Hannah Einbinder imagines life after ‘Hacks’

When casting began in 2020 for the award-winning HBO Max series “Hacks,” its three creators — Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky — saw hundreds of actors for the role of Ava Daniels, a 20-something comedy writer who teams up with a Vegas comedian, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), whose act has grown as dated as her updo and glittery outfits. In choosing Hannah Einbinder, they put a little-known stand-up comic who’d never before set foot on a TV series shoot on a path to four Emmy nominations. So what did they see then that indicated Einbinder could hold her own with Smart, a storied actress who famously can do anything?

Downs, who also stars as manager Jimmy LuSaque Jr. on “Hacks,” says Einbinder caught the trio’s attention with her audition scene, in which Ava threatens to kill herself after learning that her tweet about a closeted senator and his gay son has rendered her unhirable. “A lot of really funny, really talented actresses read for the part, but their reads were emotional,” he says. “Hannah read it in a way that was dry, sardonic, the way that a comedy writer would say it, and she just had this toughness about her.”

Ava’s decision to blackmail Deborah into letting her become head writer of her new late-night talk show signaled a power shift in the series, and Season 4, which premiered in April, is distinctly more Ava-centric. Even as her unsinkable, emotionally complicated boss combats Ava’s efforts to elevate the show at every turn, Ava’s maturation stands out.

With some comedic hurdles, of course. Sitting in a conference room at The Times, Einbinder acknowledges that Season 4 showed the “Hacks” writers knew she could take her performance into fresh territory.

In Season 4 of “Hacks,” Einbinder’s Ava Daniels blackmails her way into the head writer gig on a late-night show — and it doesn’t always go smoothly.

(Max)

“I think there are moments in the series where they gave me new mountains to climb,” she explains, citing Ava’s epic meltdown after realizing her writing staff has exploited her team-building gestures, a reaction that combines high-decibel shouting with the hurling of a $70 branzino. “Totally enraged is not a place that I’ve ever gone before as an actor.”

Back on Day 1 of her “Hacks” journey, Einbinder arrived on set knowing so little about making a TV show that her go-to source for the ins and outs of hitting a mark was Michael Caine’s legendary how-to handbook, “Acting in Film.” Downs attributes her rapid growth since to a combination of hard work and raw talent. “Some people just have a natural-born ability to make dialogue that’s written seem like it’s said for the first time and they are just living that moment,” he says, adding, “She’s someone who prepares so much. I’ve seen her scripts, filled with notes. She’s always working on lines, thinking about the character.”

A case can be made that Einbinder’s showbiz education began at a young age, with a mom — Laraine Newman, an original “Saturday Night Live” cast member — who liked listening to comedy while driving and who brought along her pale-skinned, redheaded little daughter to voice-over auditions. But Einbinder also believes her years as a competitive cheerleader — she held the gravity-defying position of point flyer, the one being tossed around or hoisted in the air — gave her the tools to finesse her transition to “Hacks.”

“It’s so rooted in misogyny, the way cheerleading is viewed in our culture,” she says before ticking off comparisons between the two professions. “There’s the showmanship. The performance aspect is really similar. Working with an ensemble, working with your team. Taking direction from your coach. My cheerleading background was very strict and created a lot of maybe unhealthy patterns that have led me to success, for better or for worse.”

“I grew up with these people,” Einbinder says of the prospect of “Hacks” ending. “We are in each other’s lives in a real way. So, yeah, it’s emotional.”

(Bexx Francois / For The Times)

Mark Indelicato, who plays Deborah’s assistant on “Hacks” and bonded with Einbinder on the first day of shooting, remembers watching her learn on the fly. “She’s like a sponge,” he says, adding that she also can be her own harshest critic. “She’s so competitive with herself. Sometimes I’ll just be like, ‘Han, I’m exhausted talking to you right now.’ She pulls herself in a million different directions and doesn’t look up, just goes, goes, goes, goes.”

Back in her post-high school days, she went through a different sort of phase. Having cast cheerleading aside, she channeled her energies SoCal slacker-style.

“That’d be smoking pot and racing my Honda Element around Los Angeles,” she says. “I was really focused on that.”

