Bill Hader stopped signing merchandise for fans after ‘f***ed up’ encounter
Bill Hader has said that autograph people 'don't like him' because he outright refuses to sign merchandise after one 'f***ed up' experience with a fan.
The Barry actor revealed that a man who tried to get him to sign a BB-8 doll ruined autographs for him forever.
Both Bill and comedian Ben Schwartz are credited as voice consultants for BB-8 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but no matter how many fans ask him to sign their Star Wars merch, he refuses.
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Speaking to the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Bill said of autographs: "I do not sign them... Autograph people don’t like me. I won’t sign things."
When asked what turned him off the simple fan interaction, the SNL alum explained: "You know what it was? I used to sign stuff, and then one time I saw somebody and they had their kid come up to me to sign a BB-8 thing and it was three in the morning.
"I was leaving the Inside Out premiere and then we went to an after-party thing and it was super late and this guy kept his kid up all night.
"[He] was like, ‘Go over there so he’ll sign it so I can sell it online'."
Bill continued: "I was like, ‘That’s f***ed up'. So now, I just kind of blanket, like, I’m not signing any of this s**t."
You have to admit, no matter how much you might want to ask Bill for an autograph if you see him on the street, he's got quite a valid reason to say no.
Bill also spoke a little more about his Star Wars experience, and admitted that he likely made little to no impact on BB-8's voice.
"It’s very sweet that J.J. Abrams put my name on it, but I came in and did voice stuff for it that didn’t work," he said.
"Then, he brought me in later and said, ‘Hey, do you want to do this.’ It was like a … talk box thing and then I did that.
"And the reason he hasn’t had me come back is because anybody can do that. It’s like a machine that you can operate.
"I did some voice stuff that just didn’t work, so I’m not really sure what Ben [Schwartz] did, but I just know that was my experience doing it."
Maybe it's not worth it for Star Wars fans to try and get Bill Hader to sign their merch after all!
Ali Condon