Season 2 of "Barry" sees Bill Hader and Henry Winkler reprising their Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated roles in HBO’s killer comedy series about a depressed war vet-turned-hitman who finds passion and romance in a local acting class while on a job in Hollywood.
"Barry" is created and executive produced by Hader, a three-time Emmy nominee for "Saturday Night Live," and Alec Berg, an 18-time Emmy nominee for the likes of Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld.
"Violence has wrecked this guy’s soul," says Hader. "For him to become this killer, he was broken down; aspects of his personality are just gone. He needs to rebuild that. But instead of him being in group therapy, we thought it would be funnier if it was a stupid acting class in the valley."
"We both liked this idea of a guy who does not like what he’s great at but falls in love with something he might be terrible at, and what should he pursue: his brain or his heart?" says Berg. “Being an actor requires being known, and being a killer requires being unknown, so the whole show is really about the clash between those worlds."
Or as Hader puts it, "His job is in the shadows and he wants to live in the spotlight. And that doesn’t work."
As Season 2 opens, Barry (Hader) tries to extricate himself from a violent criminal triangle involving the Chechen, Bolivian and Burmese underworld – not to mention some deeply suspicious LA detectives and Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root from Get Out), Barry’s erstwhile boss, who has found it exceedingly difficult to hire a replacement as capable as his one-time ace assassin.
Other cast regulars Sarah Goldberg (Hindsight) as Sally, a dedicated acting student and Barry’s on- and off-again love interest; and Anthony Carrigan (Gotham) as NoHo Hank, now in the hot seat as the new head of the Chechen mob in LA.
"Barry" is currently streaming on Showmax.