Jean Smart on Losing One of Her Emmys & Playing a Lesbian in an Episode of Hacks Final Season

0:00 Our first guest tonight is the most decorated pretend stand-up comedian

0:04 and talk show host in the history of the world tomorrow.

0:07 She returns to the role of Deborah Vance

0:09 for the fifth and final season of Hacks on HBO Max.

0:13 Please welcome Jean Smart.

0:16 [music and cheering] [applause] [music] [cheering]

0:31 How are you?

0:35 IT'S VERY GOOD TO SEE YOU.

0:38 [cheering] [applause] YOU LOOK AT THIS.

0:41 I MEAN IT'S IT PROBABLY every time I see you

0:44 I think you have more a whole bunch more awards, not just a couple more awards.

0:49 But how many Emmys do you have now?

0:50 Do you Can you even count them anymore?

0:54 I I I have seven, but I lost one.

0:58 You lost You When you say you lost what do you mean?

1:00 You actually lost it?

1:01 Like you misplaced it?

1:02 know where it is.

1:03 That means That means you have too many Emmys.

1:07 [laughter]

1:07 How do you lose an Emmy?

1:09 They're pointy and they're big.

1:11 Well, I It's in a box somewhere.

1:13 Okay, you didn't leave it at the show.

1:14 I don't know.

1:15 No, okay.

1:16 It's in a box somewhere.

1:18 I mean although one time when my oldest was in high school,

1:21 a friend of his borrowed one for a little movie he was shooting.

1:25 And did not return it?

1:27 Uh when he was finally asked to return Finally asked.

1:30 Yeah, yeah.

1:31 Well, you know, you're throwing them in boxes you might as well grab one.

1:35 No, they're on a nice They're on a top of a shelf in the office.

1:38 you got a lot of them.

1:39 You got three Golden Globes, three SAG Awards,

1:41 seven Emmys, Critics six Critics' [cheering] CHOICE AWARDS.

1:46 [applause] HAVE YOU WON THE FIFA Peace Prize yet or is that [laughter]

1:52 still on tap?

1:53 Uh we're going to arm wrestle for it.

1:55 Donald and I.

1:56 Uh you know, I could go on and on asking you about this, but I really have to.

1:59 Josh, come over here for one second, please.

2:01 Now, Josh is a producer here at the show and he held up a little

2:04 sign for me before you came out and I really want the audience to see it.

2:08 Yeah, just hold up to the camera.

2:10 It says makes her own wiper fluid.

2:16 [applause] Now, I think he's referring to you and I WOULD

2:18 LOVE THE I WOULD love to know more about this.

2:21 Well, I I do because it's I mean back in the day you'd go

2:26 to the gas station and get gas

2:28 and they would put stuff in your windshield thing,

2:31 but now they don't and so you have to find an auto supply place.

2:34 So I just thought I'll Google a recipe and so I have jugs of it.

2:38 I add blue food coloring to it so it doesn't look like water.

2:42 You know, so I don't put it in the dog's bowl, you know.

2:45 You really What is the recipe basically for wiper fluid?

2:51 basically water with some rubbing alcohol

2:52 and a couple drops of dishwashing liquid.

2:55 The alcohol is really not for our climate.

2:57 It's mostly to keep it from freezing.

2:59 But

3:00 Uh-huh.

3:00 So you're keeping it in the fridge?

3:02 in the basement.

3:03 It's a jug in the basement.

3:04 You have a basement?

3:05 What's going on?

3:07 That is That's probably where your Emmy is, by the way, in the basement.

3:11 Probably.

3:12 Wow, that's I've never heard of anybody making their own homemade

3:14 Also, I'm Scottish, so I just save you know, save money.

3:17 jug of wiper fluid is like $1.79?

3:22 LIKE YOU

3:23 MY GRANDMA WOULD BE PROUD.

3:26 [laughter]

3:26 WIPER FLUID IS cheaper than plain water.

