The third season of the acclaimed Max comedy show “Hacks” earned 17 Emmy nominations, including nods for Best Comedy Series and Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series for Kaitlin Olson, who plays the somewhat entitled but eager-to-connect daughter to Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance.
In the latest season, the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star shines as the misfit DJ Vance, who not only experiences a pregnancy this season but also gets to roast her comedy legend mother in front of a live audience in the third episode, “The Roast of Deborah Vance.”
“It was just such a spectacular episode for me as an actor; from the minute I got the script, I was just so excited,” shares Olson. “There’s so many things to be able to do.”
Created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, “Hacks” remains one of the best and most biting comedies. The latest season finds Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) chasing the late-night host gig while her daughter, DJ, celebrates five years of sobriety. DJ experiences a lot of growth this season, and becoming a mother changes her perspective on relationships, giving Olson the opportunity to play with new, sympathetic layers.
“There’s a new focus; it’s not about me getting her attention,” adds the Emmy nominee. “It’s about me doing what’s best for the baby, which will add a certain nice element that we haven’t seen so far.”
Olson spoke to Awards Focus about DJ’s growth this season, filming the hilarious roasting of Deborah Vance, how DJ’s relationship evolves with Deborah this season, and delivering the punchline, “What a cunt” repeatedly.
Awards Focus: I would like to start off with one of the smaller scenes, which is just DJ and Deborah eating together. It encapsulates so much of their relationship dynamic. DJ is very much like a child in an adult’s body, and in this scene, she talks with her mouth full. Could you talk about those little touches when it comes to creating DJ?
Kaitlin Olson: It’s one of the things that attracted me to this character in the first place. There’s just something really funny to me about a middle-aged woman who behaves like a child. First and foremost, it’s funny, but it’s also important because her growth is stunted because she wasn’t ever parented correctly. Deborah was a very selfish, absentee mother, and you love her for a million reasons, but the truth is she should not have taken her daughter to comedy clubs and green rooms; she was an irresponsible parent.
I love to try and figure out all the ways that would mess this person up. I just find all those little details funny as well.
AF: It almost feels like in order to play DJ, you have to watch a kid do something and then do that.
Olson: Yeah, throw a fit, get louder. It’s so fun to play too. I like to yell [laughs].
AF: The pregnancy news is one of the huge developments for DJ this season, and if we could talk about it in comparison of these two scenes, the hug and the no hug. Deborah wants to hug DJ when she hears the news, and DJ rejects her. Then, it’s the opposite with Ava – DJ asks for the hug and holds it for way too long. Could you talk about playing these two scenes?
Olson: I think that DJ is starved for affection and attention, and she takes it from Ava almost inappropriately. She takes the hug from Ava because she needs a hug and the holding on for too long; that’s why I love this show so much; all of these things are so fun to play, but they also are meaningful. She’s hanging on for way too long, and she’s just decided that she and Ava are like sisters, like twins, and Ava never gave her any feedback to feel that way, but this is just what she needs, so this is what she’s taking. Really, she wants it from her mom, but she’s going to punish her mom and not allow it on her mom’s terms. However, she is still hungry for that affection and attention.
AF: One of the highlights this season is definitely the Deborah Vance roast. What was that day like on set with well-known comedians there?
Olson: It’s always so much fun to have comedians come together; we all know each other from the comedy circuit. All of us knew of each other by like one degree of separation, so it was just a really fun, relaxed day. We’re all just screwing around, and it just doesn’t feel like work; it was so fun.
It’s a credit to [showrunners] Lucia, Paul, and Jen that they created this warm, collaborative environment. We have a really strong script; the dialogue was incredible, and you’re also just encouraged to play around and make it your own.
AF: DJ getting up on the stage and roasting her mom with jokes she wrote herself is one of my favorite scenes this season, and the way you play it is so beautiful because it’s such a short speech, but there’s this whole arc within it. What was it like approaching that particular scene?
Olson: I felt it was very obvious on the page what was going on and what my job was. I think it even started before that; you see her sitting there; she is feigning this confidence. I don’t think she was completely settled and ready to go. She didn’t want to be up there doing any of this; she was forced into it, but she made it her own. And then to be cut down like that right before she’s supposed to stand up there and start to perform, which is something she didn’t want to be doing in the first place, has to be so incredibly devastating and terrifying. Suddenly she’s the butt of the joke, it wasn’t supposed to be that way, and it’s always been like that all of her life.
I loved that arc so much. It’s just so much fun to play lots of different things in one chunk of time. That’s why I love this character: It’s just so well-rounded and well thought out. Also, as an actor, it’s so fun to get up and be terrified, then get a win, and then enjoy it.
But I wanted her triumph to be more about the fact that she did it her own way, and it worked. Not about, “Oh, people are laughing, and they’re enjoying it.” That’s Deborah’s thing; that’s what she’s addicted to. She just likes that she did it by herself; she proved to her mom and herself, “I did it.” That’s what the high was for her, in opposition to the high for Deborah, the addiction to laughs.
AF: I love how that then leads into this beautiful revelation, as you say. The roast unlocks something for DJ in understanding her mother. There’s so much growth for DJ this season.
Olson: It was so great; I loved it; I feel like a weight has been taken off of her. There’s just such relief in realizing that this whole time, Deborah has put herself on this pedestal above DJ because she’s an addict, but she’s exactly the same, and there’s something so freeing about that.
It was just such a spectacular episode for me as an actor. From the minute I got the script, I was just so excited. There were so many things to do.
AF: You get to deliver the one-liner “What a cunt” over and over again. The delivery is different every time; the first one might be my favorite because it is so flat. That must’ve been a fun process to have a different spin on it every time.
Olson: What’s funny about it is the fact that this woman can’t deliver a punchline. That, to me, was so funny, and to deliver it flatly just that in itself is so funny. And then it was great to be able to do it as many different ways as I could as she started going and having it be more animated but different every time.
AF: Could you talk about DJ’s clothes and how much that informs the character for you?
Olson: Kathleen [Felix-Hager] is so incredible, and our conversations in the fitting room are about DJ’s eclectic personality. She definitely has a take on fashion, but everything’s slightly off as if she needs to try harder. When I say I liked playing DJ as a child, it really is more of an angsty teenage; it’s like a rebellious ‘I don’t care’ and ‘I’m going to do it my way.’ But really, you care more than anything in the whole world. Those fittings are great, and we do have those conversations.
Sometimes, the rack is wild. You look at it and it’s so great, you think, ‘God, I wouldn’t wear any of this.’ That’s my favorite way to dress for a character. It makes a big difference what you’re wearing; you feel it in your body.
AF: And also, her hair. DJ always has it down.
Olson: She just doesn’t care that much. I wanted to do the opposite of what Deborah was doing. Deborah’s hair is always precise, and DJ’s hair is just either messy or not thought about. Or if she’s getting fancy, she puts curls in it, and that’s how she goes.
AF: I love the crib scene in the Christmas episode where DJ sits between Deborah and her sister. There’s a great dynamic of not wanting to be there in the middle but also loving the attention.
Olson: Honestly, that was challenging to play, like the “Oh, God, don’t bring it up; I don’t want to be in the middle of it” because all my instincts were that DJ probably loves that they’re fighting over. But I had to go more towards the “I’m pregnant now” and there’s a new focus; it’s not about me getting her attention; it’s about me doing what’s best for the baby, which will add a certain nice element that we haven’t seen so far. Becoming a mother just changes you, so I’m excited to see how DJ parents.