‘Hacks’ star Paul W. Downs on Season 3 success: ‘It was a cathartic experience for all of us’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
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For “Hacks” co-creator, writer, director and co-star Paul W. Downs, Season 3 of the Emmy Award-winning series offered the chance for a new honorific: series regular. Downs and his frequent scene partner Meg Stalter were upped to full-time cast members for the Season 3 episodes, as their characters – respectively, talent manager Jimmy and his loyal assistant Kayla – became more integrated into the show’s story.
“I had to go method. I had to really be booking things for Jean Smart,” Downs jokes during a recent exclusive video interview with Gold Derby about the status change.
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Co-created by Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky, the third season of “Hacks” focuses primarily on the contentious and often fruitful relationship between the legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) and her former comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) as they reconnect and work toward Deborah’s ultimate goal of hosting a late-night show. The third season, which picks up a year after the events of Season 2, also finds Jimmy and Kayla struggling to build their new representation agency after leaving the company co-founded by Jimmy’s late father.
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“I think the only thing that had changed in terms of my approach was it allowed us to learn a little bit more about Jimmy’s background and also where he’s come from and his motivation,” Downs says of becoming a series regular for Season 3. “So I think just deepening the character meant I had to think a little bit more about the kind of guy he was. But it was actually way more rewarding. It almost felt like there was more of a ‘Hacks’ storyline for Jimmy. You saw hard comedy from both Jimmy and Kayla but you also saw more heartfelt moments – like when he gets to deliver certain news to Deborah [about the late-night show].”
Hollywood agents and managers are often depicted onscreen as aggressive, phony, angry, mean – or all things at once in the case of someone like Ari Gold. But as Jimmy, Downs finds the empathy and thoughtfulness of the job – something he says mirrors his experiences in the industry.
“My representatives are all really well-meaning people that are so hardworking and so kind and that’s not something you typically see in representation of representation,” Downs explains. “In the writing of Jimmy – and also my portrayal of Jimmy – we wanted to show somebody who cared about his clients and cared about their careers.”
That’s especially true of Deborah, who was with Jimmy’s father’s agency for 30 years and whom Jimmy inherited as a client. “One of the things we uncover – especially as an actor this season – is Jimmy is sort of a nepo baby,” Downs adds. “There are one or two ways you can play it: you can be kind of an asshole who rides on your laurels, or you can be somebody who wants to prove himself. Jimmy wants to prove himself. Yes, he is in this position because of the privilege he had and because of his dad. But I think he really cares about comedy, and he cares about his clients, and he loves the industry. He just wants to make a name for himself outside of the shadow [of his parents].”
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Downs – an Emmy winner as a writer for Season 1 of “Hacks” and a director and writer of multiple Season 3 episodes in addition to his work onscreen – has often played more broadly comic characters, especially in his sketch comedy work on stage and in projects like “Broad City.” But “Hacks” usually positions Jimmy as the straight man – a role that allows Downs to play off Statler and others while also mining his own laughs with subtle responses and throwaway lines.
“It’s been really fun to ground all of the comedy in real-life situations,” he says. “And the truth is, I have a great scene partner in Meg. She brings it to life in such a great way that Jimmy’s reaction can be very lifelike. I can just react very naturally to her. That’s what’s been fun about the character: He is the straight man and most of my job is to set up the characters in the scene around me. But even though there is that setup, I have the freedom on the show to be a little bit loose and to hopefully bring some of the color in the dynamic that is a little bit less than a straight man-thing. It’s a balance that I’m really glad that I get to do.”
Season 3 of “Hacks,” which ends on May 30 with a finale that will surely have fans anxiously awaiting new episodes, has been hailed by many as the best yet for the Max series. Downs says he and the cast felt that on set as well.
“I feel like the third season, we’ve all really leveled up and gotten the show to places you maybe haven’t seen from us in the previous two seasons,” he says. “It was certainly the most satisfying season of all for us. It was a long road with the writers’ and actors’ strikes and Jean’s health. So it was a cathartic experience for all of us.”
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