Cory Stillman
Actress J. Smith Cameron has been a stalwart of the Max lineup over the last several years. Audiences are likely most familiar with her terrific work as Gerri Kellman on HBO’s Succession, but it is her most recent turn as Deborah Vance’s sister Kathy in season three of Hacks that has Cameron hungry for more.
“I’m hoping that Kathy comes back,” says Cameron. “I just think that’s a very universal thing of grown-up siblings, and the way you still have this affection and this closeness, but you also have all these years of having grown in different directions and possibly having grown apart, even without the conflict that Kathy and Deborah have.”
As a veteran of screen and stage, Cameron understands the unique demands that Deborah (Jean Smart) faces, particularly as a woman in the entertainment industry.
“I have a sister in real life whom I’m very close with,” Cameron says. “It’s weird to be in show business and also be a sibling. It’s kind of a weird thing because you’ve cultivated this public persona that you’ve had to really work at, and it’s sort of hard because your family sees you as you were when you were a kid, but they’re also kind of aware that you’re a celebrity or a public figure now. It’s a confusing dynamic.”
Of course, as a performer, Cameron immediately resonated with Kathy as well, whose calm demeanor stands in stark contrast with the diabolical pariah Deborah had previously painted her to be. Kathy’s agreeable nature renders her a necessary source of comfort for Deborah’s daughter DJ (Kaitlin Olson), whose pregnancy will surely be a key storyline in the show’s fourth season.
“I know DJ is going to have that baby, and Kathy is going to want to spend time with it,” says Cameron.
Like Kathy, DJ is no stranger to Deborah’s neglect. Although the relationship between mother and daughter is far from rectified, DJ does get a few powerful opportunities in season three to prove her worth to Deborah and express some of her lifelong frustrations. Kathy is not quite as forthcoming, seemingly grateful to have Deborah back in her life by any means necessary. By the time Kathy finally asserts herself in the season three finale “Bulletproof,” the frayed relationship between the two sisters becomes emblematic of Deborah’s entire arc up until that point. In a moment of tender embrace, the comedy legend cannot help but indulge her worst tendencies, rolling calls at their mother’s gravesite, and soon revealing that it is not actually her gravesite at all. The scene is one of the high watermarks for all of Hacks, due in large part to the impressive chemistry between Cameron and Smart, who form an uncannily realistic pair of sisters.
“We do have what could be considered a resemblance,” says Cameron. “And we both have this same background as being theater actors, and just being acting machines, acting for decades. We’re just on the same page, and it was just lovely. I just adored working with her. It felt like the most natural thing.”
Cameron offers no shortage of praise for her co-star. When she was first approached about appearing in Hacks as Deborah’s sister, she took it with a grain of salt. The opportunity to act opposite a woman she so deeply admired in Jean Smart seemed almost too good to be true. When the dream role became reality, Cameron bore witness to the gravitas that Smart brings to the screen first-hand.
“Jean is such a clever actress. She’s so truthful. You really get this feeling of someone who has been in the ring, throwing punches for decades, and just cannot afford to be sentimental,” says Cameron. “She’s just a veteran. A war veteran. It’s so authentic.”
Through both her own illustrious career, as well as that of her husband — screenwriter/playwright Kenneth Lonergan — Cameron has developed a keen understanding of the entertainment industry and how it operates. Hacks offers a similar wisdom, and Cameron once again attributes much of that to Smart.
“I think that is the most canny thing about Hacks: Jean Smart and Deborah Vance, and the melding of those two identities,” says Cameron.
Stream all of Hacks now on Max.
Comments
Loading…