Bill Hader likes to joke that he owes Finn Wolfhard for getting him the role of Richie Tozier in It Chapter Two. But it’s actually true: When It became a surprise success in 2017, every time the all-teen cast hit the red carpet, questioned about possibilities of a sequel, what everyone wanted to know was who would play their older counterpart. Wolfhard admits to saying Hader’s name “all the time,” and as luck would have it, director Andy Muschietti agreed. Within six months of the first film’s release, Hader was in talks to join the sequel.

While Wolfhard has become a recent staple in hit genre films and TV shows, thanks in large part to his role as Mike in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, Hader is best known for his comedy. After doing an eight-season run on the long-running Saturday Night Live, Hader went on to co-star in hits like Trainwreck and The Mindy Project, and was part of the voice cast for Bob’s Burgers, Finding Dory, Inside Out, and more. The two might have contrasting résumés, but in reality, the actors couldn’t be more similar— neither wanted to be an actor, both are quieter than what you might expect, and both had to quickly learn how to navigate fame as cast members for popular shows. Their similarities, in turn, made matching the older and younger versions of Richie a snap for the pair.

Sitting across from Wolfhard and Hader in Los Angeles late last month, their likeness is undeniable. Neither really expected their Hollywood careers to unfurl the way they have, and both men have an incredibly relaxed demeanor about it all, and a lackadaisical way of answering tough questions, even as we sat in a house with no air conditioning on a hot California morning.

GQ: You guys were both great in this film. I don’t know if you've seen the social reactions, but Richie seems to be the fan favorite right now.

Bill Hader: Oh, good.

Finn Wolfhard: That’s awesome.

Bill, coming in to this franchise, I imagine it’s a little harder to make a specific character your own because there’s been a few versions that people already know. How do you take a character like Richie and make him fresh?

BH: I don't really think about it too much. I just try to [think about] the story and what Andy [Muschietti]'s liking and reacting to the other actors and your own taste, really. [It’s about] just kind of trying stuff and being open to [the idea that] “sometimes it works, and sometimes nothing works.” That's all you can really do. We have a lot of freedom with Andy. I think there's only been two things that he's been like, “...no.”

I'm a big fan of Stephen King and I recently re-read The Shining. The first time I read it I was 13, and now I'm 40. I’m picking up on totally different things that I didn’t before, and the things that scared me then have changed. Because It is so rooted in trauma—and specifically childhood trauma—and its effects, and here you both are playing the same character across two different ages, what are each of your takes how your character experiences and overcomes trauma?

FW: I don't know. It's a tough one.

BH: I mean, you want to honor it, but you also want to say you're doing a big horror movie, so it's like this balance, you know what I mean?

FW: I feel like you don't want to go one way or the other.

BH: Yeah, you don’t want to make a glib thing but you also don't want to be so heavy. I think that's what makes It great is that it has a lot of things going for it—a lot of genres. I think that some of the best movies are the ones that aren't just “let's just see John run.” They kind of have everything going for it.