not attend the star-studded prime time special celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Saturday Night Live.” Hint: It wasn’t scheduling conflicts as previously stated by his representative.

During an appearance Monday on “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” Hader said that comedian Andy Samberg called with an idea for a digital short about the anxiety everyone on “SNL” goes through. The star behind characters like Stefon said he told Samberg that he wasn’t sure he wanted to do that because he’s anxious.

Instead, Bowen Yang starred in the short film that aired during the special.

“And he was great,” Hader said.

Hader and Meyers both joked that another reason he did not make an appearance during the “SNL” special was because he had “anxiety-caused shingles.” The host quipped that if he would have attended the show he would have had “double shingles.”

Hader was an “SNL” cast member for eight seasons between 2005 to 2013. Since leaving the show, he has been open about his mental health during his time at Studio 8H.

Meyers said that his co-star on “SNL” had a “relentless list of maladies.”

“The top-10 weirdest things that happened to any cast member I ever worked with were all Bill Hader,” he said.

Hader went on to talk about how he lost his vision because of his anxiety in his first season on the show. It happened while he was waiting backstage with co-star Jason Sudeikis, stuntman Johnny Knoxville and singer Neil Young for their sketch “Appalachian Emergency Room.”

The sketch went on, with Sudeikis taking Hader’s lines and moving Hader to his mark.

“[Sudeikis] was very sweet,” Hader told Meyers.

Hader co-created and starred in the HBO hit show “Barry” after leaving “SNL.” He will next voice the title role in “The Cat in the Hat,” an animated film set to be released in February.