Superbad, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, remains a highly influential and quotable modern comedy, more than 15 years after its release in 2007. The movie has stood many tests of time, if not all of them, and that is in part thanks to some of its unforgettable characters. One of the most memorable characters is Bill Hader's half of the chaotic police duo (with the other cop played by Seth Rogen) who find themselves looking after Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Fogell “McLovin.” In a recent interview, the Barry actor revealed the inspiration for Officer Slater actually invovles a pretty wild story.
During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on which he was promoting the fourth and final season of HBO’s Barry, Bill Hader shared that his Superbad authority figure was inspired by a real-life bespectacled police officer who'd personally arrested the eventual SNL star in his youth after a prank went awry. According to the IT: Chapter 2 alum, that bit of influential trouble came about when his father shared an anecdote about a trick he pulled off in his own younger days. Hader told Kimmel:
My dad did the classic 'Oh, let me tell you something I did, but, hey, you guys can’t do this.' and we were like, 'Uh huh.'
The actor then recounted a story about his father's past pranks, in which he and his friends would place a fishing wire between two trash cans across the street from each other, hoping to cause passing cars to speedily run into the wire and send the cans careening into the automobiles. Hader found his father's anecdotes amusing, and though he was strongly advised against attempting the same trick, he ignored the warnings and attempted to pull off the same gag. Only he forgot a crucial detail from his dad's experience, as he explained:
He meant a residential street, we put it across a thoroughfare like four-lane street, and instead of fishing line, we had this giant piece of rope that went across, and we were like, 'This isn't working.'
Unfortunately, whenever their prank actually worked out successfully, the target was a police car, appropriately enough for this story. Hader amusingly recalled trying to act nonchalant in front of the unnerved officer, only to be reprimanded with expletives before being ordered to pick up litter. As he put it:
He [the cop] gets out and he’s like freaked, and I’m like — [mimics smoking a cigarette] — 'Something wrong sir? What’s going on? I heard something down there…; and he was like, 'Fuck you!'
The SNL vet shared that the officer who caught him and his friends during their prank made him pick up beer cans under a flashlight's glare, and he credits the unforgettable incident as the inspiration for his character in Superbad. He continued:
That guy had glasses and everything, and that is the guy that I based my character in Superbad on. I remember when I did that movie… and I go, 'I got messed with by a cop with glasses,' and Seth [Rogen] was like, 'Oh yeah, that's, like, so lame.’ They can't take a cop with glasses seriously!
The amusing story that Bill Hader shared about the creation of Officer Slater adds another interesting aspect to the already beloved comedy, showing how reality can be even more unique than fiction. The incident adds a hilarious depth to the movie, which has been cherished by audiences for the past two decades. You can see the entire amusing interview in the video below.
Hader can be seen flexing his comedic (and dramatic) chops when Barry Season 4 premieres on HBO and for those with an HBO Max subscription on Sunday, April 16th. Let's hope that the show can maintain its high quality until the end and not suffer from a disappointing finale, which has been an issue with some HBO series in the past. Fans of the comedian may also want to check out our compilation of his top movies and shows, as well as where to watch them.
