NEW YORK -- In the new animated movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader lends his voice to the role of Flint, the town nerd. It's the first time Hader worked on an animation project and it didn't take much to convince him to sign on.

"As soon as I saw the scene in the Jell-O castle, I said, 'I'm in.' "

Hader quickly discovered that the world of voiceovers isn't as easy as he thought.

"Making all of the character's nuances come out through my voice was one of the hardest things I've done in my life," he said. "You're alone in the studio and you have no idea of the end result."

In the Meatballs story, Flint becomes friends with Sam Sparks, his nerd-world alter ego. Played by Anna Faris (Observe and Report), Sam is a young New York reporter and weather nut looking for the scoop that will make her career. She finds the opportunity she's been looking for in the Meatballs town of Chewandswallow.

Faris said she immediately identified with her character.

"I was a total nerd too when I was younger. I would wear the Christmas tree skirt as a dress and make bee traps," she said.

"You can't beat that."