The Barry Cast Had A Major Say In The Direction Of Their Characters

The end of "Barry" is nigh, and while we don't know exactly where these characters will end up, we do know that the actors had a major say in it. The very nature of the show intertwines the roles of performer and creator: Bill Hader isn't just the star, he also co-created the series. He's written several "Barry" episodes and directed plenty too (including the entire fourth season), showing off his filmmaking chops in the process. 

Hader's experience on both sides of the camera might be why, according to his co-stars, he's generous about letting their perceptions inform their characters. Ahead of the series finale, the "Barry" main cast sat down with the Los Angeles Times for a group interview. Henry Winkler (Gene Cousineau) and Sarah Goldberg (Sally Reed) both described how Hader gave them a voice at the table.

According to Winkler, he was concerned after the table read for "Barry" season 2, feeling that the Gene in that script wasn't "the one [he] created last year." So, he talked himself into speaking to Hader and co-creator Alec Berg about it ("Being a short Jew, [I] am always anxious"). Winkler recounted how it went down:

"They said, 'We'll never repeat ourselves.' And from that day on, I never thought about, 'Ooh, how am I going to do this?' Or 'Ooh, this is different.' I just go to the set, and Bill takes me to another country."

Winkler told this same story to Variety, but added that Hader and Berg reassured him that, "the jokes will be there." After that, his concerns were simpler: "The one question that I asked Bill every year, without fail, is, 'Am I dead?' And he says no, and then I don't care what happens. I'm happy as a lark."

Gene began "Barry" season 2 in a dour mood; his girlfriend Detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome) was murdered by Barry in the season 1 finale after she discovered the truth about him. Thus, Gene doesn't want to act or teach anymore and has to be cajoled into reopening his theater by a stirring performance from Barry. Even with the dramatic circumstances, this was unusual behavior for a spotlight hog like Gene.

In the aforementioned Variety interview, Winkler reiterated that he's learned to enjoy the ride Hader and Berg plot out:

"What I think is that they keep painting themselves into a corner. I've now turned the man in. I've lost the love of my life. Where does it go from here? I've learned not to question. I've learned to go where they take us."

The penultimate "Barry" episode, "a nice meal," ended with Gene backed into the worst corner yet; he's been arrested and accused of being the mastermind behind Janice's murder. With only one episode to go, can he get out of this one?

Hader, who emphasized to the LA Times that "['Barry'] is a collaboration," said he also goes to his co-stars for insights into their characters. During the production of season 4, he asked Goldberg why she thinks Sally would go back to Barry. She answered, "I think he makes her feel safe." Ergo, that's exactly what Sally tells Barry when she visits him in prison during season 4, episode 2 — "bestest place on the earth."

Goldberg says that Hader asked her at the beginning where she wanted Sally's journey to lead. "I was like, 'I don't care what we do; by the end, I wanna go full 'Woman Under the Influence' or 'Opening Night,'" she recalled. "He went, 'All right, you got it.' And he held true to his promise."

The two films Goldberg namedropped were both the work of director John Cassavetes. In both, his wife and muse Gena Rowlands plays a woman on the verge of insanity. In "Influence," she's a housewife, and in "Opening Night" she's an actress. The latter seems like the more fitting comparison for Sally, but season 4's surprise time jump stuck her into a facsimile of domestic life with Barry and their son John.

Sally has been coming undone since the midpoint of season 3, when her original series "Joplin" was canceled. Since then she's had two public meltdowns and in the season 3 finale — "starting now" — she killed a home invader in self-defense. Her Hollywood dreams are dead and she's spent eight years cooped up with Barry and John in the middle of nowhere. She's already experiencing hallucinations ... will the finale see her come undone for good? 

"Barry" airs on HBO and is streaming on Max. The series finale airs Sunday, May 28, 2023, at 10:30 p.m. EST.