"Barry has to be earnest," Hader says. "He knows there's something wrong with him and legitimately wants to get better. In the first episode when Gene elicits that emotion out of Sally in acting class, Barry just knows: 'I need that.' But it wouldn't work if you pushed the comedy. The idea alone is really strange, so we figured let's just make sure the emotions are real."

Source: Los Angeles Times August 15, 2018 11:26 UTC