Bill Hader Explains Why He Doesn’t Sign Autographs Anymore

Despite receiving credit as a voice consultant for the role of BB-8, the ball-shaped robot in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Bill Hader admits he doesn’t enjoy signing merchandise related to the character. 

During a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hader explained how his voice work for BB-8 indirectly resulted in him deciding to stop signing autographs for fans. 

“I used to sign stuff, and then one time I saw somebody and they had their kid come up to me to sign a BB-8 thing and it was three in the morning,” the actor shared. “I was leaving the Inside Out premiere and then we went to an after-party thing and it was super late and this guy kept his kid up all night. [He] was like, ‘Go over there so he’ll sign it so I can sell it online.’”

“I was like, ‘That’s fucked up,’” Hader added. “So now, I just kind of blanket, like, I’m not signing any of this shit.”

Hader maintained that while he refrains from attaching his name to the Star Wars franchise, he’s more than appreciative about the opportunity awarded to him by J.J. Abrams.

“It’s very sweet that J.J. Abrams put my name on it, but I came in and did voice stuff for it that didn’t work,” he explained. “Then, he brought me in later and said, ‘Hey, do you want to do this.’ It was like a … talk box thing and then I did that. And the reason he hasn’t had me come back is because anybody can do that. It’s like a machine that you can operate.”