Hannah Einbinder says working with Gillian Anderson on the new film “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” has actually given her a new perspective on the end of “Hacks” and its legacy.
“Doing all this press with Gillian for the movie, she talks about ‘X-Files’ constantly,” Einbinder tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “She’s asked about it constantly. It’s made me feel like, ‘oh, I’m gonna talk about “Hacks” for the rest of my life!’ I’m so happy that will always be something that I can come back to and meditate on and express gratitude for. When you are a part of something that has a deeply connected base of people who love it, that stays.”
Meanwhile, given how many photo shoots and events Paul W. Downs and his “Hacks” co-star Megan Stalter seem to show up at, why isn’t there a Jimmy and Kayla spinoff in the works?
“I would love for it to happen, and I have said this: You know we had a very specific plan for the way we wanted to end the story in the finale,” he says. “It’s such it’s so much pressure to deliver a satisfying ending … so, even to the last minute, even though we had this plan for a long time, we were like, ‘Should we stretch it out? Should we do two half seasons?’ But in the end, I’m so happy we stuck to our guns, and it resonated with people the way that it did. And because of that, I don’t I don’t want anything else to come after. I want that to be the last thing people remember.”
When grilled about “Jimmy and Kayla,” he adds, “getting to play these characters and having these characters evolve as much as they have over the five seasons has been so gratifying that it’s terrifying to think there won’t be more between the two of us. But I think it would have to be something different.”
OK … we’re getting somewhere. So what might a “Hacks” spinoff look like? “There’s so many characters in the show that if we could do a universe, I want to see Mayor Jo in her first election. I want to see Marty coming to to Vegas in the ’70s.”
Einbinder likes the Mayor Jo idea. “‘Better Call Saul’ vibes,” she says. “Her just being a fucking absolute criminal. Are you kidding? I’m in the freaking seats with the popcorn on that one.”
Give it time. Maybe we’ll wear them down! But for now, we’ve got Downs and Einbinder on this week’s Awards Circuit Podcast, where they talk more about the “Hacks” ending and what they’ve got in store next. Plus, they take the 10 Questions quiz!
But first, on the Roundtable, Variety TV critic Aramide Tinubu joins us to give some of her summer TV picks and hot takes on the Emmy noms. Listen below!
He might be a bit biased, but Downs raves about Einbinder’s part in the upcoming slasher film “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” which opens August 7. “I’ll give you the review,” he says. “This is a pull quote now from Variety. Absolutely beautiful, absolutely terrifying and absolutely funny. And Hannah is a revelation. She is such a star. I’m not even kidding. The stuff that she does, her range being on display yet again in this is really impressive.”
As for Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky, the trio has a number of projects in the works — including one in development with Kaley Cuoco — although she’s busy on something else right now, so schedules will have to align for their project. And then the trio also has another project they’re working on for HBO.
“I can say it’s a it’s a limited series,” he says. “It’s an hourlong limited. I can say that. So it’s a slight tone shift, but there’s definitely going to be humor.”
Einbinder says she’d be game to join them again for this next project. “I told Paul, Jen and Lucia that I want to be their non-problematic Rob Schneider. I just want to pop up in everything they do forever.”
Meanwhile, Einbinder says she’s still thinking a lot about her time on “Hacks,” and how she found a video that she recorded for herself in Season 1. Now it feels like a bit of a time capsule: “It was in my trailer, and the sound is pretty muffled, and it’s kind of a shitty video, but I just was kind of reflecting, like kind of a diary, and one of the things that I said was ‘I think these people are going to mean so much to me.’”
Einbinder’s come a long way in those six years since “Hacks” first became a reality. “Most nights when I get into bed and feel the relief of making it back to my bed at the end of a long day, I go, ‘wow.’ I just am filled with gratitude. This experience has made so much possible for me in every conceivable way. On an emotional level, obviously we have a very strong bond. When I was auditioning for Ava initially, I was opening for other comics on the road. That went away because of COVID, and the job I had before that was working at a coffee shop, and that also went away. I was just really, ‘I actually don’t know what I’m gonna do.’ And so just on every level, [this success] has never been lost on me.”
10 QUESTIONS WITH HANNAH EINBINDER and PAUL W. DOWNS:
1. Childhood nickname: Einbinder: “‘Pud,’ short for ‘Pudding.’ My parents called me that.” Downs: “‘Chubb.’ I think it came from my love of pasta and pizza. I think it honestly came from my love of Swiss Miss. I would take Swiss Miss packets with half and half, and I would make like a sludge that I would drink. It was my version of child cocaine, I guess.”
2. Something you loved as a kid but can’t believe you were into it now: Downs: “I used to kind of collect these, they were basically little figurines that were like a dragon or an Excalibur or a wizard, and they were on amethyst. They were sold at a kiosk at the Rockaway Town Square Mall, and I was into these bizarre — I don’t know what that is. Fantasy figurines. They were also very like Sedona. You know, they were very like hippie figurines. I can’t believe I was so into that” Einbinder: “I have done so much inner child work that I have love and affection for the things that I maybe was into. I took baton. I had a baton unit. I was very into baton at one time. I did baton classes. I learned from a stripper named Heather. Thank you, Heather. She taught baton on the side. She was like, ‘I do flaming baton at my where I dance,’ and we were like, ‘We want to come see you dance, Heather!’ And she was like, ‘It’s not for kids.’”
3. Go-to Karaoke or sing-in-the-shower song: Einbinder: “‘What’s Up,’ by 4 Non Blondes.” Downs: “‘All I Wanna Do’ by Sheryl Crow. It’s a real crowd pleaser.”
4. Give me an alternate title for your show: [Not asked]
5. What’s your secret talent?: Downs: “I can give a good massage.” Einbinder: “I can create a bubble ring underwater. Or a smoke ring. I can do that too. But that’s featured in the show ‘Hacks.’”
6. Favorite ice cream flavor: Downs: “As a kid, I loved strawberry. Now I want like a like a dark chocolate double fudge chunk.” Einbinder: “Mint chip.”
7. The one item you couldn’t live without: Einbinder: “Cell phone.” Downs: “I was gonna say toothpaste. You really want toothpaste.”
8. What TV show in all of history do you wish you were a cast member of?: Einbinder: “‘Sopranos,’ ‘Mad Men.’” Downs: “Some of my favorite shows like ‘Arrested Development’ or ‘Succession’ or ‘Fleabag,’ I don’t know that I want to be on those shows. I think I want to be on ‘Friends.’ I think I would have had a blast.”
9. Fictional character you most admire: [Not asked]
10. Your favorite piece of advice: Einbinder: “‘Faster and funnier.’” Downs: “I’ve uttered those words. You know what else I uttered recently, and I’m taking a great piece of advice that Maya Angelou gave to Oprah, which is when someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time. I think that’s a really good piece of advice.”
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives, discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts.