PAUL W. DOWNS
Producer, writer, creator
&
star of
HBO
series
HACKS
Photography: David-Simon Dayan
Creative Director: Deborah Ferguson
Interview by Stella Hofferman
HBO’s Hacks has yet again proven itself to be one of the strongest comedies currently airing. This year, they garnered a total of 14 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, both of which they took home in last year’s Emmy awards, as well as a renewal for a fifth-season. Its consistent success can be attributed to the incredible minds working on and off screen, including a dynamic and talented cast, as well as a dedicated and hilariously smart creative trio behind it–long time collaborators Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky.
Today, we are lucky enough to talk to Downs–who in addition to being one of the conceptualizing forces behind the hit television-series–writes for, directs, and stars in it. He discusses both the making-of and overwhelmingly-positive response to Hacks Season Four.
Coat, Shirt, Tie, Pants & Shoes: Versace
Congrats on an incredible fourth season of Hacks and its recent renewal for a fifth-
season. How does it all feel?
Orgasmic. I feel so lucky to get to make this show with some of the funniest, most bodacious people I know. Feels rare to get to do something like this and especially rare to make a fifth season of a comedy today, which shouldn’t be the case!
Jacket, shirt, tie, pants: Versace
Blazer, top, pants and shoes: Hermes
This season really hones in on–to quote the script directly–the “difficult intersection
between art and commerce.” How has this conflict shown up in your own life/work? How do you navigate it?
It was really important to us to explore the disruptions to our industry, which I think everyone feels. And it speaks to a larger issue of the never-ending pursuit of profit and growth at all costs in every industry. It’s not enough to make a profit, you have to grow profit year after year, which is impossible without great sacrifices. Personally though, I’ve been so lucky. HBO Max has been incredibly supportive.
The symbolism of the coyote confronting Deborah in her vulnerable moments has been
an interesting and creative touch to this season. Where did this idea come from, and what does it all mean?
Moving to LA to make her late night show takes Deborah out of her comfort zone of Las Vegas and she’s confronted by many obstacles. The coyotes represent all of the forces Deborah feels are coming for her–the network, Marcus when he leaves, even Ava. And they were inspired by the many coyotes in our yard we saw as we were writing the season.
Tank Top, Pants & Shoes: COS
Guest appearances on Season Four include Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Rogen, and Rosie
O’Donnell, and so many more familiar faces. Who did you have the most fun writing for?
Carol Burnett. She is an inspiration of mine. And since the show is about women in comedy, it felt like we were blessed by the queen.
Behind the making of Hacks is the incredible trio of you, your wife Lucia Aniello, and Jen
Statsky. In your opinion, what is the key to a creative partnership?
We’ve been friends–more than friends in the case of Lucia and I–for almost two decades. And we said early on that nothing was more important than our friendship. So we make sure to center that and protect that above all else. And it’s nice that I get to make the show with the two people I love making laugh most in the world.
Trench Coat, Shirt & Pants: Todd Snyder, Shoes: COS
The direction this season has a different feel from last season with the characters’ move
from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Was this a conscious change? How else did your direction change/elevate with the mood of the season?
We always want to give the audience–and the actors–a new gear to explore. And we wanted to make Deborah, a big fish in a small pond, feel different in this much larger ecosystem. Not only is mounting a successful late night show her biggest challenge yet, she has to do it in a new place, with all the threats that come along with it. Joan Didion said it best when she wrote that Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse: “The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.”
As a writer yourself, how did you incorporate your real life experiences into the depiction
of Deborah’s writers’ room?
We all borrowed from our experiences but heightened them. I’ve been lucky–I’ve never been in a writer’s room where fish has been thrown against the wall.
Trench coat, shirt & Pants: Todd Snyder Jacket and shirt: Versace
The relationship between Jimmy and Kayla has developed a lot this season. What aspects of their dynamic would you like to explore in the future?
I would love to know how they would do on Amazing Race together.
Did you create Jimmy’s character with the intention of playing him? If so, what aspects
of yourself went into his characterization? If not, how did playing Jimmy change how you
write him?
Yes, it was always the intention for me to play Jimmy. I think Jimmy genuinely cares about his clients because he loves comedy–so that came from me. That and his underwear. I always wear my own.
Right: Blazer, Top & Pants: Hermes
Trench Coat, Shirt & Pants: Todd Snyder, Shoes: COS
Looking back at Season Four, what do you remember as being the most difficult part to film? What scene(s) did you observe as having the best pay off?
Filming the final moments of “A Slippery Slope” where Deborah goes rogue live on air and Jimmy has a scuffle in the control room were the highest risk. It was a tonal tightrope and also the moment the entire series has been leading up to. It was the scene we wrote and rewrote the most but I think the emotional payoff was the most satisfying thing we’ve done.