3:28 You're actually LOSING MONEY EVERY OH MY GOD, YOU'RE RIGHT.

3:37 [laughter]

3:37 OH, I LOVE THAT.

3:38 THAT'S Is there anything else you ever make

3:40 anything else weird like that as a That's it.

3:42 You're like a homesteader or something.

3:46 [laughter] Uh and it works well?

3:46 It's good?

3:47 It's effective?

3:48 Yeah, sometimes I add a little bit too much soap and it's very sudsy.

3:52 [laughter] You look like you went through the car wash.

3:54 Exactly.

3:54 You Your first show Designing Women was What year was that?

3:58 my first show.

4:00 And that was Designing Women?

4:01 That was like my fourth sitcom.

4:02 Oh, your first big show though?

4:04 Yeah.

4:05 Yeah, okay.

4:05 So that was in the '80s, the mid-'80s, right?

4:10 Yeah.

4:11 And do you find now and that's at a time

4:13 where like literally everyone was watching network television.

4:16 Do you find now that people are recognizing

4:18 you even more than back then in those days?

4:21 Yes, which is strange because there's so much more things to watch right now,

4:25 but but oh, absolutely since since this, you know.

4:29 But you know, what's funny because I don't know if you

4:31 found this, but people in LA when they think they recognize you,

4:35 you'd think that they would expect to see actors cuz they live in Los Angeles.

4:38 Right.

4:39 But they think They say Has anyone ever told you

4:42 you look just like that actress on What's that show?

4:47 Oh yeah, Hacks.

4:48 The girl on Hacks.

4:49 Has anybody ever told you that?

4:51 But if you go to the Midwest in some little town,

4:53 they immediately go, "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE JEAN SMART." Is that right?

4:56 That's interesting.

4:57 I feel like when people do that it's just kind of like a maybe

5:00 a polite way of asking you if you're who they think you are.

5:04 I suppose, but I don't know what to answer the question.

5:07 So I say, "Yes, people have told me that." Does Don't people do that to you?

5:12 They Well, they do.

5:13 They a lot of times think I'm Jimmy Fallon and they don't know

5:17 that they Jimmy thing confuses them and so and that will happen to him, too.

5:21 And then I get another one.

5:22 I don't know if you've got this one.

5:24 And it typically happens with moms and like teenage boys

5:29 where the teenage boy will approach me and say you know,

5:33 can we can we take a picture?

5:35 And then the mom will usually stand back about 25 ft and yell to me,

5:39 "I don't know WHO YOU ARE." I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, BUT HE KNOWS.

5:44 HE wants to get a picture.

5:45 I don't [laughter] know who you are.

5:47 I'm like, "Okay, all right.

5:48 THAT'S THAT'S ALL RIGHT.

5:49 YOU CAN KEEP that to yourself." [laughter] We were shooting

5:53 in Vegas not too long ago and I was in the elevator

5:56 in the hotel and a guy in the elevator with me

6:00 sort of glancing at me and he finally said He said,

6:03 "Are you famous?" I said, "Apparently not." DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY.

6:10 [laughter] DO IS THERE SOMEBODY people think you are other than you?

6:16 Oh, yeah.

6:17 Oh, I used to not so much now, but I used to get Kim Cattrall all the time

6:21 depending on how I wore my hair and everything.

6:23 Oh, interesting.

6:24 Okay, yeah.

6:25 Oh, that's interesting.

6:26 I Oh god, it was bad.

6:29 One time I was on an airplane with my my late

6:32 husband and this this That's This is before

6:34 9/11 when you could stand up in the front

6:36 by the cockpit and wait for the bathroom to open up.

6:39 Yeah.

6:39 So I'm standing There's a guy standing next to me and he said He goes,

6:42 "I I I love you on your show." And I

6:44 knew after I'd been through it so many times,

6:47 I had to say, "Well, thank you.

6:49 Which show are you referring to?" He'd say, "Well, Sex and the City." I said,

6:53 "No, no, no, that's that's not me." He goes, "Oh, come on.

