The Afterlife of Laughter: Hannah Einbinder and Paul W. Downs on the Permanent Gravity of ‘Hacks’

To survive the meteoric rise of an era-defining comedy is one thing; to reckon with its eventual afterlife is quite another. For Hannah Einbinder, the sharp-tongued, existentially bruised center of the acclaimed series Hacks, the realization of what it means to carry a cultural landmark did not arrive in a vacuum of self-reflection, but on the promotional trail for her new film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Sharing top billing with Gillian Anderson, Einbinder found herself observing a masterclass in the permanent gravity of television history. Listening to Anderson speak of The X-Files—decades after Agent Scully first walked into the pop-cultural lexicon—offered Einbinder a sudden, startling mirror. It became clear that some roles do not merely conclude; they linger as lifelong companions. This quiet revelation has reframed how Einbinder views the eventual sunset of Hacks, transforming her anxiety over its legacy into a profound reverence for the enduring shadow it will inevitably cast over her career.

That shadow is already remarkably long. Hacks has distinguished itself as a razor-sharp dissection of creative co-dependency, generational warfare, and the grueling economics of comedy. It is a show built on the high-wire chemistry between Einbinder's Ava Daniels and Jean Smart’s legendary Deborah Vance, but its universe is populated by a constellation of tragicomic figures so vividly realized they practically beg for their own orbits. Alongside co-creator and co-star Paul W. Downs—who plays the perpetually put-upon talent agent Jimmy Luier—Einbinder has begun to contemplate the boundaries of this fictional ecosystem. When reflecting on the show’s longevity, the conversation inevitably turns to which of these meticulously etched side characters deserves to step into the spotlight first.

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"Doing all this press with Gillian... she talks about ‘X-Files’ constantly. It made me realize that some stories never truly leave you—they just become part of the air you breathe."

— Hannah Einbinder

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For Downs, the prospect of expanding the Hacks universe is less about commercial franchise play and more about honoring the show’s deep-seated empathy for the grifters, strivers, and eccentrics of the entertainment industry. The comedic tension between Jimmy and his spectacularly incompetent yet fiercely loyal assistant, Kayla (played with brilliant, manic energy by Meg Stalter), has already solidified them as one of modern television's most compelling double acts. Yet, both Downs and Einbinder recognize that the magic of the series lies in its delicate balance of cynicism and soul. To spin a character off is to risk diluting the central, kinetic spark that makes the main narrative fly. As Einbinder continues to navigate her horizon under the quiet influence of seasoned veterans who have survived the monoculture, she does so with a clear-eyed understanding that some legacies are worth protecting—even from the temptation of their own expansion.