

But there are personal and emotional hurdles they must overcome before that can happen. The hope: that Ava’s say-anything approach will help Deborah connect with a younger audience and keep her career relevant.
#Jean smarts children series#
Through a series of events, Deborah’s manager, without asking, pairs her with Ava (Hannah Einbinder), an upstart twentysomething comedy writer who’s unemployed since being “canceled” after tweeting a joke about a closeted politician. Smart stars as Deborah Vance, a veteran standup comic whose glitzy headlining career at a (fictional) Las Vegas hotel is jeopardized when the casino manager starts hiring acts catering to a younger audience. Jean Smart headlines the 10-episode HBO Max series “Hacks,” a darkly comedic look at the relationship between two women with disparate viewpoints - who have more in common than meets the eye. To hear more of Katie’s conversation with Jean Smart, including how she transformed into Deborah Vance for Hacks, make sure to listen to Next Question.‘House of the Dragon’ star Emily Carey says she was afraid of sex scenesīill Hader cheered for being ‘only one wearing a f–king mask’ at EmmysĬhris Wallace’s return date on CNN, HBO Max debut revealedįans spot ‘House of the Dragon’ CGI fingers mistake in Episode 3 You can sign it.’ So that was really sweet.” After this happened several times, my son looked at me and said, ‘Mom, it’s OK. “I remember when my oldest was young, if I would be out in public and people would ask for an autograph, I would say, I hope you don’t mind if I say no, I’m just Mom today. Her two children are almost 20 years apart, and she recalls trying to protect them from the lack of privacy that accompanied her high-profile career when they were younger: “It must be very hard to have a famous parent,” Smart explains. Despite her enduring success as an actress, Smart tells Katie that her kids will always come first. Smart is now a single parent to two kids, the youngest of whom Smart and Gilliland adopted in 2009. When he was talking to someone he just had the greatest smile on his face.” I love his little laugh lines around his eyes and his hands.

“It’s been just over a year,” she tells Katie. Like anyone grieving the sudden loss of a loved one, Smart still feels the sting as though it just happened. We started talking on the phone for two hours every night, and then he invited me to see this play he was doing. I invited him into my trailer to help me with a crossword puzzle. “Lo and behold, he was sitting across the table from me. In her interview with Katie, Smart recalls meeting him at a table read decades ago, when she was instantly smitten: “I saw him and I just thought, wow, who’s that? I wonder if he’s gonna be on our show,” Smart tells Katie. You should hire me.” Smart was right, and the role earned her both an Emmy and a Golden Globe.ĭespite her immense success this past season, Smart’s year was also marred by tragedy: Her husband of almost 35 years, Richard Gilliland, passed away suddenly last March from a heart condition. “When I walked into the room with the producers, I said, I’m absolutely perfect for this. “My agent sent me the script, and I couldn’t believe how great it was,” Smart tells Katie on this week’s episode of Next Question. From the moment Smart got the script, she knew that she needed to play this role. Hacks, a dark comedy in which Smart plays an aging comedy legend forced to mentor an entitled young writer, was one of the most popular shows of the past year, largely due to Smart’s larger-than-life portrayal of comedian Deborah Vance. This past year alone, Smart has had two starring roles that made quite the splash: First as increasingly irrelevant comedy legend Deborah Vance in Hacks, and then as the worn down, tough-as-nails grandma trying to keep her family together in Mare of Easttown. Katie can’t get enough of Jean Smart, and she’s not the only one.
