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In the second season of HBOsBarry, things are really looking up for Barry Berkman.
Life is pretty much still a mess for the recovering hit man and aspiring actor played by Bill Hader.
Hes forced to transform NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan) and his band of Chechen boneheads into brutal assassins.
Hes lied to Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler) about his past.
(After this conversation, HBO confirmed that it haspicked upBarryfor a third season.)
Or were you not sure at that point whether there was going to be a second season?
Its kind of like little milestones that are in our head, you know?
But we didnt have it super, super mapped out.
We didnt know what season two was going to be until we started writing it.
Basically, you just want to be wrong fast.
And they pick it apart and say, Wouldnt this have this?
Or, I dont even care about that guy.
That at least gets a conversation going.
But a little part of that actually, you know, this thing about Sallys ex-husband, thats interesting.
Then a writer will be like, Isnt that important?
Thats a great idea, and that goes up on the board.
So we might talk about Fuchesstooth.
That would go in the first one.
And then Barry teaches Chechens, thatll go in the third column.
And then while were shooting three and four were doing big rewrites on the next two.
It was pretty, Oh, I get where all this goes.
Where season two is a little different.
NoHo Hank has a bigger role this season.
Yeah, no, he died in the pilot.
Thats what was written
Is that right?
Is that Hank was killed, yeah.
And Anthony [Carrigan] was so funny that we were like, we cant kill him.
Were not killing Hank, right?
Its like no, no, no, no, weve got to figure that out.
Because that guy, what a character.
That is so much just based on what Anthony did with it.
Youve gotta say Wouldnt it be great if three days ahead of time and be ready for it.
That helps, but really, I barely know my lines.
You know what I mean?
But I just like behavior.
Im more interested in behavior rather than the exact words theyre saying.
As an actor, have you ever come in contact with a Sally?
With somebody who is that precious and self-involved?Yeah, but not just women.
Alec and I talked about that character as not just a woman, men, too, you know?
Its a bang out of actor.
Not even all the time actors.
Its a lot of narcissism in Los Angeles.
That was the cool thing about being onSaturday Night Live.
You get to see all of these people come in who I thought were really awesome.
Like Justin Timberlake shows up with, like, nobody, its just him.
And hes like, Where do you want me?
Who had the biggest entourage that it’s possible for you to recall?I dont remember.
I guess a lot of them.
They all had about the exact same size entourages.
Was Justin Timberlake the only one who came in without one?No, no, no.
And Justin Timberlake had that, too.
Its like, whoa!
Or, We have a note for you on this sketch, or whatever.
Also Alec and I, especially, just considering Sallys character was abused.
I dont know what thats like.
Alec doesnt know what thats like.
So we talked to a lot of people.
A good actor will bring you that.
You directed two episodes this season, episode five and the finale.
Its a very visual episode.
And then episode eight was our finale its certain things you connect to.
I hope he had a great time because he just does amazing work.
But it is always hard for the first episode back to be directed by someone who isnt the showrunner.
Hiro is such a genius and someone that it’s possible for you to do that with.
But you’re able to only really do that with someone of Hiros caliber.
Because its kind of like handing them a piece of paper that says, Read my mind.
The flashbacks to Barrys first kill in Afghanistan have been really important this season.
So it was very thought-out.
This is much more ingrained in me than I thought.
But not have a lot of flashbacks.
So lets just focus on a small number of them and relate it to a very specific incident.
In this case, its not really that.
Hes in a video game.
And the new guy just got the highest score onStreet Fighter.
And everybody went Waaaaaah!
and all the new kids, the older kids at school, are like, That was amazing.
You know what I mean?
Thats how it should be treated.
Im wondering, how do you and the other writers decide whats too dark?
Its always trying to keep the gore factor to a place thats much more Id rather be shocking.
You know what I mean?
The scene just becomes about that.
And Im like, Oh, thats how we should shoot the scene.
So, what are the elements we need for that?
You dont need all the gore, and the gore will take that away.
Yeah, theyre pretty amazing.
Every once in a while, they might.
Theres kind of that rare thing where theyre like, Can we make this a little bit more subtle?
Which is very rare.
And HBOs usually like, No, we get it.
Dont worry about it.
Just be more subtle.
I figured theyd be pretty cool with you guys, considering that they also broadcastGame of Thrones.
How long do you want the show to run?
Do you and Alec have a sense of how much story there is to tell?
Or is that still open-ended?I mean, its still pretty open-ended.
We talk about a number, but Im not gonna tell you what it is.
But, I mean, we talk.
he went, Ugh, thats a terrible idea.
That conversation was like, He can go from here to here to here.
And were the only people who know what that is.
So, thats changed a bit.
We didnt know any of this stuff when we first talked about this.
But we kind of always thought,Oh, maybe this is a direction its going in.
So, were going to kinda take a stab at keep that.
We always talk aboutBarryas a true-crime story youd read about inVanity Fair.
You know those bigVanity Fairtrue-crime stories?
Or a podcast.Or a podcast.
We talk to the writers, like, pretend this actually happens.
This is a thing that actually happened, and thats the tone.
How would we write it?
You know what I mean?
We havent said the full story, the full kind of headline of the series yet.
Its still getting there, if that makes sense.
But that headline might change.
Do you think Barry has the potential to actually succeed in acting?Well, heres the thing.
Hes not very talented, but succeeding and being talented, thats two different things.
I mean, he could still succeed.
But I dont think hes talented.
So, we dont know.
I mean, thats a big question.
Its like, Well, he stinks.
And then wed go, Well, there are a lot of really famous people who stink.
So, who knows whatll happen with him.
Its like he falls into it.
But he wasnt acting.
But if Im in the audience, I dont know that.Right, but can he do that again?
Maybe he should just work at Lululemon.
Maybe thats the answer.I think he should just work at Lululemon.
For all of our sakes.
