‘Hacks’ Guest Star J. Smith-Cameron Brings Real (and Really Nice) Person Energy to Kathy Vance [VIDEO]

It’s impossible to speak with Emmy-nominated actor J. Smith-Cameron without talking about Succession and her iconic role as Gerri Kellman.

Thanks to the Emmy-delayed strike, Smith-Cameron started 2024 with an unprecedented January Emmy ceremony where the assembled cast and crew finally said goodbye to the critically acclaimed series. It was a bittersweet moment, for sure, and one that touched J. Smith-Cameron deeply.

“I remember getting weepy right when they were getting ready to take our picture on that couch backstage, and Jesse [Armstrong, series creator] was sitting right next to me, and he was like, ‘Oh, J., what’s wrong?’ I said, ‘I’m just sad,’ and he said, ‘Kiss the joy as it flies’,” Smith-Cameron recalled. “It’s from a William Blake poem. He’s this really deep guy for someone who writes such funny, coarse jokes.”

While Smith-Cameron didn’t win her Supporting Actress in a Drama Series bid that night, her next role has her again in the Emmy conversation. Guest starring in the critically acclaimed third season of MAX’s Hacks, she plays the legendary Kathy Vance, estranged sister to Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance. It’s a dream match born out of a casual conversation at a previous Emmys after-party.

You might think Smith-Cameron would play Kathy Vance with a hint of the steely determination that she imbued into Succession’s Gerri, but Kathy Vance isn’t built that way. Instead, Smith-Cameron plays her as a sheep entering a wolf’s den, and it’s all the more richly comedic — and emotionally powerful — because of it.

“I thought, ‘Is that why they hired me? Is she going to be really steely and sassy and ambitious?’ Then, I thought how interesting it would be if she showed up and was just sort of a human being,” Smith-Cameron explained.

Here, in an interview with Awards Daily, Smith-Cameron talks about saying goodbye to Succession and joining the Hacks team. She describes her working relationship with Emmy winner Jean Smart and how quickly they connected. She also talks about the choice to play Kathy as a truly nice person despite years of hearing otherwise from Deborah. Finally, she imagines what a return to Hacks would look like for season four.

And Awards Daily fully endorses a Gerri-centered Succession spin-off. Just putting that out there into the universe.

Hacks season three streams in its entirety on MAX.