People often say there are certain actors who they would watch even if they were reading the phone book (although we need a more relevant anecdote!), and many would agree that Jean Smart falls into that category. While the Hacks star is celebrating winning her third Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy for her comedian character Deborah Vance, she explained one heartbreaking problem with this victorious streak.
In a May 2024 interview with Glamour, Smart talked about her regret: her parents passed away before they could watch her play Deborah in Hacks.
The actress shared that they were happy when she won Emmy #1 for playing Lara Gardner on Frasier, and they found her win “fun and exciting.” She explained, “I wish they could have seen Hacks.” She continued, “That makes me sad. They didn’t get to, and I think my mother in particular would’ve really, really enjoyed it.”
Smart’s words prove that everyone wants to make their parents proud, and that feeling never goes away. While losing your mom and dad is never going to be easy, Smart also faced the loss of her husband. In 2022, she spoke about her husband Richard Gilliland’s death from a heart problem and said, “Being a single mother is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” as she has been raising their 13-year-old son Forrest. She also perfectly described what grief feels like when she said it “doesn’t make any sense” and “you go through this period of thinking it’s just not real.” Joan Didion shared a similar sentiment in her beautiful memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, especially when she said she didn’t want to give her late husband’s clothes away, because he might come back and need them.
Smart also explained that she found solace in acting as it was “a great distraction.” Perhaps she felt the same way when her parents died. While of course having a starring role on a hit TV show can never replace loved ones, it can be helpful to have a place to go every day and it can be healing to focus on something, especially a creative endeavor.
Smart is around the same age as Deborah, and has done an amazing job portraying a stand-up comic who wants nothing more than to continue her legendary and incredible career. Her big obstacle? Several critics and doubters aren’t sure she has what it takes now because she isn’t young anymore.
If you’ve lost someone close to you and they didn’t get to see you land your dream job, or marry your soulmate, or welcome your first baby, you can relate to Smart’s regret. But it’s nice to think that her parents are looking down at her and smiling. There’s no doubt that if they had gotten the chance to tune into Deborah’s story, they would have been super proud of their talented daughter. And they would likely also be anxiously waiting for Hacks season 4, which needs to come out already.
Published: Sep 16, 2024 02:57 pm