Bill Hader has entered a busy new career phase following the acclaimed four-season run of his HBO series Barry, which earned him two consecutive Emmy awards. After a quiet spell that included only a voice role in the animated film Life, the actor and director now has an animated version of The Cat in the Hat arriving in UK cinemas, alongside plans to direct his first major feature, a psychological horror film.

The Cat in the Hat, made by the studio behind The Lorax, is due for UK release on 4th December, while Hader's directorial debut, a horror project about a divorced father wary of his ex-wife's new partner, has reportedly won praise from Hereditary director Ari Aster and is expected in 2027. Hader has also said his 2014 film The Skeleton Twins, co-starring Kristen Wiig, was the moment he first felt like a genuine actor, adding he wished he'd embraced that identity sooner. He is separately attached to an HBO series about the 1978 Jonestown massacre, in which he would direct and play cult leader Jim Jones.