The Emmy-winning Max series Hacks returns for its fourth season, and the stakes have never been higher. Jean Smart reprises her role as the legendary (and delightfully cutthroat) Deborah Vance, who is now at odds with her once-close comedy partner Ava, played by Hannah Einbinder.
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This season, the duo is seen navigating fractured trust while racing to get their bold late-night show off the ground — a move that could make history, if they don't implode first. With tensions rising, power dynamics shifting, and ambition at full throttle, Hacks is delivering another sharp, hilarious, and emotional chapter that fans won't want to miss.
Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder on Hacks season 4.
Max
Out: What does it mean to you to star in a celebrated queer show that has not only resonated deeply with Hollywood and awards season, but also sparked important conversations? Does it mean something different now under the Trump era?
Hannah Einbinder: Any way we can make people feel seen and create community. Within our community, there has been like a sub-community formed of Hacks fans on the internet. I feel like that is such a strong group of people, and they have found each other, which is so beautiful. Also, to your point, it is even more vital in this time where our culture is telling our community that there's something wrong with us, which is further from the truth. We're happy to be representing fully formed, real queer characters with vivid inner lives who are not just one stereotype.
Jean Smart: I like to believe — and I hope I'm right — that so many of his supporters, I'm thinking, must be a bit aghast and saying, 'Well, no, I didn't vote for you for that. I didn't know you were going to do that! Oh my god, I didn't know you were going to do that. I just kind of wanted you to lower the price of gas.' They didn't really listen, fully, to what he had in mind. It's very shocking. I think even those of us who were concerned are kind of shocked at what's happening. I mean, we're separating children from their parents again. It's kind of unbelievable.
Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder on Hacks season 4.
Max
On Hacks, the allyship between women and queer people highlights how these relationships help navigate success. What significance does this hold for you both today?
Smart: I'm just eternally grateful for this opportunity. I don't take it for granted. I can now see the reality of a possibility of an end of the show… which, a couple of seasons ago, it seemed like, 'Oh, we're going to do this forever.' I can see that it will be fairly soon. It's going to be a very difficult, very strange feeling to not play Deborah Vance. I can't imagine what it must be like for people who do a show for 10 years.
Einbinder: Y'all think Ariana [Grande] and Cynthia [Erivo] are crying?! Just wait until this show ends. It's gonna be a huge fucking problem. I'm glad that it exists in the world and that it will hopefully be preserved in the digital space. Portraying allyship, especially intergenerationally, is so key and so crucial. I have people come up to me or friends in my life tell me how the show helped them connect to their families and friends.
Smart: I've been amazed, from the first season, at the depth and breadth of our fan base. It appeals to just about everybody, and that really surprised me.
Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart on Hacks season 4.
Max
Hannah, you graced Out's cover three years ago when Hacks premiered. Does that mean something more now that you're preparing to give the world season 4 of the show?
Einbinder: It's important to me that our show was embraced by the queer community so early on. There's this beautiful scene in season 3 between Marcus [Carl Clemons-Hopkins] and Tim Bagley, a wonderful actor, at the gay bar. Marcus is so upset that Deborah didn't come, and Tim is explaining: 'It's okay. We pride ourselves on knowing that we were there for her first. We saw it in her first. We recognized it in her first.' An endorsement from the queer community is simply, unquestionably, the most meaningful thing that any piece of art can get. We just know what the good shit is before everybody else.
On the show, Deborah surprises Ava with an acronym she learned at the GLAAD Awards. What's the most impactful lesson, phrase, or insight you've gained from the queer community?
Smart: I learned about poppers, that was pretty new.
You're known for championing comedy and strong female collaborations. If Max handed you an automatic green-light for a show starring you and three other women, who would you cast?
Smart: Hannah Einbinder, Sarah Paulson, and Julianne Nicholson.
Hacks season 4 premieres Thursday, April 10 on Max.
