Bill Hader Talks Addams Family 2, Celebrating Halloween, and His Love of Horror Movies

Everyone’s favorite creepy and kooky family has returned with The Addams Family 2, following up on the successful animated adventures of the previous 2019 film. While most of the original cast returned to reprise their roles, this sequel sees the introduction of Cyrus Strange, as voiced by Bill Hader. Given his history with the characters and that he was offered an opportunity to voice a mad scientist, the actor noted how easy of a decision it was to get involved in the project and how, when it came to voicing the character, he had a “gut instinct” about channeling the figure. The Addams Family 2 is in theaters and on Premium VOD now.

“I remember watching the original TV show on Nick at Nite and the Barry Sonnenfeld movies in the ’90s, I was the perfect age for that. I loved those,” Hader revealed to ComicBook.com of his connection to the characters. “I loved the acting in those, it was really fun. Joan Cusack was in the second one, she was really funny. Then when the first animated movie came out, I really liked that, so it was nice to get the call, to say, ‘Do you want to play this mad scientist?’ ‘Yeah, absolutely.’”

When it came to developing the voice, Hader noted, “It is a gut instinct thing when you’re doing these. They show you a picture of the character and say he’s a mad scientist and you just try some things. You work with the director and you find it. This one was pretty easy, I’ve worked on other jobs where it’s harder and jobs where you’ve gone one direction for a couple of sessions and they say, ‘You know what? This isn’t working. We’ve gotta go another way.’”

The new film is described, “Everyone’s favorite spooky family is back in the animated comedy sequel, The Addams Family 2. In this all-new movie we find Morticia and Gomez distraught that their children are growing up, skipping family dinners, and totally consumed with ‘scream time.’ To reclaim their bond they decide to cram Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester and the crew into their haunted camper and hit the road for one last miserable family vacation. Their adventure across America takes them out of their element and into hilarious run-ins with their iconic cousin, IT, as well as many new kooky characters. What could possibly go wrong?”

While the new film might not be a full-blown horror story, the actor reflected on the first genre films that left an impact on him growing up as a kid.

“I actually looked it up and I found it but I forget the name of the movie, but there was a trailer for a horror film in the early ’80s and I remember there was an image of a school bus going into fog and then zombies on the school bus. Like, they went into the fog and all the kids turn into zombies, I think that was it,” Hader shared of his first memories of horror movies. “But I remember seeing that commercial and being unable to sleep. And then the first proper horror film I remember watching outside of old monster movies and stuff, but one that I was not supposed to watch, was probably The Lost Boys. I was nine when the movie came out. It’s still a great movie. It’s really fun. That’s a touchstone for anybody of my generation, is that movie.”

The Addams Family 2 will surely help audiences get into the spirit of Halloween, with Hader pointing out he typically turns to classics when it comes to celebrating All Hallow’s Eve.

“I just like watching the old horror movies on TV. Every Halloween night, I usually just have TCM playing all night, that’s what I love,” Hader pointed out. “And now with all the streaming services, it’s like Halloween … horror films I’ve forgotten about will pop up on the thing, like, ‘Oh yeah, I should watch that, I haven’t seen it in years.’ The Criterion Channel has all the great Universal horror movies up, and I watch those.”

Given that this is a revival of characters who first debuted in the ’30s and with Hader himself having starred in a new take on Stephen King’s IT, fans would surely be interested in seeing Hader involved in another revival of an older narrative, but the actor himself recalled that he’s been much more interested in new and ambitious horror movies as opposed to rehashing older stories.

“I’d rather figure out something original,” Hader reflected of his recent fascinations. “The stuff that I’ve really been digging is … I enjoyed the film It Follows when it came out, there’s a movie Raw that I liked, and another one I liked, Relic, with Emily Mortimer I thought was great. Those were the films I thought were great … [Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor]. And, obviously Get Out was great, and the stuff Ari Aster is doing, Hereditary and Midsommar, I thought were fantastic. Those are the ones I’m into a lot.”

One major theme of The Addams Family 2 is that the titular characters embark on an unexpected road trip, so were the opportunity to present itself, he’d be happy to borrow a Mad Max: Fury Road vehicle for a casual drive through town.

“I would love to go with Charlize [Theron] in the big rig from Fury Road, that’d be awesome. She wouldn’t even need the mechanical arm or whatever. I just think that would be … And we can just go in the city, just driving around the city, needing help to take turns and stuff. Being that truck that has to inch its way. Just have a slow, nice outing,” the actor shared of which co-star he’d like to take a road trip with. “Not to Bullet Town or anything, just a very nice, casual, windows down drive. Go to Burbank, try to go through the drive-through someplace, just try to manage that. Just a nice little outing.”

The Addams Family 2 is in theaters and on Premium VOD now.

Will you be checking out the sequel? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!