Bill Hader Talks Anxiety Behind Absence from SNL Anniversary

NEW YORK, NY — Bill Hader revealed on August 5, 2025, that he missed the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special due to his ongoing battle with anxiety, not a scheduling conflict as previously thought.

During an interview, Hader recounted a conversation he had with SNL alum Andy Samberg. Samberg reached out about participating in a digital short that discussed anxiety. Hader reflected, “When he told me that, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do that.’”

Hader, breaking into an impression of Samberg, shared how Samberg urged him to change his mind, saying, “Come on, man! What do you mean? No!” Hader further elaborated that current cast member Bowen Yang took on his role in the short titled “Anxiety.” “He was great,” Hader added.

Hader has been open about his struggles with anxiety throughout his tenure on SNL. He explained that the anticipation before going live triggered immense anxiety. “The minute they say, ‘we’re live,’ it’s a level of anxiety I never felt before,” he revealed.

He described how he would sometimes retreat to a bathroom stall to cope, saying, “Before shows, I would go into a bathroom that was way down this hall, go into a stall and have a full-blown panic attack, crying, the whole thing. And then I go and get in a giant banana costume.”

Hader expressed that while he grappled with nerves, his co-stars seemed unfazed. “You were never [anxious],” he told Seth Meyers. “You were so calm.” He compared his feelings to those of Meyers and Amy Poehler, noting their composure on stage while he struggled with anxiety.

“You guys went out there, and I was, like, trembling,” he said, reminiscing about the moments on stage when something went wrong, contrasting how they handled it with his own experiences.