Jean Smart Joins ‘The Family Stone’ Sequel in First Post-‘Hacks’ Role

Fresh off her fifth-straight (and final) Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy for “Hacks,” Jean Smart has found next role. Smart will join the cast of “The Families Stone,” the sequel to the 2005 holiday cult classic “The Family Stone” that is reuniting the entire cast.

Minus the late Diane Keaton, who passed away last October, “The Families Stone” stars Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Tyrone Giordano, Elizabeth Reaser, Paul Schneider, and Brian White all returning to reprise their original roles, with director and writer Tom Bezucha also back in the fold.

The new film, being released by Searchlight Pictures, is set 20 years removed from the original and is centered around the passing of Keaton’s character Sybil Stone, with the family getting together for the occasion. Mulroney’s character Everett this Christmas unexpectedly for Christmas brings home the new woman he’s fallen in love with to meet the family, with Smart set to play the new woman.

Principal photography begins this fall in New York.

Michael London and Shannon Gaulding are producing for Groundswell Productions, as is Sarah Jessica Parker along with Alison Benson for their Pretty Matches Productions banner.

The 20th Century Fox film from 2005 made $92 million globally and it’s one of those cozy holiday comedies about an uptight businesswoman (Parker) meeting her boyfriend’s eccentric and often judgy family for the first time. “The Family Stone” was Bezucha’s second feature following “Big Eden.” He’s since directed “Monte Carlo,” “Let Him Go,” and several episodes of “Fargo,” for which he received an Emmy nomination.

This is also Smart’s return to the big screen for the first time in a while. The last film she starred in was 2022’s “Babylon” from Damien Chazelle, as well as 2022’s “Wildflower.” She’s also starred in “Garden State” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” and she’s next meant to appear in “Egg Baby,” a rom-com from Amazon MGM Studios.

Coming up for Searchlight later this year is “Wild Horse Nine,” the new film from director Martin McDonagh that just premiered at Telluride and has earned some serious Oscar buzz for star John Malkovich. So far, Searchlight has had a quiet 2026 that has only included “Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come” and “Super Troopers 3.”

SVP of Production Taylor Friedman and Creative Executive Daniel Yu are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures, reporting to Heads of Production and Development DanTram Nguyen and Katie Goodson-Thomas.

Smart is represented by WME and Untitled Entertainment.