Hacks Season 2 takes Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels far from their comfort zone in Las Vegas, but they still have a strong support system behind the scenes. Carl Clemons-Hopkins and Mark Indelicato return as Marcus and Damien, respectively, to make sure Deborah and Ava’s lives go as smoothly as possible even at the sacrifice of their own lives. In a recent interview with PopCulture.com, Clemons-Hopkins and Indelicato showed praise for the show’s leading stars, Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.
The HBO Max series launched last year and stars Smart as Deborah, a Las Vegas stand-up comedian who sees her relevance dwindling. She happens to have the same manager, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs), as Einbinder’s Ava, a millennial comedy writer who was fired because of an insensitive tweet. Jimmy pairs Ava and Deborah together, hoping that Ava can modernize Deborah’s act. In Season 2, Deborah and Ava find themselves touring because Deborah lost her gig in Vegas. Damien is on the road with the two at the start of the season.
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“You’re learning something” every day you work with Smart, Indelicato said. The Ugly Betty veteran said he has immense respect for Smart and never takes for granted that he is “working alongside one of the best.” He is “constantly watching” Smart work.
“She’s also just extremely generous with her time,” Indelicato said of Smart. “If I have a question or if she feels so strongly to say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ She’s extremely collaborative and generous. So it’s not even getting to just be a spectator of her greatness, but also getting brought into that circle with her as an equal, which is thrilling.”
Einbinder came into Hacks from a very different perspective from Smart. This is her first major television role after breaking through as a stand-up comedian. Indelicato instantly praised Einbinder’s work ethic. Clemons-Hopkins recalled seeing her perform during Hacks’ hiatus last summer and being impressed. “She has the performance chops, she’s put in the hours, and as Mark said, the work, both in this project and in her previous artistic endeavors.”
“She has put in so much work and has done her homework and has also been extremely collaborative with everyone,” Indelicato said of Einbinder. “I mean, of course mostly Jean because she works with Jean the most, but even when we were filming the first season, asking Carl and I and anyone that has had a little bit more experience in this context of the entertainment industry, this world of making film and television. She’s also an extremely inquisitive person.” Indelicato said Einbinder “truly deserves” every accolade and praise she has received for Hacks.
Clemons-Hopkins’ Marcus is truly the third corner in Hacks‘ triangle because he oversees Deborah’s company. At the start of Season 2, Marcus is trying to pick up the pieces of his life in Vegas, including either moving on or repairing his relationship with Wilson (Johnny Sibilly). Although Clemons-Hopkins is rooting for Marcus and Wilson to get back together, their more interested in seeing Marcus get back on solid footing.
“I’m definitely rooting for them, but even more than that I’m rooting for Marcus to get to where he needs to be to allow that to happen,” Clemons-Hopkins said. “Just as a person, I don’t like seeing someone making the same mistakes. That’s no fun. So I’m rooting for Marcus to get his s— together and then if that includes Wilson, that’d be wonderful. That would be just so wonderful.” Hacks Season 2 debuted on HBO Max Thursday.
