Why Bill Hader Refuses To Give 'Star Wars' Autographs

Actor Bill Hader is not one to give autographs, especially not on "Star Wars" merchandise that includes BB-8.

Some fans might not know that the “Barry” star and Ben Schwartz provided the voice of the iconic droid, and were both credited as “BB-8 vocal consultants” in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy, which consisted of 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” 2017’s “The Last Jedi,” and 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.”

However, the 44-year-old comedian refuses to sign autographs on "Star Wars" merch, and he has a pretty good reason for it.

In an April 2023 appearance on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, the "Superbad" actor confirmed "I don't sign them" when asked about signing "Star Wars" merchandise. "Autograph people don't like me," he added. "I won't sign things."

There was actually one particular incident that caused him to stop signing merchandise. "You know what it was? 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," Hader recalled.

Unfortunately, it seems like Hader is good with faces, as he recognized that kid later on in the day. "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 f---ed up,'" he continued. "So now, I just kind of blanket, like, I'm not signing any of this s---." And that's not the only reason that Hader won't sign BB-8 merchandise. Although he got credit as a voice consultant, he felt that most of his ideas "didn't work."

"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," Hader 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."

Believe it or not, but "The Force Awakens" and "The Rise of Skywalker" director J.J. Abrams actually created BB-8's iconic "voice" by manipulating their voices through a talkbox that was attached to an iPad that was running a sound effects app.

Although it's unclear what he contributed, Hader doesn't feel like it amounted to much. "I did some voice stuff that just didn't work, so… I'm not really sure what Ben [Schwartz] did, but I just know that was my experience doing it," Hader added.

Actress Daisy Ridley confirmed that she would return for another "Star Wars" movie at the Star Wars Celebration event in London last month. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed that the film would take place fifteen years after the events of "The Rise of Skywalker."

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly shortly after the event, Kennedy confirmed that the story will involve Rey trying to rebuild the Jedi Order fifteen years after the First Order was destroyed.

“As we move into the future space — this story is about 15 years outside of The Rise of Skywalker — obviously we realized post-war, post–First Order rise of the New Jedi Order, we left episode 9 with Rey making a commitment to Luke Skywalker that she would rebuild the Jedi Order,” Kennedy said.

“And so here we are — we’re ready to do that. And it took a lot of discussion because obviously we’ve been developing stories in different spaces, and television has been a big focus of our attention right now,” she continued. “But there’s still so much interest in what happens after The Rise of Skywalker. So we’re excited to be doing that.”

At this time, Daisy Ridley is the only actress attached to the project. However, Kennedy has teased that “It’s entirely possible to see some people come back.” So far, no release date for the film has been announced.