'You Think He's Asleep But...' The Funny Titanic-Related Reason Bill Hader Once Got Fired From His Movie Theater Job

When thinking of the iconic filmTitanic, Bill Hader doesn’t immediately rank in association with the James Cameron masterpiece. Funnily enough, though, the Saturday Night Live alum has a pretty hilarious connection to it because it's the reason he got canned from his ticket-taking duties at his local cinema. And recently, he recalled the full story behind why the Titanic's (and Jack's) fate led to his firing.

Now, this story was told on the latest episode of Everybody's Live with John Mulaney (which you can stream with a Netflix subscription). If you’ve seen the show that's airing on Netflix's 2025 schedule, you know there’s a nice surprise of layers of personal touches throughout, including the conversations had. The specific topic for Episode 5 had to do with getting fired from a job, and while Hader admitted he’d been canned from a few, the one he elaborated on involved him working at his local cinema.

His story began with a group of sorority girls showing up to see Titanic at said cinema, as he explained:

Now, since Titanic has been out for well over 25 years and it's available with a Prime subscription, it's hard to imagine spoiling it. However, when it first came out, giving up the ending must have been an absolutely massive deal, because while we all know the ship sinks, Jack and Rose's fates were unknown.

OK, keep that in mind, that information will be important later.

Hader continued his story, and noted that the members of the sorority weren’t being cooperative and even started poking fun at his appearance, likening him to a cult leader (which he agreed with, a little). The funnyman shared:

The whole scene is so ‘90s, and weirdly, Bill Hader to me. It’s an incredibly niche happening, fit for an SNL skit, and I can only imagine young him processing it all in real time (and in a cummerbund, no less).

As he continued the saga, he shared that spoiling Titanic, in his mind, would be how he got them back. When it was time for their showing, he tore their tickets, like normal, and told them to have a good time. But he also shared some major spoilers, saying:

Now, don’t get me wrong, him ruining the ending for the girls isn’t anything I usually advocate for. The fact that the Skeleton Twins actor slickly stymied their viewing experience after the whole interaction is what I’m mostly here for. Although, the thought of someone spoiling any 2025 movie schedule title like that would make me pretty upset.

But, don’t worry, if you’re on the fence about the whole morality of it, that’s when the firing happened. Hader said it happened almost immediately after the group left his area, and while the manager was amused by it all, he still kicked him to the curb all the same:

Again, the story of Hader revealing one of the most heartbreaking movie deaths to a group of bully-esque sorority sisters is comedy gold. My mind goes to a few places. First, it makes me even sadder that Hader didn't appear at SNL 50 (understandably, though). Second, I wonder if any of those women turned into viewers who only watch the first half of Titanic because of their run-in while seeing it for the first time.

Either way, the Titanic and Bill Hader may now be synonymous in my head, and I can't say I'm mad about that.