About six years ago, Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder met for the first time through a plexiglass barrier on a darkened soundstage, a setup so foreboding that Einbinder wondered out loud if the purported audition was a ruse to murder her. That COVID-era reading turned into five seasons of “Hacks,” a comedy series built on the abrasive, dysfunctional and ultimately loving relationship between Deborah Vance, a fading stand-up comedian, and Ava Daniels, a struggling comedy writer. Smart, 74, and Einbinder, 31, went from eyeing each other through plexiglass to creating one of the most endearing and entertaining teams in TV history, landing eight Emmy nominations and five wins between them so far.
The HBO Max show came to an end this year with a magnificent final episode in which the duo take a girls trip to Paris, where Deborah decides not to go through with her plan for assisted suicide in favor of writing jokes with Ava for her next stand-up special. It was entirely fitting that the finale, both heart-wrenching and joyous, focused on the two women who could not in any sense be considered hacks.
“I love the fact that there was so much humor and love and just silliness this season,” Smart said.
Einbinder agreed: “I think we get to see a physical closeness that doesn’t totally show up throughout the series. Only seldom did the women hug or even interact physically as much. But throughout that episode, the circumstances gave us license to integrate some of that physical closeness, which feels really warranted and earned.”
The two spoke to TheWrap the afternoon after the last episode aired, and their demeanors were a study in contrast. Smart was upbeat, joking, “No spoilers, my boyfriend is in the car!” as she recapped her favorite moments; Einbinder spoke softly and seemed burdened by the knowledge that the show that had changed her life was over.
“I have a feeling that, you know, today’s kind of the first day of the rest of my life, a little bit,” she said slowly. “The finale aired last night, and today’s the first day where there will be no more new ‘Hacks’ out there. We are all just holding each other through it. I think it’s definitely something we’re grieving, but we’re still having fun and laughing along the way.”
A pause. “We’re dealing with it.”
“Hannah was a series-finale virgin, you know,” explained Smart, who admitted that she had her own bittersweet moment when co-creator Lucia Aniello (with Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky) finished the last shot of the show’s last scene, which was filmed in an empty Louvre in Paris.
“When Lucia said, ‘That’s a series wrap on “Hacks”,’ that was something to hear,” Smart said. “It was kind of odd, because there were just a handful of us in the museum. That made it kind of sad.”
While filming much of that last episode in Paris, Einbinder confessed that she was “a wreck,” and said she keeps seeing visual evidence in the form of photos taken on the set. “I’m totally collapsed into her arms and she’s just holding me,” she said. “I felt very supported by her in my more hysterical moments.”
But from the start, this was a relationship forged in support. The day before Einbinder came to that darkened soundstage to read with Smart back in 2020, the veteran actress called the young comic with no acting experience. “She encouraged me to have fun,” Einbinder said. “It was so nice. I was like, ‘Wow, she really wants me to do a good job.’”
Right away, something clicked. “The chemistry was immediate,” Smart said. “Just pure luck on our parts. But they combined that with a really well-executed and unusual plotline. I don’t recall any other movies or TV shows that have that kind of relationship.”
Einbinder still spent the first three seasons worried that she wasn’t talented enough to be starring opposite Smart, notwithstanding the reviews, viewership and Emmy nominations. “I think I just needed undeniable proof over and over that I was doing a good job,” she said. “At one point I had a breakthrough and realized, The evidence is overwhelming. I cannot rationally deny that I am good at this.”
Smart added, “She had natural instincts for it, but I did watch her become more and more confident. I won’t say that she got better, because to me she was always spot-on, but she got more confident.”
The first four seasons brought Smart four Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to go with the three she’d already won in the supporting and guest categories, solidifying a late-career renaissance that included her dramatic work in “Fargo,” “Watchmen” and “Mare of Easttown.” For Einbinder, they brought four nominations, one Emmy…and a career.
“I have no idea where I would be without ‘Hacks,’” she said. “I was a touring comedian, mostly opening for bigger acts, and I imagine that would have been my sole focus. I had no plans to be an actor. I owe everything to the show. Absolutely everything.”
Now they both have to adapt to life without “Hacks.” Einbinder is starring in Jane Schoenbrun’s upcoming “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” a subversive spin on horror flicks that won raves at Cannes, while Smart is mulling over her next steps.
“I feel grateful that we don’t have to go cold turkey,” she said. “We’ll probably have 10 more months of interviews and promoting the show through award season. So that’s a nice thing for us.”
And make no mistake, Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels will still be spending time together. Asked if she pictures herself keeping in touch with Smart, Einbinder broke into a rare laugh.
“Yeah, of course,” she said. “We already have our next hang on the books.”
This story first appeared in the Comedy Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the issue here.
