Hacks Season 5: Jean Smart Teases 'Perfect' Series Ending, Reveals Anxieties Of Never Playing Deborah Again

Created

by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, the HBO series Hacks has been sweeping awards and making audiences laugh since its premiere in 2021. Now, after five seasons, the show is ending at the right time with viewers wanting more from comedian Deborah Vance, played byJean Smart, and her writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). The award-winning duo spoke about show ending and how they felt shooting their final scenes. Smart also shared that she had never wanted to know how the show ended and read along with everyone else. She called the series' end 'perfect.'

Jean Smart on the end of HBO's Hacks

At a virtual press conference attended by us, the veteran actress shared that she was never curious about the show's ending. She revealed, "I have never asked [the creators] how the series was going to end from the day we met until the finale. And I didn't really have an idea of how it would end. I just wanted to be surprised. I've loved being surprised every episode for all these years. But when they first talked to me about how it was going to end, I was surprised. I was not sure I was real happy about it, but I said, 'Hey, you know, I trust you guys. I always have and it always turns out great and it did. Now I think it's kind of perfect, and it's really great."However, when she and co-star Einbinder were asked about their final scenes on Hacks Season 5, Smart revealed that they shot the final scene of the show one week before they completely wrapped. They then went to Paris, France, to film some more scenes.Einbinder shared that they had plenty of little goodbyes on the final season, saying goodbye to their Los Angeles crew, then their Las Vegas crew and finally ending in Paris where they wrapped twice. She recalled, "I didn't have a single climactic moment. I think I had a series of moments throughout the season where it was dawning on me that it was the end. But I think there are a couple significant moments throughout that I remember."

Jean Smart will miss play Deborah Vance

Smart, who is also known for roles in shows such as Designing Women, Frasier, Fargo and Mare of Easttown, stated that she began to feel emotional when the sets were being dismantled. She shared, "It started to become very real to me as the season went on; they started wrapping certain sets, like when we were shooting in Deborah's house, which I love that house. It's like running around a big giant dollhouse because they copied a giant mansion in Bel Air and recreated it on stage at Universal. It's absolutely stunning."

"The first time it happened, they said, 'Okay, that's a wrap, that's a series wrap on Deborah's bedroom.' I was like, we're never gonna sleep in this bedroom again? And then that's the wrap on the kitchen. I was like 'Oh my god.' They let me sneak little souvenirs from each set," she concluded.Hacks Season 5, which also stars Paul W Downs, Megan Stalter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Mark Indelicato, and Rose Abdoo, is set to premiere on April 10 and conclude on May 29. The Summer I Turned Pretty star Christopher Briney joins the cast in a guest role.