Hader: Megan Mullally gave me a career

NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. actor and comedian Bill Hader says that if it weren't for actress Megan Mullally, he might still be helping edit "Iron Chef" episodes.

Hader lends his voice to the protagonist, Flint Lockwood, in the animated blockbuster "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," which was No. 1 at the box office when it opened in the United States last weekend.

Best known for his days as a cast member on "Saturday Night Live," Hader has also appeared in the films "Superbad," "Tropic Thunder," "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" and "Adventureland."

Asked at a recent New York press conference to describe his big break in show business, Hader recalled his fortuitous run-in with Mullally, a former co-star on TV's "Will & Grace."

"I was working as an assistant editor for 'Iron Chef' and I was doing sketch comedy in my free time, and I went to a show and Megan Mullally was in the audience because her brother-in-law was in the show, and afterward she was like, 'You were really funny!' And I didn't think anything of it," Hader told reporters. "And then, a month later at 'Iron Chef,' an editor was getting mad at me and basically saying, 'You'll never become an editor because you can't even be an assistant editor....' And Megan Mullally called me and said, 'I told (SNL producer) Lorne Michaels about you and he wants to meet you.' I had no manager, no agent, no headshot. Totally, Megan Mullally just gave me a career. I owe everything to her."