During his run in the long-running show, SNL, Bill Hader’s most popular character, Stefon became a huge fan-favorite after the character’s first appearance alongside Ben Affleck back in 2008. But despite garnering immense popularity for portraying the fictional character, the Inside Out star eventually departed from the show in 2013 and it seems he has no plans of reprising the role.
Even though Bill Hader hasn’t backed away from expressing his love for the character of Stefon, he did go on to reveal his reasons behind his decision to not return to the role after being approached by SNL.
Bill Hader believes that Stefon might not sit well with the modern audience
Despite being a regular member of SNL from 2005-2013 and appearing as the nervous nightlife reviewer, mostly during the Weekend Update Segment, Hader isn’t open to returning anytime soon. Even though Hader did go on to express his love for Stefon, his decision to not reprise the role seems to be a result of the current landscape of the audience. While speaking with The Guardian, the actor expressed that he doesn’t think that the character will sit well with many people nowadays. He said,
“I was like, ‘I don’t think that’s really a good thing to do now’… It made me back up a bit and say, ‘Wait, maybe people see this character a different way.’ Because I really love Stefon and it never occurred to me that he would be seen as a stereotype, and that really hurt.”
Even though Hader isn’t sure if the character would work in the current scenario but the Barry star hasn’t scrapped the possibility of reprising the role of the character in the future.
Bill Hader didn’t brush off the idea of reprising the role of Stefon in the future
Although Bill Hader did go on to make a guest appearance as Stefon back in 2018 on the long-running show, he wasn’t keen on fully returning to his iconic gig anytime soon. However, the Tropic Thunder Star hasn’t brushed off the idea and has discussed about the possibility of returning to the role of Stefon in the foreseeable future. Hader went on to state,
“The thought that anyone might think I was making fun of gay people really sucks. So I’m not saying I’d never play [that character] again, but not today.”
Even though Bill Hader still appears to be open to the idea of returning to his iconic gig in SNL when the time is right but it seems that it will not be anytime soon before the actor eventually returns as Stefon.
Source: The Guardian