Hannah Einbinder Takes a Journey on ‘ Hacks’
The star of "Hacks" breaks down her character ’ s redemption in Season Three and previews her upcoming comedy special.
Fans of “Hacks,”
the Emmy-winning, Max smash hit starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, had to exercise patience for the show's third season. The series, which premiered in 2021, was renewed for a third season in 2022, yet a series of delays (health issues, Hollywood strikes) kept pushing back the new season. Yet it was worth the wait: as new episodes have been rolling out this spring, critics of all nature seem to agree the show is at its best.
“It's definitely a long time coming,” Einbinder, who plays Ava, says on a recent morning over Zoom. “I love talking about our show. I'm really proud of it and I think it's the best it's ever been. I feel really excited to get into all of the discussions around it, because everyone worked so hard.”
“Hacks” follows Ava, a twentysomething comedy writer, and the woman she works for, comedy legend Deborah Vance (played by Smart). The third season picks up a year after the end of the second, and we find Ava and Deborah living and working separately.
“It was exciting for me to see Ava redeeming herself and getting her life back on track in a way that she obviously starts out the show fearing will never be possible,” Einbinder says. “And what was of course the most exciting was how are they going to get back together and what are they pursuing? What's their new challenge?”
Einbinder, who is the daughter of original “SNL” cast member Laraine Newman and grew up in Los Angeles, says that while Ava's delivery style is a bit rougher than her own, the two would indeed be friends in real life.
“I love how confrontational Ava is,” Einbinder, 29, says. “I appreciate her total confidence in saying what it is that she is feeling and going toe to toe with Deborah, a person who no one dares to challenge. I also enjoy playing the goofy, dorky, embarrassing side of her when she's around a woman. It feels like she's kind of just a total goof, and that's why women like her, which I appreciate and think is so funny and fun. Some might describe her as chaotic, but I think she's kind of just free, and I appreciate getting to explore all the relationships in her life with all of these people who she challenges or pushes their buttons or pisses them off or connects with. It's really a fun and heartwarming experience to be her and connect to these other characters through her.”
In addition to “Hacks,” Einbinder is also debuting her first special, “Everything
Must Go,” which will be screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 11 and will be available on Max. She credits “Hacks” with allowing her the opportunity.
“It has made everything that I have done and will do creatively possible, singlehandedly. It's changed my life in such a massive way,” she says, noting especially the relationships she has built with the show's creators, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky.
“There's no deeper connection than that between people who laugh together in the way that we do, so that feels so life changing to me,” she says.
The hourlong special is not something she was consciously working toward while doing stand-up, but she started to realize themes were developing in her acts and that she might have something worth putting together.
“It is the cumulative result of my entire career as a stand-up comedian,” she explains. “When I started out as a stand-up, I was not working toward an hour [special] — I just was trying to find interesting angles on the medium itself. It started to take shape and I started to, as a result of ‘Hacks' and my exposure in that way, I started to be able to tour, and it started to come together into this longer form thing. In a way I've been working on it forever, but it is the first thing that I will ever release that I'm the author of, so I'm very excited.”
She describes the themes as “very wide ranging,” noting that while it is autobiographical, she also touches on “climate change, ecology, life, death, politics, some stories from my youth, menstruation, hypnotism, drugs.”
“It's really the micro and the macro,” she adds. “It's my life, and life generally.”
Gustaf Westman's
work has attracted attention both IRL — fans and clients include a who's who of next-gen "It" girls Kaia Gerber, Emma Chamberlain and
Olivia Rodrigo, to name a few — and online where admirers post DIY recreations of his objects.
His colorful furnishings, tableware and objects were exhibited at Stockholm Furniture Fair, sell at online retailer Ssense, and have spawned collaborations like the spiky version of his signature cup with Highsnobiety and taking over Café Standard with his designs during Miami Art Week.
Now he's unveiling his first solo U.S. pop-up in Los Angeles.
His creations are so bright and bold yet minimalist, that his style is often associated with the Memphis movement, Ettore Sottsass' postmodern group in
Milan in the '80s. Some have assumed it's the root of his inspiration. But Westman says it isn't so.
“Scandinavian design has been my main inspiration, Danish, Finnish,” 28-year-old Westman tells WWD in L.A. “I relate more to Scandinavian [design], the simpleness and using few materials.”
The influence is unsurprising given Westman's background. Born and bred in Sweden, he's from a small city called Borås, known for its history in textile manufacturing. Growing up, he sketched clothing and furniture, he says, before ultimately studying architecture in Gothenburg, then moving to Stockholm where he opened his design studio in 2020.
“The first one I did was an office for a PR firm,” he says of the first architectural project. “And then that PR firm helped me get some more projects. I did a showroom for a clothing brand in Stockholm. I did a small barber shop…and I would do special design objects for those projects. I didn't charge anything extra for the design. They just helped me with a prototype. So, it was sort of a deal that I made to learn.”
His smaller pieces include tableware like “Chunky Plate” at 55 euros, made with glazed ceramic in one unified color of baby blue or cherry red, among others. He offers tables, chairs, mirrors ("Curvy Mirror" is often replicated) and lighting. Items currently on his site are priced between 55 euros for a “Chunky Candle Holder” and 3,800 euros for a "Chunky Mirror," while his viral "Wine Table" is on waitlist.
“'What's a different way to use a wine glass?'” he asked himself before creating the piece as part of a project for a wine bar. The wine bottle sits in the middle with openings for wine glasses all around. Like all his work, it's made in one color throughout — curvy, chunky and blending functionality with a sense of playfulness.
“It helps the shape to be even more clear or direct in some way,” he says of continuously using one color on each object.
There is one Italian designer who Westman references, however, “when it comes to building up spaces,” he says. “Joe Colombo, I really love his designs and, especially, his spaces.” (Colombo is an influential innovator in design and architecture from the
'60s who's made an impact on midcentury design.)
Westman has been busy these days conceptualizing his own space for the L.A. pop-up. It's open to visitors now through Sunday, located at The Hunt Vintage in Echo Park. Westman connected online with the owner of the shop, who invited him to display his work.
“It's an exhibition with the idea of making a few rooms like my home in L.A.” explains Westman. “[There's] one bedroom and one living room and one kitchen, but very, very abstract.”
Objects and furnishings are available for purchase in the space, at 1554 Sunset Boulevard. It's only Westman's second time showing solo, after opening a pop-up in Amsterdam. What brought him to L.A.?
“I've been in Los Angeles a few times before; I found this venue I really liked,” he says. “And I fell in love with this area,” he adds of Echo Park. “Feels like the only place where people really walk around [in L.A.], which I love.”
Next, Westman says he is looking to dive into other artistic endeavors.
“I'm very inspired by maybe slowing down a bit and working on longer-term projects and more collaborations,” he continues. “And I also want to change my direction and do other types of design. I want to try maybe shoe design, and doing other types of collaborations. That's what I would like to do, expand my creative work.”