Bill Hader noticed something strange about a 1983 comedy. It changed the way he watched movies
Bill Hader says watching films as a child taught him to pay attention to who directed them, after he noticed that the same filmmaker could make very different kinds of movies. John Landis became a key example: his work on the 1983 comedy *Trading Places* helped Hader see how directors could move between genres, an influence that matters as Hader prepares to direct a psychological horror film.
Landis also directed *Animal House* and *An American Werewolf in London*. *Trading Places*, starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis, earned $120 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. Hader’s film *They Know* is due next year; he is also set to voice the title character in a new *Cat in the Hat* film, while a Jonestown miniseries is reported to be in development.
In short
- Bill Hader learned to follow directors’ careers as a young film fan.
- John Landis’s range across comedy and horror shaped his perspective.
- *Trading Places* earned $120 million from a $25 million budget.
Explained simply
Bill Hader is an American actor and comedian who has also moved into directing. Directors shape how a film is made, and some work across very different genres, from comedy to horror.
John Landis is one such director: his films include the comedies Animal House and Trading Places, as well as the horror comedy An American Werewolf in London. Trading Places, released in 1983 and starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis, became a major commercial success.
Hader has said noticing Landis’s range as a child changed how he watched films: he began paying attention to who directed them. That background helps explain his interest in directing a psychological horror film, a different genre from the comedy work for which he is widely known.
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