HBO’s Hacks: Showrunner Lucia Aniello & Actor Hannah Einbinder — Behind-the-Scenes, Insights & Comedy Secrets

Over four seasons (and counting), HBO’s Hacks follows the sharp, often ruthless comedy of Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a legendary Las Vegas stand-up who reluctantly teams up with struggling, acerbic writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) after Ava’s career-threatening scandal. The series explores their combustible mentor–protégé relationship as they navigate reinvention, generational clashes, and the business of comedy. Created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, Hacks blends biting satire with heartfelt character moments, examining sacrifice, fame, creative ownership, and the costs of reinvention.

The comedy in Hacks comes from what’s happening in the world. It needs to be timely and relevant.

Co-creator, co-showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director Lucia Aniello of Hacks and the star Hannah Einbinder discuss Season 4 as a love letter to Los Angeles. Debra Vance (Jean Smart) lands her dream job hosting late night television and the political landmines it entails.

“The first season took five years. As a result, we really had a lot of time to be ask how do we want to tell the story? What is this story really about? So when we went in with the initial pitch, we pretty much planned out what each season was going to be about,” Lucia recounts the early days.

“This fourth season was always about this white whale, the source of Debrah’s trauma, this late night show that was supposed to happen for her. It was always her dream. What happens when she does actually get that dream? Where does that put her professionally and interpersonally with her relationship with Ava? It’s always nice for us to have a north star to always look towards,” Aniello continues.

Ava Daniels is also stepping into her space as a head writer for Debra’s late night show in Season 4. “I feel like Ava was so fully three-dimensional when I first received her in Season one. We have been having these conversations for about five years about this person who feels very real to us and we feel like we know. I am very fortunate to inherit really immaculate writing and a beautifully crafted narrative that feels really earned.” Hannah explains about her character’s growth over the course of the series.

Lucia Aniello & Hannah Einbinder

Censorship Is A Slippery Slope 

Lucia Aniello has been writing and directing across the board over the show’s four seasons. Naturally, the two disciplines influence each other, but Lucia understands they ideally must be kept separate. A Slippery Slope is the title of the penultimate episode in Season 4 where Deborah is forced to interview contentious movie star Ethan Sommers (Eric Balfour) on her show and censor the controversial aspects of his life. There was even a cameo from Jimmy Kimmel in a display of art imitating life to further make the point.

“The thing that I was always thinking about when we were writing it, was the tension that we wanted to build throughout the episode, and how we would build that tension with the camera,” Lucia recalls. Much of the camera work was handheld with extreme close ups when Debrah and Ava were inside their heads. However, when Aniello writes, she mainly focuses on the story. Her co-showrunners Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs equally collaborate and inject visual comedic elements to the show. Substance-fuelled Dance Mom (Julianne Nicholson) is a prime example. “She is crazy. She’s totally insane. She’s texting with Adam Levine,” Lucia adds.

“I really wanted to build that up to when Debrah is finally giving that speech towards the end. What is this slippery slope, what decision does she have to make, and what kind of person is she in this moment? What has late night television become?,” Lucia expands. In contrast to Vance’s calm demeanor, Ava watches in horror as she feels Debrah is pulling the rug from under her feet yet again, just when things were improving for both of them. It is a climactic point for both characters as Debrah resigns from the show on air.

Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) Photo courtesy of HBO Max

The Evolving Bond Between Lucia and Hannah

Both Lucia Aniello and Hannah Einbinder have matured as artists along with the show.

“I feel like after five years of working together, the creators are like a Debrah Vance to me. They are this comedic ideal. They are the total embodiment of the depth of funny people, the real heart that funny people possess,” Hannah states. “The heights of comedic excellence.” Einbinder likens her relationship dynamic with Lucia to Debrah and Ava. It’s somewhat toxic, but they push each other to new heights.

“Hannah and Jean Smart [who plays Deborah Vance] both taught us so much and they’ve both given so much of themselves to the characters that they allow us to do things in the writing and the storytelling that I think are even beyond what we initially conceived. It is really a symbiotic relationship,” Aniello shares.

Hacks relies on not over-rehearsing before filming to maintain the uniqueness and freshness of each actor’s performance. It’s all very efficient and connected. Oftentimes, there are tweaks in the scripts – losing words because the casts says so much with so little. There are also ample alternative jokes that may land better on set.

Hannah also remarks that she experiences Hacks both as an actor and as a viewer to fully embrace the spirit of the show and its cast. “I feel really close to these characters. I know what is emotionally true. I know what details from their life are in the show. I know all of that.”

Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins) Photo courtesy of HBO Max.

Hacks: Season 5

Lucia Aniello has a loose outline of the upcoming season, but nothing is set in stone. She wasn’t completely sure when Debrah would give up her late night show in Season 4. Every twist and turn needs to be earned and can’t always be planned.

“A late night show was what Debrah wanted then, but now she’s a different person in a different place. And what late night is asking of her to be is very different now. I think she’s also learned about what really makes her happy,” Lucia states.

The standup comedy is always the backbone of the story. Now that Debrah has reached another apex at late night television, where does she go next? Where can her character be pushed to and how far?

“And so for us, her quitting late night TV, even though it hurt in some ways, I see it as a success because it means that she knows herself better now and knows what she wants more,” Lucia adds.

[More: Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, & Jen Statsky on ‘Hacks’]

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.