Daniel D'Addario Chief TV CriticWhat is it like to take on the role of a standup comic? For all that she seems fearless on HBO Max’s “Hacks,” Jean Smart felt nerves.In Variety’s Actors on Actors TV issue, Smart spoke to “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang — a comic in real life, unlike Smart’s fictional joke-slinger — about what it took to bring the Joan Rivers-esque comedian Deborah Vance to life.“I always thought it would be fun to be a standup comic, but I always also thought it would be incredibly terrifying,” Smart says. “You’re kind of living one of my fantasies.
I get to do it for pretend.”Smart describes performing for a small set of extras who laughed right on cue. “The audience that I have has been paid to laugh at me.
Read more on variety.com