The Genesis of Bill Hader’s Stefon Character

Bill Hader’s Stefon character, who he brought to SNL’s Weekend Update at the end of last season, has turned into one of his most popular creations. He writes those pieces with John Mulaney, and he recently detailed just how they came up with him:

“John had met, I don’t even know who it was – a friend of a friend or whatever – said, ‘You’ve got to go to this party. It’s got everything: groups, drinks …’ Somebody said that to him once, and he would walk around the office going, ‘It’s got everything. It’s …’ – you know, like that was his thing. And then I went to a coffee shop, in my neighborhood [and] a guy working there looked like Stefon and talked like that. And I would wait for my coffee every morning and just try to engage him in conversation, because I thought he was really funny. And I remember one time he was freaked out, because his mom was in town and his mom was staying with him. And I go, ‘Oh, where do you live?’ And he goes, (adopting the Stefon voice) ‘I live on the Lower, Lower East Side.’ And I just was like, ‘Oh my God!’ So I walked into work, and I started doing his voice, and then John had his list guy, and we just kind of put them together.”
The Genesis of Bill Hader’s Stefon Character