‘Hacks’ Cast Explains the Deeper Meaning Behind That Sci-Fi Icon’s Surprise Season 5 Casting

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Hacks Season 5, Episode 2We’re two episodes into the final season of HBO’s critically acclaimed Hacks Season 5, with Jean Smart‘s Deborah Vance determined once and for all to cement her legacy as a legendary stand-up comedian. At her side, as always in the comedy, created by Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky is Ava Daniels, played brilliantly by Hannah Einbinder, who won an Emmy last year for her work on the show. In Episode 2 of Hacks‘ final season, Deborah and Ava head to a convention in an effort to get Deborah to connect with her fans — whom she’s been neglecting — on a more personal level. If she’s going to land Madison Square Garden, she needs to start a grassroots campaign, stat.

As is often the case with some of the best comedies, nothing goes as planned for Deborah and Ava. But it’s actually the storyline between Jimmy (Downs) and his business partner Kayla (Megan Stalter) that’s the most unexpected. While at the convention, Jimmy is starstruck by Renee O’Connor of Xena: Warrior Princess fame, with the duo stumbling upon a golden opportunity that could help get their agency on the right track. During this interview with Collider, Stalter and Downs reflect on the early moments in the series that cemented their dynamic, reveal the deeper meaning behind why they chose Xena: Warrior Princess, and tease Stalter’s big emotional scene in Episode 8.

COLLIDER: This season is so fantastic. I’ve seen the majority of it, and I just have to say, congrats. It’s been a pleasure to watch. Paul, I want to take you back a little bit. Was there an early scene, line delivery, memory on set with Megan, where you were like, “Oh, that’s the person that should play Kayla. That’s why we hired her.”

PAUL W. DOWNS: It was a dream of ours to have Meg play Kayla. We thought of her for the role as we were writing it. I’m trying to think of the thing that cemented it. Honestly, her first day on set, we were like, “Yes, this is somebody who’s making the show even better.” It was beyond a dream to have her in it, because she was Kayla and made it so much better. [To Stalter] I don’t know if you improvised, “lo siento papi” in Season 1?

MEGAN STALTER: It might have been you guys. Best writers in the whole world. I love it when he gets asked questions like these. I just get to sit back and smile and watch the compliments.

DOWNS: Oh, you know what? Another thing you did in Season 1 that was so funny to me, you were on the phone with Ava. I forget if it was the first time, but we heard “girly” or “girlina” or something, and we were like, “Well, we’re going to continue to make that part of her vernacular.” There are too many moments from Kayla that we love that we quote. Usually, when we do a season, there are certain performances that Jen, Lucia, and I, when we’re editing or as we’re working, we’ll just continue to use. We have ones from Kayla every single season.

STALTER: And also, in that vein, there are lines I can barely say without laughing that you guys wrote. Remember that there’s that scene — all of the lines you wrote that I didn’t improvise — we could barely say them without laughing. It was the bicycle thing.

DOWNS: I think you were like, “This hotel room smells like my ex-boyfriend’s bicycle seat.”

STALTER: No, no. That was funny, too.

DOWNS: Oh, the prostate. “The handlebar was up against his G spot.” No, “I guess his prostate is against his G spot.” And I was like, “I don’t think your brother should be telling you this stuff.”

STALTER: Those are written lines I can barely say, even though I memorize them. And once we got on set, I could barely say them without laughing a lot.

‘Hacks’ Paul W. Downs Teases Kayla’s Big Emotional Scene in Episode 8

Image via HBO Max

“It made me emotional doing it with her.”

Megan, that’s your time to compliment Paul. Was there a piece of advice or something early on in the show that really stuck with you as you played Kayla all these years?

STALTER: I think that I just learned everything from Paul and everyone on the show. This was my first TV job and my only TV job [Laughs].

DOWNS: No…

STALTER: Well, nothing will come like this again. He just made me feel so comfortable to improv. I feel like in the first season, you guys let me improv little lines here and there, and I just got really comfortable doing it. I think I just learned from watching him because he’s the best improviser. It doesn’t matter what you say in the scene; he’s going to have something even funnier to say back. Also, sometimes you have trouble crying in a scene, but with him, I’ve never had trouble. If it’s an emotional scene with him, I’ve never been like, “Oh, can I get the tear stick?” I don’t judge anyone using that; of course, I’ve used it a lot on other things.

DOWNS: Absolutely, pop off if you do.

STALTER: But I’ve never popped off in that way here, because I look into those eyes, I’m crying.

DOWNS: In Episode 8, Meg has a really beautiful emotional scene. She’s so good in it, and it made me emotional doing it with her.

STALTER: It’s because of him. He’s giving you all the feeling there. If you’re standing across someone that’s not feeling anything, I don’t feel anything. He feels everything. I’m looking at him crying, and I start crying. He’s really just the best actor and the best comedian. I’ve loved him for years before knowing him because his character on Broad City is the funniest character on Broad City.

DOWNS: Oh my God, wow. Okay, pullquote.

STALTER: I love the girls on it as well, of course.

DOWNS: What if we hated each other off camera?

STALTER: “Get the hell away from me! That’s my coffee you’re drinking. Put it down!”

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DOWNS: We do love each other. I admire Meg so much, and I think she’s so funny. I could get emotional! I’m not going to, but it’s true.

STALTER: I’m choking it back. I had a frog in my throat a second ago, and I had to look away from him.

DOWNS: We love each other, and also, I find her so funny. You want to be your best when you’re with a scene partner who’s that good.

STALTER: If you’re with somebody that’s not good, in between scenes, you might go, “Oh, get me out of here now. I can’t be doing this for one more second with this person.” With him, I go, “I can’t wait to be with him!” My goal is to make him break in the scene, make him laugh. Also, I’ll say, nothing feels better than when the scene’s over, and you hear Lucia laugh.

DOWNS: Oh, yeah.

STALTER: If she’s laughing, you feel like you just did heroin.

DOWNS: That is the best, I know.

‘Hacks’ Season 5, Episode 2’s ‘Xena’ Plot Point Perfectly Aligns With Deborah’s Story Arc

“The power of the fans is something that we really wanted to explore.”

One of my favorite parts of the season so far is Episode 2, when you are at the convention for Deborah. You two really get a great storyline. There are a lot of tasteful cameos this season. They always really flow well into the story. Renee O’Connor was a great addition. What made you choose her and Xena for the show?

DOWNS: That episode in particular is really about fandom, and it’s a love letter to fans, because for people like Deborah, not only are they so important to her career, but they sometimes become your friends. And in Xena, something that always struck me was that she was a character on Hercules, and the fans were so enthusiastic, so a show was born out of that. The power of the fans is something that we really wanted to explore. But, full disclosure, I was a Xena fan growing up. I watched the show with my sister. It’s the perfect thing for Jimmy to be obsessed with. It’s so surprising, but also, it’s cute. The Little Debbies are these idiosyncratic characters who can be quirky and kooky, so it was nice for us, I think, to have one of our ensemble be in that position, somebody who’s a fanatic of somebody. The show is about making comedy. We ourselves are such fans of TV, so we just wanted to give a little taste of that.

New episodes of Hacks Season 5 air on Thursdays on HBO Max.