Plus, limited series Emmy nomination predictions, and more in EW’s “The Awardist” digital magazine.
Jaya Nicely
THE AWARDIST: Take me back to the Emmys and that Best Comedy win.
Scale of 1 to 10, how shocked were you?
‘Hacks’ stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder on the cover of EW’s ‘The Awardist’ digital magazine.Jaya Nicely
What were those feelings in that moment?
HANNAH EINBINDER:It was crazy.
JEAN SMART:I was 10 in pleasure.
Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart on ‘Hacks’ season 1.HBO Max
I was not shocked at all.
SMART:I don’t know why.
I just thought, I wasn’t surprised at all that we won.
I was surprised that everybody was surprised.
Was there a gut instinct, an intuition, something you felt?
Who else were we up against?
Abbott Elementary,Only Murders in the Building…
SMART:Love both those shows.
EINBINDER:LoveAbbottso much.
SMART:I do too.
Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart on the ‘Hacks’ season 3 finale.Max
But I was… Who beat us before?
SMART:The Bearonce.
EINBINDER:BearandTed Lassoperhaps.
Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder on the ‘Hacks’ season 4 premiere.Courtesy of Max
SMART:Oh, andTed Lasso.
ButTed’s out of the picture, so.
Well, not anymore.
Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder on ‘Hacks’ season 4.Courtesy of Max
EINBINDER:They’re coming back.
SMART:They’re coming back?
I was pretty surprised.
Jean Smart and Kaitlin Olson on ‘Hacks’ season 3.HBO Max
I think I’m not in a place of expecting it.
People kept saying, “Oh my God, this is the best season yet.”
Well, obviously, lots of people were thrilled in that moment.
Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart on ‘Hacks’ season 4.Courtesy of Max
Before we dig into season 4, let’s go back to the very beginning.
Hannah, what do you remember about your first day on set filming your first scripted series ever?
Do you recall those emotions, whatever they might’ve been?
Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance gets a lap dance on ‘Hacks’.Courtesy of Max
EINBINDER:I think we were on location and I was just trying to not get fired.
I think I was like, let’s sneak on by.
I’ll hide behind Jean that’ll help.
Carol Burnett offers Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance some sage advice on ‘Hacks’ season 4.Kenny Laubbacher
And then I’ll just be chill and I they’ll let me stay.
So that was kind of my thought really.
And I was meeting Carl [Clemons-Hopkins] for the first time.
Jimmy Kimmel gives Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance a warning on ‘Hacks’ season 4.Jake Giles Netter
I met Mark [Indelicato] for the first time.
And I believe it was the day we shot the Rolls-Royce breaking down and Deborah taking the helicopter.
And then perhaps even the pizza shop as well, was our first day.
Or perhaps that was the second day.
SMART:It was?
EINBINDER:Maybe it was the second day, but-
SMART:When did we shoot the interview scene?
EINBINDER:The interview scene was much later.
The job interview in Deborah’s house?
I really had kind of like a crash course-
SMART:Shot from guns.
Shot out of a cannon.
I did a lot of the things that you ever do kind of in the first week.
But, yeah, hell yeah, made a lot of progress, I think.
Owen Cooper in ‘Adolescence,’ Cristin Milioti in ‘The Penguin,’ Jenny Slate in ‘Dying for Sex’.Courtesy of Netflix; Macall Polay/HBO; Sarah Shatz/FX
My therapist would agree, I think.
We’ve definitely talked about that.
Was there still a lot of like learning marks and all of that kind of stuff?
EINBINDER:For sure.
SMART:Well, I mean, I just enjoy it so much.
I enjoy this character so much.
I remember the day that I met Paul and Jen and Lucia.
I can’t believe I was so cheeky.
I’m perfect for this part."
Thank God they laughed.
But it was everything.
It checked every box.
Sarah Jessica Parker wins the Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘Sex and the City’ in 2004.M. Caulfield/WireImage
If someone had said, “What would your ideal series be?
What would your ideal character be in a series?”
And it checked every box.
It was such a gift.
In the process, I think you’ve won every TV award out there that exists for your performance.
SMART:I had to sleep with a lot of people.
Let me tell you.
In the midst of all of that, your husband passing, a heart procedure last year.
How did this show help you get through those things, knowing there’s something to come back to?
They could not have been kinder and more accommodating.
I had five days of work left on season 1 when he died unexpectedly.
And they said, “We have to finish.”
I said, “No, of course, of course.
They said, “We could spread it out over a couple of weeks.
And I just said, “No, let’s just do it now.”
I think because I was still kind of in shock.
And I said, “I don’t know if I can do it.
I don’t know if I can do it.”
And I believe I took an Ativan [laughs] and we did it.
And it turned out to be really a lot of fun and a fabulous scene.
And fulfilling in a way that you didn’t expect, I presume.
SMART:I don’t know.
I try not to put too much meaning on those events.
But yeah, it was really fun.
I thought it was a brilliant scene.
Because I mean, who hasn’t thought that when they’ve gone to a funeral?
It should be structured in a much different way.
So yeah, it probably was cathartic to a certain extent.
And again, it was, I thought, a brilliant scene.
I would love to do that if I had the guts at a funeral.
Was there anything you wanted to revisit of that before you dug into this season?
What have you enjoyed about getting to be at odds with each other?
EINBINDER:Well, it’s fun when there’s some verbal sparring that we get to do.
SMART:Well, this is a little more than sparring this year.
I think part of the enjoyment is that we realized we were taking it to a new level.
But it was definitely a darker turn that we were taking.
And I knew the writers would get us through it, but it was interesting to go that dark.
But you felt risky, perhaps?
SMART:A little bit.
Dan is such a f—ing icon.