6:56 Come on." I said, "No, seriously,

6:57 that's that's not me." And he They think you're messing with them

7:00 because he knows he's seen me on TV, but he's, you know.

7:04 So finally I just He said, "Oh,

7:06 okay." And went back to my seat and the stewardess came

7:09 over about an hour later and handed me his business card.

7:12 It said, "I'm I'm a big fan and I respect your privacy." My husband was so mad.

7:17 He said, "He thinks HE'S SEEN YOU NAKED.

7:19 GO TELL HIM.

7:21 TELL HIM." OH, THAT'S FUNNY.

7:26 [applause]

7:26 THAT'S REALLY FUNNY.

7:28 THIS IS WHY I always travel naked.

7:30 I get it out of the way.

7:33 [applause]

7:33 That is very funny.

7:34 Wow, what an interesting [laughter] take to have on that.

7:37 Yeah.

7:38 You guys on Hacks, have you you've you've wrapped, right?

7:41 That's it for the show.

7:42 You're done.

7:43 Stick a fork in me.

7:44 Yeah.

7:45 Yeah.

7:45 How was the You had a wrap party, I assume?

7:48 We've had several.

7:49 You have?

7:50 Yeah, we can because we had one for our LA crew and then we had one

7:54 for our Las Vegas I guess we had to drop off crews we kept finishing up.

8:01 You know, people went to Vegas and then

8:03 the people who were done in Vegas didn't come

8:05 to So and then when then we went to France and we had just a few people.

8:10 Did they become progressively less emotional as you went on?

8:14 Actually, no, just the opposite.

8:16 Oh, really?

8:16 Yeah, I think it just became more real.

8:18 Yeah.

8:18 Did it?

8:19 Hannah is a mess.

8:19 She can't do an interview without weeping.

8:22 She's God bless her.

8:23 She Yeah, she did Yeah.

8:24 is her first time.

8:25 She's a wrap party virgin.

8:27 Oh, this is her first wrap party.

8:29 Now, will you keep in touch with any of those people

8:30 or is this the last they're going to hear from you?

8:32 Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

8:35 In fact, I was just I was just texting Hannah.

8:37 I said, "What are you going to wear tonight?" Cuz tonight is our premiere event.

8:40 We're doing a red carpet and a party.

8:42 And And so she sent me pictures and you know,

8:45 and I told her I said I like the black and white one and she said,

8:47 "Well, I'm going to wear the blue one,

8:49 which is kind of very revealing." I said, "Well, you're a tramp." And so

8:54 [laughter] But yeah, but actually I'm very flattered.

8:57 I have been asked by a member of the publicity

9:01 department and also a member of the cast,

9:04 which I will not say, to officiate their wedding.

9:07 Oh, really?

9:09 [cheering] Is that a good thing?

9:11 [applause] Okay.

9:11 Well, I mean I mean you now have to refer to me as Reverend Smart.

9:16 Did they Did they know Did the the second person

9:19 who asked know the first person had asked and said, "Oh, that's a good idea.

9:22 I want in on that." Oh, I don't know.

9:25 That's a good question.

9:26 yeah.

9:26 I wonder.

9:27 Because the second person who asked, their wedding is first.

9:30 I see.

9:30 So I'm afraid if I use all my good material,

9:32 I won't have anything left for I see.

9:34 Have you done this before?

9:35 No.

9:36 Okay.

9:36 But you've done it.

9:37 I have done a couple of times, yeah, for friends.

9:40 I want to take it seriously.

9:41 know these people well because like I know

9:43 don't I don't know their spouses to be.

9:45 That's the problem.

9:46 Did You know, just ignore the spouse to be.

9:51 [laughter]

9:50 You, Alice, take him to be, you know, whatever.

9:54 Yeah, no, yeah, you're going to have to learn

9:56 some stuff about Yeah, get his name right.

9:58 him a little bit.

9:59 Yeah, yeah.

9:59 Oh, well, yeah.

