Bill Hader to play hitman in HBO comedy series

Bill Hader is taking his comedic skills to HBO.

The Saturday Night Live veteran, who's making a second season of IFC's Documentary Now! with fellow SNL vets Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers, will star in Barry, a new comedy series that begins shooting in Los Angeles in 2017, HBO announced Thursday.

Hader will play "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," according to the show description.

The pilot's cast includes Henry Winkler as an acting teacher; Stephen Root, who arranges Barry's hits; Sarah Goldberg as an aspiring actress; and Anthony Carrigan and Glenn Fleshler as Chechen gangsters.

Hader also will write and direct. He shares executive producer duties with Alec Berg (HBO's Silicon Valley), who has worked on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and comedy classic Seinfeld.

Hader's film roles include The Skeleton Twins and They Came Together.