People might think that the funniest thing to happen to Saturday Night Live is one of the iconic legacy characters like Mary Katherine Gallagher or Chad or Matt Foley, when in reality it’s none of those. It’s not even a character at all. In fact, it’s Bill Hader’s cute little face when he cannot stop making himself laugh as Stefon, New York City’s busiest city correspondent and club promoter (this was before Nicholas Braun’s time).
Stefon was one of Hader’s most beloved characters who would show up and spew some NYC nonsense while trying to hold it together, often failing. But when it was time for Hader to graduate from SNL University, many thought that he would take Stefon to new heights, which could also be the name of New York’s hottest new club where you can free fall from a skyscraper while sipping martinis… or something.
Hader was recently asked by The New Yorker if he felt a type of pressure to venture into movie territory with his hit SNL character, along with the likes of other beloved SNL bits. “Oh yeah, a hundred percent,” Hader explained, adding that he felt like he didn’t know where to go after leaving the late-night show. “It’s this weird combination of being open, but also clearly knowing what you don’t want. Like, nah, I don’t want to do a Stefon movie. It didn’t work as a sketch! That’s why it was on ‘Weekend Update.’ And the reason people liked it is because I kept laughing.”
In the past, SNL-inspired movies have been either hits or BIG misses, and Hader didn’t seem to think that Stefon would work as a standalone character. Clearly, he hasn’t seen Zoolander in a while.
Hader left SNL in 2013, and he had fears that people would forget about him, and therefore Stefon. “I just was kind of burnt out,” he told The New Yorker. “I remember leaving SNL and doing some press for this animated movie I was in, and most of the press was people going, like, ‘All right, well, you’re leaving ‘SNL’ It was nice knowing you! We might never see you again!’
Despite the setback, Hader is doing fine on his own. Maybe he’ll pop back behind the desk every once in a while, but he has some other things to deal with lately, mainly by reinstalling the fear of dying at the hands of quicksand into the cultural consciousness.