But in 2017, her senior year as a broadcast major at Chapman University, she volunteered to be a warmup act for comedian Nicole Byer. For some reason, Einbinder decided her material didn’t need much road testing. “I did, like, maybe three open mics,” says Einbinder. Though she admits to some pre-debut jitters, by the time she’d left Byer’s stagesomething had clicked. “In certain ways, this was dopamine-driven. I’m an adrenaline seeker. I just have always liked the feeling of flying.”

After that, it was all stand-up, touring the country as an opener for high-profile comics like Chelsea Handler and Dana Gould. Then, in early 2020, she became the youngest comic ever to appear on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

It’s not lost on Einbinder that her tight, idiosyncratic set became her industry calling card. “The experience was so transformative for me, and I’m grateful for that,” she says. “When I auditioned for ‘Hacks,’ it was the only thing they could see online. I didn’t have any previous acting jobs.”

So what’s her take on CBS’ decision to end the late-night series amid a highly politicized corporate merger? “I’m going to choose my words wisely here,” she says, pursing her lips. “The type of comedy that late-night hosts do reflects a pretty moderate centrist Democrat position, so it scares me that, like, the middle-of-the-road Dem white guys are being silenced and what that means for people who are really actually speaking truth to power.”

Despite this bout of caution, Einbinder can also be an open book. In high school she was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed a heavy dose of Adderall, and as a result, she says, she doesn’t have much access to those years. “My best friend Phoebe will be, like, ‘Remember when you did that crazy thing?’ And I’m like, ‘Absolutely not. I sound awesome in that story. I’ll take your word for it.’”

(Bexx Francois / For The Times)

When asked about the first live comedy show she ever attended, she says, “Bill Maher, which I am kind of humiliated to admit. Sorry, Bill.” A pause. “Not really.” Then she leans over my digital recorder and gives a quick, wet Bronx cheer.

Her 2024 stand-up comedy special for HBO Max, “Everything Must Go,” is wall-to-wall personal anecdotes, some of them embarrassing. But something else in that hour convinced transfeminine writer-director and indie force Jane Schoenbrun (“I Saw the TV Glow”) to cast Einbinder in their upcoming film, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.” “It was almost like she was dancing with the camera,” says Schoenbrun. “I love ‘Hacks’ and think Hannah displays incredible acting chops, but it’s a sitcom, and I’m making something more of an art film. And I found her deranged physicality exciting.”

In “Miasma,” Einbinder, who is bisexual, plays a queer director who, after being hired to direct the latest installment of a slasher franchise, travels to a remote cabin to meet with an original cast member (Gillian Anderson) and falls into what Schoenbrun has described as “a frenzy of psychosexual mania.” Considering that Einbinder chose “Miasma” as the first big step she’s taken outside of “Hacks,” it seems like an indicator of the sort of career she is hoping to build.

“Comedy feels really good,” she says. “But I also want to make sure that the projects I join are emotionally fulfilling. Jane is someone I feel so aligned with, and the work that Jane makes is so deeply personal and queer. It’s just exactly the type of thing I wanted to do.”

“I’m on another movie right now — it’s a really cool comedy,” Einbinder says of an ensemble film that’s yet to be announced. Then, next month, she’s expected back at “Hacks.” Even when its three creators were pitching the series, the plan was to end after five seasons. So mapping out her future path isn’t just whimsy. (The series has been renewed for a fifth season, and while there’s no official word on an end yet, many viewers have speculated that Season 5 will indeed be its last.) When she’s asked to imagine her life after “Hacks,” Einbinder’s face suddenly turns pink, a folded tissue appears, and she’s dabbing away tears. “I grew up with these people,” she says in a strangled voice. “We are in each other’s lives in a real way. So, yeah, it’s emotional.”

Einbinder says she feels connected to the characters and their stories “the way fans do.” So what does she hope happens to Ava before “Hacks” concludes? The tissue drops and Einbinder’s sense of humor returns.

“I think she should cure her acne and grow her hair out,” she says. “That would be meaningful for her.”

(Bexx Francois / For The Times)