He’s so funny.
“You don’t know who that man is.”
I’m like, “Because you’re gay.”
He’s like-
“You shouldn’t assume that.”
EINBINDER:“You shouldn’t assume sexual orientation.”…
“You have a picture of you marrying a guy in your office.”…
“You don’t know who that man is.”
SMART:Very uncomfortable.
SMART:Only if they hadn’t worked.
[Laughs]
Indeed.
I feel like at any moment something can happened.
SMART:I think so.
And definitely when we read the script for the first time.
Because I like to be surprised.
I don’t want to know what’s coming.
But no risk, no reward.
That’s why this show has been doing so well.
So we find a lot there.
And Lucia obviously has a huge influence on our performances.
And so we’re able to really have everything fresh and in the instant.
SMART:She knows exactly what she wants.
What do each of you think is at the core of this dynamic?
Is there intimidation, naivete, fear of being alone?
What is really for each of them, what keeps them like this?
EINBINDER:It’s I think their sense of humor.
I think it’s the level they connect on.
It is a frequency that few people can tap into.
It’s like a language that only they speak.
Their way of connecting is through humor.
You have a dysfunctional relationship with your mother; I have a dysfunctional relationship with my daughter.
So it’s kind of puzzle pieces that are meant to go together.
And I think that is a lot of, yes, definitely the sense of humor.
It’s just a very special thing.
And I look forward to scenes where we can make each other laugh again instead of cry.
You didn’t particularly like the word that she uses, but you say it this season.
Was there any like wringing arms, pulling, anything?
SMART:[Laughs] Oh, it so much fun.
Oh, you leaned in?
SMART:I did.
EINBINDER:It was so good.
You were being so mean.
EINBINDER:“Yeah, why don’t you ask that littlec—what happened?”
It’s so good.
She runs it by her.
You really have to piss her off.
SMART:I had to save it for [Ava].
And Hannah, you call her “Bitchabod Crane”
SMART:[Laughs] I love that!
EINBINDER:Bitchabod Crane up here.
… You broke mine first.
The second it’s done, I’ll never speak to you again.
It gave me goosebumps.
SMART:I think it was brilliant that they staged it that way.
EINBINDER:Oh my God.
I was so devastated.
There are some good laughs here in the midst of all of that tension.
But now wait, have you ever had a lap dance, Jean?
SMART:Uh, no.
Oh, so that was a first.
SMART:I was offered one once by a gal, but politely declined.
EINBINDER:And Lindsay, the actress who gave Jean a lap dance, is inAnora.
SMART:I just found that out.
She’s a queen.
Lauren Weedman, by the way, she’s always funny, but this particular episode, hysterical.
EINBINDER:Oh, my fucking God.
SMART:I’m so glad she gets to do all this stuff.
EINBINDER:It’s so good.
She’s so good.
I know she has her lines, but does she just get to let loose at some point?
SMART:Kind of.
Yeah, a little bit like Jane [Smith].
She’ll kind of just free form.
EINBINDER:She’ll just like continue the scene after it’s done.
There are some really brilliant moments there.
In episode 4, the lovely Carol Burnett.
Now you’ve worked with Carol before, onHot in Cleveland, where she played your mom.
But this one had different meaning for you?
And that was so long ago.
It was such a treat to have her.
There’s nobody like her in terms of comedy and just being an incredibly cool human being.
SMART:Yeah, looking up to somebody.
Tell me what to think.
EINBINDER:It was really cute.
SMART:I’m having stage fright for the first time in my life.
She wouldn’t admit that to anybody except somebody like Carol Burnett.
Kenny Laubbacher
Have either of you ever had stage fright?
SMART:Oh, terrible.
It’s something that used to happen or you still have it?
SMART:Well, we’ll find out.
I’m going to do a play in New York this summer.
Haven’t been on stage for a while, but yeah, it was debilitating for a little while.
It’s a terrible feeling.
EINBINDER:It’s really horrible.
I definitely have had it.
I’m always nervous before a show, for sure.
But for me, it melts the second I get out there.
I just see the faces.
What’s so brilliant about that moment, though, is the advice and how it plays out.
We want these two to find their way.
And you wonder like, will either of them ever get out of their own way?
Is that a fair assessment of where we might see things continue from here?
Can they get out of their own way?
SMART:That’s a good question.
EINBINDER:I think that is the hope for these characters.
I think whether or not they do is to be seen.
What do I need to do to make this okay?
I just risked my life trying to save a total stranger because I thought it was you.
Referring there to a scene we will get to in a future episode it’s incredible.
Hannah, in addition to all of the mayhem, Ava becomes part of a throuple.
EINBINDER:I think how we would explore it in the show.
So I was really happy to hear that from them especially.
I think it was really beautifully done.
I think it was really true to life and cool.
So yeah, I was stoked that we handled it in the way we did.
We touched on Carol Burnett as a guest star.
Also, this season Jimmy Kimmel, Randy Newman, Julianne Nicholson coming up, and more to come.
But what I kind of love is that there’s very little of it.
And it’s for very important reasons that people like Jimmy are on.
SMART:Oh, my God, the stuff he said.
I don’t know if they put it in this one line he has.
It’s so shocking.
Jake Giles Netter
I didn’t know he had it in him, that entire scene.
SMART:I didn’t either.
He’s one of the sweetest men in the world.
But he’s just so damn funny.
And he was having a good time.
He was nervous at first, and then he just had a blast.
Jean, break a leg on Broadway.
Hannah, what are you looking forward to this summer?
EINBINDER:I’m going to do a movie.
I can’t say anything else.
[Laughs]
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Listen to the full interview with Smart and Einbinder onThe Awardistpodcast, below.
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