SPOILERS: This post contains details about the Hacks series finale
As Hacks fans mourn the end of the HBO Max show’s five-season run, nobody has been as deeply affected by the show as star Hannah Einbinder.
The Emmy-winning actress, who made her onscreen debut starring as comedy writer Ava Daniels, recently explained to Deadline how the “incredibly heavy” finale episode, written by co-creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, was “pretty easy” to access emotionally.
“There is like a convergence of real life with the text,” said Einbinder. “Of course, it is not lost on me in the moment that this is the last time I’m going to be with this character, and I feel after five seasons, so, so deeply connected to Ava’s perspective. So, I think that the experience is really genuinely real. I really feel like I love Ava and I love Deborah [Jean Smart].”
Directed by Aniello, ‘Hacks (Finale)’ follows Deborah and Ava on their getaway to Europe, for which Deb reveals she plans to check into an assisted suicide facility after her cancer came back. After an emotional back-and-forth, in which Ava tries to convince her not to go through with it, the only thing that could keep Deb alive is the potential of writing another comedy special with her best friend.
“It’s one of the most meaningful parts of the show is knowing that it’s brought together people who maybe had trouble understanding each other,” said Einbinder of the show’s reach across the generational divide.
With Hacks ending its five-season run that kicked off in 2021, Einbinder can next be seen on the big screen in Jane Schoenbrun’s surreal horror Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, premiering Aug. 7, as well as Victoria Strouse’s SXSW comedy Seekers of Infinite Love.
Meanwhile, two years after releasing her debut comedy special Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go on HBO Max, the comic is easing back into her first love of stand-up.
“I’ve been on stage lately, actually, a little bit, and it’s felt really good to be back,” noted Einbinder. “I took about a little over a year off. I didn’t touch a mic for over a year after I did my special—almost two years, maybe. I just was so spent after putting that hour out, it was just the culmination of my entire career as a stand-up.”
Read on about what’s next for Hannah Einbinder, as well as her experience working on the finale of Hacks, all episodes now available to stream on HBO Max.
DEADLINE: You gave such a beautiful, heartbreaking performance in that finale. What was that emotional rollercoaster like for you behind the scenes?
HANNAH EINBINDER: You know, there is like a convergence of real life with the text. Of course, it is not lost on me in the moment that this is the last time I’m going to be with this character, and I feel after five seasons, so, so deeply connected to Ava’s perspective. So, I think that the experience is really genuinely real. I really feel like I love Ava and I love Deborah. The circumstances of the episode are obviously incredibly heavy, and so, getting into that emotionally is pretty easy for me, I think.
DEADLINE: What was it like filming the Montecito episode, especially just knowing that fans have been shipping Ava and Deborah for years?
EINBINDER: Oh, it was so much fun. I’m like so happy with how that turned out. Cherry [Jones] and Leslie [Bibb] are unbelievable, and were so funny and real, so real. Jean and I just had so much fun because this season doesn’t have a ton of our bickering or any of the tumultuous stuff that we are used to doing, and so it was fun to dip back into a little bit of that dynamic for a bit cause that’s also fun for us too.
DEALDINE: And I also loved the Jesse McCartney episode. What was it like getting to meet him? I heard there you guys had DM’ed before, and he was a fan of the show.
EINBINDER: Yeah, he watched the show, and Season 1, there was a Jesse McCartney poster in Ava’s childhood bedroom. And I said, “You know, dude, I love you. I’m such a fan.” And it just made sense that that’s who they would have surprised her with, so it’s pretty sweet.
DEADLINE: Also, one of the episodes that, you know, has really gotten a lot of attention is the ‘QuikScribbl’ episode and your AI monologue. What was it like getting to really let that out during such a charged time in Hollywood around AI?
EINBINDER: The timing was borderline divine. It came right around some intense conversation about it and a lot of divisive conversation about it, and a lot of people in Hollywood coming out for it. I’m just so proud that we are vehemently against it and that we do it in a way that is rooted in research and facts, so I’m super proud of that.
DEADLINE: And I loved how we see how Ava has rubbed off on Deborah so much in that episode.
EINBINDER: Yeah, I love it. I mean, this season, we really get to see a lot of that. We get to see a lot of the effects of Ava on Deborah and all of these ethical decisions that she makes, and even in that land acknowledgement in the opening of the Central Park show. Super cool.
DEADLINE: That’s why I love this show, or why I love that my mom loves the show too, because it just really feels like it bridges that generational divide.
EINBINDER: Yeah, I agree. It’s one of the most meaningful parts of the show is knowing that it’s brought together people who maybe had trouble understanding each other.
DEADLINE: I love how outspoken you are. I’m curious, the way the show mirrors how Hollywood is censoring people or has the ability to censor people, does that make it feel more important to speak to these things?
EINBINDER: Yeah, I feel really lucky to work with people who are aligned with me politically and not afraid to voice their opinions. Paul, Jen and Lucia have always said something with this show. We’ve done so much on this show that is incredibly political, but they’ve always made sure that it wasn’t preachy and that it was funny. It’s one of the most effective ways to communicate, and it’s just been masterfully done. And so, I as an individual, feel so fucking lucky to be in the position where I’m working with people who, I don’t have to feel uncomfortable because I don’t have to feel like I’m misunderstood.
DEADLINE: I am dying to see Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. What was it like working with Jane Schoenbrun and Gillian Anderson on such a something so tonally different from what you’ve been doing the past few years?
EINBINDER: Jane is like one of the comedic loves of my life, an absolute soul tie. They are one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and the experience was total euphoria. I mean, it was highly connected and intimate and light and deep at the same time, and it’s just miraculous to me that I could come from the most creatively fulfilling experience in my life on Hacks, and then go right on to something that just felt right on par. To get to have these connections is like the most meaningful thing that I could ever ask for.
DEADLINE: Well, I’m excited to see that one. And now that Hacks is over, are you specifically trying to pursue more acting roles or maybe another stand-up special?
EINBINDER: You know, I’m kinda medium agnostic. I love film, TV, stand-up. I just kinda go where the wind blows and where the good work is, and where I feel the most connected. I’ve been on stage lately, actually, a little bit, and it’s felt really good to be back. I took about a little over a year off. I didn’t touch a mic for over a year after I did my special—almost two years, maybe. I just was so spent after putting that hour out, it was just the culmination of my entire career as a stand-up. So, I definitely love it all though, so I’m stoked to just do the work that feels right for the moment.
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