10:01 I don't know.

10:02 You know what, let's take a break and we'll

10:03 talk about it because [laughter] we'll talk it through.

10:06 It depends.

10:06 It really does.

10:07 Yeah.

10:08 Oh, I'm sure.

10:09 No, I I I mean, it's their wedding.

10:10 I I have to take it seriously.

10:11 Well, listen, you know what?

10:13 They chose you and it's their fault if it goes awry.

10:17 [laughter] Jean Smart is here.

10:17 The final Jean SMART OF HACKS.

10:19 [cheering] OH MY GOD.

10:26 LOOK AT THIS.

10:29 [screaming] [cheering] SHE HAS ARISEN.

10:35 NO.

10:36 NO.

10:38 I was never dead.

10:39 TMZ got a bad tip.

10:41 They issued a retraction this morning.

10:43 But they said they carried your body off

10:44 a boat in Singapore and you didn't make it.

10:46 What?

10:47 They said they carried your body off a boat in Singapore and you didn't make it.

10:53 That is Jean Smart and mind binder in Hacks.

10:56 [cheering] [applause] The um They didn't think you were Kim Cattrall.

11:01 They knew right off the bat.

11:03 So, they think you're dead.

11:04 It's reported that your character is dead.

11:06 Yeah.

11:06 And you're not in like Jesus, you rose again.

11:08 It was very creepy to see all the memorial stuff,

11:11 crosses with my face on them and Oh, I bet.

11:14 little corgi stuffed corgis like my dogs on the show

11:18 and all this flowers and balloons and yeah.

11:21 This wedding thing.

11:23 Yes.

11:24 Okay.

11:24 Um It's not Don't you feel it's an imposition in a way being asked to do this?

11:30 Are you getting paid?

11:33 I didn't assume so.

11:33 Can I make one suggestion?

11:35 a payment involved?

11:36 Yeah, typically if there was a minister, they get a few hundred bucks, right?

11:39 I would take that.

11:40 I would ask for that.

11:42 You know, at least don't bring a GIFT FOR SURE.

11:47 [laughter] WHO DID YOU GO TO YOUR FOR YOUR WEDDING, would you go to a church?

11:50 Who officiated your wedding?

11:51 We actually uh we got married in Dixie Carter's rose garden which was Oh, wow.

11:56 And we wanted um Judge Wapner.

12:01 [laughter] From The People's Court.

12:03 Yes.

12:03 Did you ask him?

12:05 Yeah.

12:05 He declined?

12:06 He did.

12:06 On what grounds?

12:08 remember.

12:08 He was busy or something.

12:09 Judge Wapner.

12:10 He Maybe he was doing a divorce, you know.

12:12 Yeah.

12:12 Yeah.

12:13 So Judge Wapner would have been great.

12:14 I know.

12:15 I know.

12:16 So uh I called a very a Unitarian church and we hired

12:21 a very nice Unitarian minister that How much did you pay that person?

12:24 Do you remember?

12:25 I don't.

12:26 Look it up and add inflation.

12:29 He Yeah.

12:29 And that's what you are owed.

12:31 Yeah.

12:32 You and Hannah, you your characters play a lesbian

12:35 couple in one of the episodes this season.

12:38 And uh which is something I feel like the fans

12:41 have been calling for for whatever reason for a while.

12:44 It's episode seven in case you're counting.

12:46 Uh-huh.

12:47 Um yes, no, we we recently did a two-day press

12:49 junket and every single journalist I swear to a man said, "Love the new season.

12:55 Love it, but can we talk about episode seven?" We could finish their sentence.

12:58 Yeah, no, we have to pretend for an entire

13:01 weekend we're as house guests of a lesbian couple.

13:05 We have to pretend to be a couple for the entire

13:06 weekend because I need a favor from this woman.

13:11 And so Ava can do and say whatever she

13:14 wants to humiliate me because there's nothing I can say.

13:17 So, it's the first time we see Deborah absolutely not

13:19 being able to defend herself or do anything and That's funny.

