‘Hacks’ Halts Production After Jean Smart Health Scare
In a statement about her recovery, the actress wrote, “Please listen to your body and talk to your doctor—I’m very glad I did!”
Karen Ballard
Production on Hacks Season 3 has been paused for certain departments as Jean Smart recovers from a successful heart procedure, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Smart posted about her recovery on Thursday but did not go into detail about her procedure. Instead, she expressed her gratitude for the medical care she’d received and for her friends and family. “February is American Heart Month—a time when the nation spotlights heart health,” she wrote in a statement, “so it feels important to share with all of you that I am recovering from a recent, successful heart procedure.”
“I am fortunate to have excellent professional care and support from family and friends while I continue to recuperate,” Smart continued in her Instagram post. “Please listen to your body and talk to your doctor — I’m very glad I did!”
Smart won back-to-back Emmys in 2021 and 2022 for playing washed-up comedian Deborah Vance in the HBO Max comedy. In his 2021 profile of Smart, The Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon noted that as far as her Hacks character is concerned, “There’s no foot spa Vance won’t shill for on QVC, no strip-mall pizza joint she won’t cut the ribbon for on opening day.” Smart noted at the time, however, that she and Vance have somewhat opposing relationships with their work.
“I always had the confidence that I could always work and at least keep a roof over my head and feed my kids, even if it was in something that was less than thrilling to me,” Smart told The Daily Beast. “But for someone like Deborah, who went as far in her career as possible and hit the pinnacle, to lose that, especially since she’s someone who’s a workaholic and really has no other life, that’s like death to her.”
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Variety reports that Hacks Season 3 has been in production since last winter and will debut later this year. In a joint statement to Variety, HBO Max and Hacks producer Universal Television wrote, “We are so happy that our beloved Jean Smart’s heart procedure was successful and she’s on the mend. HBO Max and UTV send their well wishes.”
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