Yahoo News Helen Hunt Loved Her ‘Fierce’ ‘Hacks’ Role: ‘Is It Unpleasant or Is It Funny?’
Editor’s note: This story contains light spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “Hacks.”
When we first meet the legend Helen Hunt as Winnie Landell in Season 3 of Max’s critically acclaimed comedy “Hacks,” she’s looking for the spicy tuna guy.
More from IndieWire
Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) have a chance encounter with Winnie, the head of the network that Ava is currently working for, where they also find out that she slept with Jimmy’s dad while he was married, maybe. It’s a hell of an introduction for Hunt, who is best known for her work on “Mad About You,” as well as films like “Twister,” “Cast Away,” and “As Good As It Gets,” for which she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1997.
While we only get Hunt in a few episodes this season, her role as Winnie looms large. As head of the network, she’s one of Deborah’s (Jean Smart) obstacles to finally get her shot at being a late night host. Hunt was a fan of the show and jokes it’s not a fascinating story about her casting. They called her and she said yes.
Winnie, as a female network head, was a characterization that they wanted to get right. “I had a couple of really nice Zooms with the three of them, Paul, Lucia, and Jen, about how to make, you know, it’s a fine line when you’re playing somebody fierce: Is it unpleasant or is it funny? We all got on board with the same kind of vibe,” Hunt said to IndieWire.
While they wanted to make sure Winnie’s humor was a specific kind of bristly, Hunt also thought about how Winnie’s job would add onto that. “I tried to think about what makes someone with Winnie’s job, a woman in particular, how she needs to be very focused on making the right decisions all the time. And the pressure’s on her even more than a male version of her would be. I also like that they wrote that she has a really good quality, which is that she’s willing to call up and say, ‘Maybe I was wrong. I’d like to talk about it.’ My favorite people are people who are willing to say, ‘I might have been wrong about that. Let me rethink it,’” she said.
After an incredible guest host spot, Deborah learns that the late night spot might be open and Jimmy and Kayla (Meg Stalter) go into overdrive trying to get Deborah’s name out there. That includes one of the funniest scenes of the season, when they play pickleball for money with the highly competitive Winnie and her colleague, Beth, while trying to pitch Deborah for late night. Hunt doesn’t consider herself as competitive as Winnie, who calls Jimmy a “beta fuck” in the heat of the match. But she did have some of the sport under her belt. “Luckily I played a little bit of pickleball,” she said. “I’m not a very competitive pickleball player in real life, but I am a long time gamer. I have a group of friends I’ve played running charades with and I have a lot of games in my life. I think I’ve got somewhere in there that competitive thing. I put it on steroids and blew it up for this part.”
The pickleball match is another testament to the writers of “Hacks,” whom Hunt constantly lobs compliments for, because we learn so much about Winnie just in that match about her competitive nature and her professional taste. We also learn that Beth is her ex-wife. While it’s never specifically said if Winnie’s bisexual, it’s another perfect moment in a show that’s already pushing queer representation forward on television. Hunt mentions that while mostly everything was scripted, there was some room for improv in her role, and that included some of Winnie’s more off the cuff moments. “I think that was my idea, that I suggested she be gay. And then they had this funny line about I slept with your dad, so somewhere in there, you know? But I think she’s probably too busy to identify her sexuality,” Hunt said with a laugh.
Hunt’s last scene in the finale, is one that inadvertently begins the series of events that lead to the possible demise of Ava and Deborah as we know them. Winnie lets it slip that Deborah has free reign to choose whatever head writer she wants, after Deborah tells Ava the opposite. It’s a scene that promises to be pivotal in a potential Season 4 and one that Hunt loved doing. She’d worked with Smart before but hadn’t yet had the chance to do so with Einbinder. “It was the first time I got to spend any time with Hannah who is so fun to watch on that show. She’s such a good actor and was so lovely to chat with in the freezing cold that night. So that was really a treat for me.”
Hunt’s currently working on a Peter Greenaway film with Dustin Hoffman and in the winter will be starring in a new stage production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” in Chicago. And if Winnie becomes a bigger role next season, Hunt’s very open to being back.
In the last moments of Season 3 of “Hacks,” Hunt thought a lot about Winnie’s part in putting Deborah on late night which could make for a juicy future storyline. “It doesn’t take a genius to imagine that women, since there are so few women in powerful positions in business and that includes show business, that when a woman does take that top role, every failure is amplified. Part of this character’s fierceness must be because she has got to get this right. There’s also something noble in that she’s gonna put a woman in this never-before-grabbed spot on late night TV for all women. She’s got to get it right,” Hunt said.
Bring on Season 4.
“Hacks” Season 3 is now streaming on Max.
Best of IndieWire
Unsimulated Sex Scenes in Film: 'Nymphomaniac,' 'The Brown Bunny,' 'Little Ashes,' and More
Every Palme d'Or Winner from the Cannes Film Festival, Ranked
The 13 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal'
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
