ACTING HER AGE
Hacks star Jean Smart on representing older women on screen – and how her co-stars helped her through grief
Six-time Emmy Award winner Jean Smart has single-handedly made seniors sexy again.
Ever since The Golden Girls went off the air, there have been few programmes showcasing a vibrant older population.
But thanks to Jean’s hilarious portrayal of caustic comedian Deborah Vance in hit comedy Hacks, TV executives have taken note – hence the new stream of senior-starring comedies such as A Man on the Inside and Only Murders in the Building.
Indeed, in the forthcoming fourth season of Hacks, Jean’s character Deborah declares: “I’m hotter than I’ve ever been.”
This is plainly true when hello! meets the actress, 73, at a West Hollywood hotel, where she’s dressed in a creamy silk blouse and trousers, her blonde hair in beachy waves, in contrast to her character’s penchant for wigs.
Ask her what Hacks has done for older women and she says: “I don’t necessarily want to be the poster child for older actresses, but it’s nice to be able to play a character where you show that older people do everything that they did when they were 30.