Bill Hader Had Anxiety Attacks at ‘SNL,’ Says Lorne Michaels Came to His Dressing Room to Tell Him to ‘Calm the F— Down. Just Have Fun. Jesus Christ’
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels is the subject of Susan Morrison’s upcoming biography “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” a lengthy excerpt from which was published by The New Yorker and reveals Michaels’ hot and cold relationship with the ever-changing cast over the years.
Michaels may be the boss of “SNL,” but he wasn’t always a loving paternal figure. Alec Baldwin, who has hosted “SNL” 17 times and had a stint playing Donald Trump, told Morrison that Michaels is “Darwinian” in his management style in that “Lorne just stands back and lets them cannibalize each other.” But Morrison writes that Michaels “is flexible about the talent-management aspect of his producer role.
Different personalities, he believes, require different approaches.” “To some, Michaels will bark, ‘Don’t fuck it up,'” Morrison continues. “Bill Hader, who is prone to anxiety attacks, remembers Michaels coming to his dressing room when he hosted and snapping, ‘Calm the fuck down.
Just have fun. Jesus Christ.’ With others, he is warmer. Molly Shannon treasures the memory of how, when she was nervous just before going onstage, Michaels would ‘reassure me with his eyes.'” But giving praise to his cast members was not routine for Michaels.
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