Anything stand out for you two?

Well, I mean, it was, you know, I've, I've been saying that the fifth season really, I think is my favorite, maybe the first season close, close, close second, because everything was so brand new then.

And we were having so much fun discovering the characters and, and having so much fun at work.

But, um, It's funny because a friend of mine, a physical therapist, he just texted me today and he has a client who just fell and broke her arm and sprained her ankle or something.

And he said she hadn't seen Hacks, so I told her to watch Hacks.

She binged the entire season, the entire five seasons in about a week and a half.

It's good therapy.

What will you miss most about that relationship? Oh,

Was that an easy or difficult decision?

No, it was difficult.

It wasn't really a decision.

It kind of just evolved that way, and it was, it didn't, it, um, it was difficult.

It was hard on him, um, which I understand.

And, you know, he...

Both of us, you know, grew up in the '50s, where it was traditional family values and traditional role models.

Is Deborah Vance in Hacks a creative challenge for you, or more like the easy reward after a lifetime of challenges?

Mm-hmm.

You would know the difference between a Margot and a Merlot if I smash it over your head, and I think that toasting with a glass of iced tea is just pure class.

... 'cause, you know, you got to see it live.

[laughs] No, he, he, he, he thought that was really fun that you let the actors kinda improvise sometimes, 'cause he said most shows they just, you know, you're a guest on the show, and that's just, "No, no, no, it's just, like, get it, get it done.

Let's move on."

Oh, yes, of course.

And I said, "Oh, well, tell her I'm such a fan, and I, I love that show she produces," da-da.

So she said, "Oh, well, you know, uh, sh- she said that you should come on the show." And I said, "Oh, that'd be wonderful." And then after the whole thing happened, and then I found out about the hair and all this kind of crazy stuff, I remembered that when I was...

Two days before that, just as we were se- about to start shooting, I was sitting in the hairdresser's chair, and I had this fabulous long, kinda red, reddish, dark red wig.

And I was just looking in the mirror, and I said, "You know what, Susan?" I said, "I really...

I don't know why.

I just picture her with a white streak in her hair."

Okay.

How did it go for Jean Smart when she first started to see a therapist?

He was terrific.

I've, I really admired him.

When he asked me something, I said, "I'm not gonna tell you that." He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "That's private" And he was just like, [laughs] he just didn't know what to say.

I was like-

Oh.

[laughs] Things we didn't know about Jean Smart.

Now that you're talking

about it, I feel like I.

It was so moving.

He was so wonderful.

And Linda Bloodworth Thomason did an amazing job because lots of times half hour shows that would tackle something really serious.

You'd think, really, you're going to do justice to child abuse.

You know, 21 minutes with a B story and everything.

So set the scene because we have another clip we want to play, but just so that people

Right

... surrogate daughter on some level, and to try to make up, you know, for, for that.

Although, one of my favorite jokes to date on the show [laughs] was, I think in season one, might...

No, actually season two, where she starts to say, "You know, what I need to do is stop insulting other people in my act.

I need to talk about myself, make self-deprecating jokes, and be honest about my flaws," and peop- and people responded, and so she decided to go in that direction.

But she said that one time when her daughter was in school, she had a gig on the East Coast and her daughter was on the West Coast, and it was time for her daughter's parent-teacher conference, but she had this great job on the East Coast she wasn't about to give up, so she sent her drag impersonator to the parent-teacher conference.

[laughs]

So yeah, what's your favorite meme recently, or what video have you enjoyed?

theater game

stretching or something and they said no oh no no no there's a stand-up comic stand-up comic and he you know tells jokes and warms up the audience and i said Why? Aren't we going to be funny enough? It was like, can you imagine if you're doing a play and someone comes and warms up the audience? I mean, it was so bizarre to me.

And I thought, oh, my God.

And then someone said, okay, line up for intros.

And I said, well, what's that? And they said, well, they introduce the cast.

You know, you'll go out.

you know, one by one and you just, you know, they'll introduce you and you just bow or smile and wave or whatever.

Do you remember when that happened and what you guys have been able to build with that behind you?

What was your relationship really to her?

God, it's hard to know exactly because the more that I played the character and the more that you guys sort of write for the actors, I mean, you kind of see what kind of works the best with the actor and their roles and things like that.

It's really hard to separate after a while, I think.

Yeah.

I mean, more and more, I felt like I could just sort of react in a way that Debra would react in a certain situation.

I didn't have to stop and, you know, read and think, okay, now how is she going to react to this? I just kind of felt like I could.

Yeah.

Do you think this season being the last season, do you think it was different when you got on set? Was there anything different about it being the final season for you?

(laughs) Um, are there things you related to about the generat- generational conflict, uh, in this? You know, 'cause, you know, the young comic who starts writing for your character thinks of herself as so, like, you know, cutting edge and a little transgressive, and sh- she really has, um, kind of contempt for your character 'cause it, it represents, uh, everything that she, that the younger comic doesn't want to be.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Yeah, no, she, she thinks I'm a dinosaur, which I am in a way.

(laughs) But, uh, Deborah's attitude, I think, is a little bit that, that, uh, Ava's generation has thrown the baby out with the bathwater, and that, um, all they want to do is shock people into laughing.

And that's much easier to do than to come up with something kind of clever that actually makes people laugh, um, not just out of shock.

And so, (laughs) you know, she, i- i- it's just sort of funny to watch them, you know, navigate this c- they come from completely different worlds, or, or at least seemingly.... at first, and, uh, Hannah actually is a stand-up comic, so I was a little bit intimidated at first.

Um, so you grew up in Seattle, right, where Frasier was set? How did you get interested in acting?