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Hacks Star Jean Smart on the Dark Side of Comedy
The series, premiering May 13 on HBO Max, goes behind the scenes of a Las Vegas legend. Courtesy HBO Max
For Jean Smart, the role of Deborah Vance has been a long time in the making. “I wanted to be a stand-up comic when I was a kid. When I was in middle school, I went to a costume party as Phyllis Diller,” says the actress who plays Vance, a legendary comedian whose Las Vegas residency is on the rocks, on the new HBO Max series
Jean Smart Brings Her Comedy Chops To New Female Buddy Series Hacks forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder Reveal Their Real-Life Comedian Inspirations for Hacks Roles
Meredith Woerner, provided by
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What makes HBO Max’s “Hacks” stand out from a slew of new TV offerings (and other shows about the same topic of stand-up comedy), isn’t just its stellar cast, it’s also the premise that two women share a connection, despite being worlds apart, through the desire of making others laugh. And in an even more special twist of fate, the actors also found a similar connection in how they drew from real-life comedians for their roles.
“I thought that it would be a blast to play a stand-up comedian,” Smart reveals to
BRUCE R. MILLER
Growing up, Hannah Einbinderâs mother â âSaturday Night Liveâ star Laraine Newman â played comedy routines in the car.
âI listened to stand-up from like fifth grade on,â Einbinder says. âProbably not the best idea.â
The subliminal messaging prompted her to go into the business and now Einbinder finds herself on âHacks,â an HBO Max comedy about a young writer whoâs brought in to punch up the work of an aging comedian, played by Jean Smart.
Because theyâre from two different generations, the womenâs comic sensibilities clash. They battle about whatâs funny and, in time, find common ground even if itâs not based on material.
HBO Max series Hacks a triumphant return to sitcoms for Designing Women star Jean Smart
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Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) doesn’t spare the glamour as she readies for a stand-up performance in “Hacks.”Jake Giles Netter /HBO Max
Jean Smart starred in “Designing Women” and won Emmys for her work on “Frasier” and “Samantha Who?”, but that all may have been just a prelude to the new HBO Max comedy “Hacks.”
Smart plays the uproariously irreverent lead in the new 10-episode series, which serves up a main course of laughs with a side of poignancy. It’s from Michael Schur (“The Good Place”) and three of the writers behind “Broad City,” Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky,