Bill Hader says his Superbad character was inspired by a real police officer who arrested him

Bill Hader has revealed the inspiration behind one of his most iconic movie characters.

The actor has been involved in so many memorable projects over the years, however Superbad fans laud him for his portrayal of Officer Slater.

He, along with Seth Rogen's Officer Michaels, were amazing as cops who have a run-in with the main cast in the hilarious film.

While it might seem like Hader was playing just your run-of-the-mill police officer, there was actually a real-life cop who the actor had an interaction with when he was younger and he based Officer Slater on that.

During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel's talkshow, the Barry star recalled: "My dad did the classic 'let me tell you something I did, but hey, you guys can't do this,' and we were like, 'Uh-huh'.

"He was like, 'We used to take two trash cans and put fishing wire between 'em and we'd put one on either side of the street and when a car goes through, the trash cans go bop on the side of the car.

"It was hilarious, but don't do that.' And we were like, 'Okay!'"

But Bill and his mates definitely did it one night and they unfortunately targeted a police car during their attempt.

However, it definitely didn't go according to plan.

"It's really late at night. We're at a park, we're waiting, and here comes a car. I'm like, 'Alright, ready, go!' And we pull it up," he said.

Columbia Pictures

"The car goes through...it's a cop car," Hader said.

"The rope is too long that the trash cans go behind the car and they bang into each other, so it looks like he just got married."

The police officer got out and inspected all the noise.

Bill tried to look inconspicuous and just stood by his own card smoking a cigarette.

But the cop didn't buy the act.

"He was like, 'F**k you!'" Hader added.

"He had a flashlight and then he made me pick up beer cans. I got arrested afterwards."

While Officer Slater might have come off looking like your average cop, Bill certainly had some divine inspiration, even down to the way the man looked, when he was cast in the 2007 film Superbad.

And it seems like the whole experience paid off because he was hilarious and fantastic in that movie.

Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie