HBO has given a series order to “Barry,” a half-hour comedy starring Bill Hader, Variety has confirmed.
The series will star Hader as an ex-Marine who works as a low-rent hitman in the Midwest. Lonely and dissatisfied in his life, he begrudgingly travels to Los Angeles to kill someone and ends up finding an accepting community in a group of eager hopefuls within the L.A. theater scene.
Hader and Alec Berg (“Silicon Valley”) will serve as executive producers and writers, with Hader directing the pilot.
Starring alongside Hader will be Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau, an inspiring acting teacher; Stephen Root as Fuches, a man who arranges Barry’s hits; Sarah Goldberg as Sally, an aspiring actress who is Barry’s entree into LA’s theater scene; Anthony Carrigan as Noho Hank, a Chechen gangster; and Glenn Fleshler as Goran Pazar, a Chechen gangster.
“Barry” is the first scripted project to receive a series order at HBO since Casey Bloys was named the network’s programming president last month, following the departure of Michael Lombardo.
The series joins Judd Apatow and Pete Holmes’ “Crashing,” Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Divorced” and Issa Rae’s “Insecure” on HBO’s slate of upcoming comedies. It will begin shooting in Los Angeles in 2017.
Deadline first reported the order.
