Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg: 'Barry' crisis leads to more violence

LOS ANGELES, April 24 (UPI) -- Bill Hader said his hit man character, Barry Berkman, continues to inadvertently hurt people he cares about in Season 3, premiering Sunday.

"His boneheaded way of trying to get in touch with himself ends up really hurting a lot of people," Hader said on a Television Critics Association Zoom panel. "I don't think he knew the extent that he's hurt people, and I think that's what he's kind of learning."

Hader, 43, created Barry with Alec Berg. Barry tried to retire from the assassination business to become an actor, but crime continues to follow him in the HBO series' first two seasons.

Barry takes acting classes with Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler). At the end of the second season, Gene found out that Barry is actually a hit man.

"Every time Barry has a change of heart, every time Barry wants to improve his life, I'm black and blue," Winkler said.

Hader was a Saturday Night Live cast member from 2005 to 2013. Before Barry, he co-created Documentary Now and starred in films like Tropic Thunder and Trainwreck.

Winkler, 76, has been acting since the '70s, when he played Arthur Fonzarelli on Happy Days.

"I was 27 when I came to Hollywood and I got The Fonz," Winkler said. "Then, I was 72 when I got the call from Bill and Alec to be in the show, Barry. I am overwhelmed that I continue to live my dream, actually."

Winkler said he also has been in Gene's position teaching acting, and he draws upon that for his role.

"I'm not sure I know what I'm talking about," Winkler said. "But it is my pleasure to try and get them to taste something different than they came into the room with -- just by pushing them a little bit."

Sarah Goldberg, 35, plays Sally Reed, another aspiring actor in Gene's class. Before Barry, Goldberg had roles in the movies The Dark Knight Rises and Crown Heights, and a lead role on the series Hindsight.

Although Sally's career does not lead to violence, Goldberg said Season 3 finds her at a crossroads.

"All the characters on the show are constantly grappling with who they want to be, who they think they could be, a better version of themselves that they're trying to become," Goldberg said. "There's all these fork-in-the-road moments, and they all tend to make poor choices."

Season 2 of Barry aired in 2019. The cast and crew were ready to film season 3 in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut production.

Hader said the cast had a table read for the season premiere two weeks before filming was to begin. Then, they expected to be able to regroup in May 2020.

Until they resumed production in 2021, Hader and the writers spent their down time writing.

"We decided to write Season 4, and then while we were doing that, we went back and did a pretty extensive rewrite of Season 3," Hader said.

Barry airs Sundays at 10 p.m. EDT on HBO.