13:24 Ava She came up with the says the worst things and is groping me and like

13:31 [laughter]

13:31 When you say she came up with the worst things, were they not in the script?

13:35 Well, no, she she did ad-lib a couple of real good zingers which I I I

13:39 hope will stay in and I I pride myself as an actor on not breaking on stage.

13:45 Not laughing.

13:46 me Uh-huh.

13:47 but I could not get through this one part of the scene.

13:51 I couldn't get this line.

13:52 I tried 30 times to say this line without

13:55 screaming laughing and pretty soon we just took a break.

13:58 The cast was on the crew was on the floor.

14:00 We just couldn't get through it.

14:01 It was so gross.

14:02 Will they do one of those gross.

14:03 Really?

14:04 I couldn't say it.

14:05 Will they do one of those things they used to do all the time and then they

14:08 just stopped doing where where they show a montage

14:11 of the of the cast breaking up at things?

14:13 Cuz I would like to see that.

14:15 like to see that, too.

14:16 Yeah.

14:16 Well, maybe you know what, maybe we'll go back.

14:17 A lot of the old stuff has come back.

14:19 So, maybe they will do that.

14:20 You also filmed inside the Louvre.

14:22 We did.

14:23 Was this before it was robbed?

14:24 And did you rob it?

14:25 Were you involved in that?

14:28 That would have been fun.

14:29 I've actually fantasized about being a burglar.

14:31 Have you?

14:32 Yeah.

14:33 I mean, not because I want to do something wrong or take somebody's stuff.

14:35 I just think it'd be fun.

14:36 Break into like an AutoZone to steal all their wiper fluid?

14:41 [applause] Or sell it on the hot something like [laughter] No, James.

14:48 No.

14:49 No.

14:49 Okay.

14:50 No, it No, it that was No, it was actually um we had we had contracted

14:56 to whatever the agreement was to shoot in the Louvre.

14:59 Uh-huh.

15:00 Um and then it was robbed.

15:04 And I thought, "Oh, this is going to go away.

15:07 They're going to say, 'No, no, no, no,

15:08 no.'" But weeks went by and nothing happened,

15:10 but then they they found out that it was an inside job and I

15:13 think it was such a It is a really a national humiliation over there.

15:17 It's a national scandal.

15:19 Yeah, I was embarrassed for them.

15:20 Yeah.

15:20 I know.

15:21 It's true.

15:22 And they said, "No, nobody you can't shoot here.

15:24 No." I was just happy someone else is having a national humiliation, you know.

15:28 [laughter] Let's spread the national humiliations around.

15:34 BUT THE PRODUCERS KEPT BEGGING AND begging and begging and begging.

15:37 They finally said, "Okay." Cuz we were going to have

15:39 the place to ourselves at night after it was closed.

15:43 I mean Ava and I were going to do a scene with the Mona Lisa.

15:45 I was so excited.

15:47 But um They our producers like a dog with a bone.

15:50 When they want something, they did not let it go.

15:53 And they finally said, "Okay, okay, okay, fine.

15:55 Okay, you can shoot, but you have to shoot while the museum is open

15:59 in this one section with the Dutch Masters and something else.

16:02 I don't remember.

16:03 And uh we had that to ourselves.

16:04 We were only allowed to have 12 bodies in there.

16:07 Oh, all right.

16:08 But you got it, right?

16:09 Yeah.

16:09 Okay.

16:10 All right.

16:10 Lucia, our director had to do my makeup.

16:13 [laughter] Is that true?

16:13 Yes.

16:14 Really?

16:14 All right, so if you look a little bit clownish in that episode,

16:17 [laughter] we will know why.

16:20 Well, it's great to see you.

16:22 Congratulations on five seasons of the show.

16:24 The show is Hacks.

16:25 The final season [cheering] premieres tomorrow on HBO Max.

16:29 Jean Smart, everybody.

16:30 We'll be back with Anthony Starr.