It may be a trend, but older actors in leading roles on television series are having a moment: “Only Murders in the Building,” “Matlock” and “The Man on the Inside” all feature well-known actors over the age of 70.
But the show that, arguably, has made the most impact is “Hacks,” a look at an older female comedian who’s fighting to stay relevant.
Jean Smart stars in "Hacks."
“It’s nice to be able to play a character where you show that people have the same kinds of hopes and dreams and desires and everything that they do when they’re 30,” says Jean Smart, the show’s 73-year-old star. “It’s not something we used to see in film and television, but why not?”
In the latest season, Smart’s character, Deborah Vance, gets a late-night talk show. She struggles with what that means and, in the process, tells a story that Executive Producer Paul W. Downs says has been overlooked.
“We want to center stories that haven’t been told,” he says. “I think that’s central to what the show is about and, hopefully, why it resonates with people.”
What the Emmy-winning Smart likes is that her character no longer hangs on to anger, bitterness and resentment. “To see her being able to maybe let go – or at least recognize that – is important,” she says. “You think, ‘Oh, god, why didn’t I figure that out 30 years ago?’”
To prove the revolution isn’t just in entertainment, Smart says she has a friend who decided to write romance novels later in life. “It’s just like, ‘Whoa!,’” she says. “She’s all of a sudden making all this money…and she and her husband’s sex life has gone through the roof.”
Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) begins her career as a late-night talk show host on the latest season of "Hacks."
That transformation, producers say, is key to the plot of “Hacks.”
Deborah’s career has the ability to skyrocket, but first she has to get a team in place for the talk show.
Ava, her assistant – and one-time frenemy – is named head writer but the two are at each other’s throats. Their disagreements are so intense a human resources official has been assigned to their case.
“A lot of people ask me, ‘Has Ava turned bad?’” Hannah Einbinder, who plays Ava, offers. “(And I say) no, I think she has to speak Deborah’s language. Her hand has been kind of forced. She retains that spirit but just has to play ball. It’s been really cool to get to play the adversarial thing.”
Hannah Einbinder, left, and Jean Smart battle for control of a late-night talk show in the latest season of "Hacks."
When Smart and Einbinder have one of those confrontational scenes, they often find themselves hugging after the director calls cut. “It’s been fun to traverse this windy road with the two of them,” Einbinder says.
For Deborah, the career opportunity brings out all her fears. Although she has had a successful career in standup, she never got a chance to move into something as high-stakes as late-night television. Those fears, Smart says, are represented in the series by a coyote who keeps popping up at her home. “All of her fears have been turned into this creature.”
For the creators of “Hacks,” getting the show was part of the plan. “We always knew we wanted Deborah to get her white whale,” says Downs. “There is a lot of behind-the-scenes drama and comedy that happens at a late-night show.”
That office setting, Executive Producer Lucia Aniello says, was ripe for new comedy because “it’s a scenario the rest of the world knows more than potentially some comedians. It’s a ton to play with – and why we did end up making 10 episodes this season.”
Workplace battles force the company of a late-night talk show to go through sensitivity training on "Hacks."
While Deborah and Ava bicker about who’s running the show, “Hacks” assembles a new group to help launch it. In addition to that ever-present HR director, the cast includes a host of writers trying to find jokes that Deborah will like.
To bond, she takes them to her home in Las Vegas and shows them a bit of the world she inhabited. Even though “Hacks” was set there for its first years, Smart and company only shot there one or two days a year.
For the third episode of the fourth season, the cast and crew spent a week in Vegas. It’s a way to underscore Deborah’s desire to “retreat a little bit back to her castle, where she feels comfortable,” Executive Producer Jen Statsky says.
Once the late-night show is launched, it’s tasked with beating the competition, which fuels more tension between Ava and Deborah.
For the Emmy-winning “Hacks,” that’s enough to move the series to a fifth – and possibly final – season.
“To be able to make five would be the dream,” says Aniello. “And that’s how we would love to go out, but, you know, one day at a time.”
For Smart, the success is particularly gratifying. When she got her first big break on “Designing Women,” outsiders always wanted to know if the women were getting along. “I said, ‘Do you guys ask the “Barney Miller” cast that question?’ I find that really bizarre.”
Now as she and Einbinder get to spar without fear of backstage gossip, she realizes just how far television has come.
“I don’t want to be the poster child for older actresses,” Smart says. “But it’s great for people to see that and get used to that…and why not? That’s part of real life. And if our show has helped with that a little bit, then bravo.”
