It’s never a good idea to antagonize service workers. Whether they’re cooking or serving you food, making your drink, or taking your ticket at the movie theater, they have more influence over your experience than you realize. Former SNL cast member Bill Hader recently sat down with John Mulaney on his Netflix talk show, Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney, and revealed why he decided to ruin the ending of Titanic for some moviegoers.
The Sorority Girls Told Him He Looked Like Charles Manson
Before Bill Hader joined SNL and introduced us to Stefon, Herb Welch, and other hilarious characters, he was doing odd jobs to get by. One of those was taking tickets at a movie theater. While he loved being able to see movies for free, dealing with rude moviegoers ended up being a dealbreaker for him.
“I was working in a movie theater, and Titanic hadn’t come out yet, and a sorority had bought out the movie theater and they were in the doorway and I was going, ‘Hey, guys. Can you guys move?’” Hader told Mulaney. “They were making fun of me. They said I looked like Charles Manson. Which I kinda did. I had a little bowtie on and cummerbund, and I was like, ‘Hey guys, please move.’ And they were like, ‘No.’”
“So when they went in, as I tore the tickets, I was like, ‘Enjoy the movie. The boat sinks at the end. Leo dies.’ And they were like, ‘No, he doesn’t.’ I go, ‘Yeah, you think he’s asleep. But he’s frozen.’ And that showed them,” he joked.
“The [manager] came down smiling, and he was like, ‘Hey, Bill. I have to fire you.’ He loved it,” the Barry actor recalled. “Couldn’t look me in the eye, though.”
Hader Previously Worked as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Personal Assistant
After the movie theater job ended, Hader began getting whatever jobs he could find in Hollywood. One of these was serving as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal assistant while filming Collateral Damage.
While talking to The Film Inquirer, Hader recalled several instances with the iconic actor. In one, everything was set up, and the directors were waiting for Schwarzenegger to come out to do an action scene. But he was busy in his trailer playing chess, and Hader was forced to be the one to tell the directors this.
“They were like, ‘well get him out,’ and I’m like, ‘hey, Arnold, they’re ready for you,” Hader said. Schwarzenegger’s reaction was to shrug and wave his hand. “So I wrote on a piece of paper, ‘Lose,’ and gave it to the guy [he was playing chess with].”
Unfortunately, this only resulted in Schwarzenegger grabbing the note to see what it said and then turning back to his chess partner, saying, “Let’s play another game.”