Hacks Star Jean Smart Takes Home 2025 SAG Awards
Jean Smart is taking home another win! The 2025 SAG Awards have crowned her the outstanding female actor in a comedy series for her role in Hacks. Though Jean couldn’t attend the ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles on February 23, presenters Molly Shannon and Kumail Nanjiani made sure to share the exciting news with the audience.
“Unfortunately, Jean is shooting on location and can’t be here tonight, but we accept this award on her behalf,” Molly announced. It’s another well-deserved victory for Jean, who shines as comedian Deborah Vance in the hit Max series Hacks. Her character’s sharp humor and tense yet heartfelt dynamic with Ava (played by Hannah Einbinder) have made the show a fan favorite.
Jean has always taken her craft seriously, and in a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she revealed just how much thought went into playing Deborah. “When I read the script, I said, ‘This is everything I could possibly want for my next job,’” she shared. “But I needed to be sure that real stand-ups could believe I was a comic. I had never been a comedian, so they were the real litmus test. And I passed, I think!”
The competition was tough this year, with a stellar lineup of nominees, including Kristen Bell for Nobody Wants This, Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Liza Colón-Zayas for The Bear, and Ayo Edebiri for The Bear.
Kristen Bell, who played sex podcaster Joanne in Nobody Wants This, opened up about the deeper message behind the Netflix hit. “I hoped people would walk away and think weeks later about: Is love really this story we’ve been told about finding your puzzle piece, or is it something way more nuanced than that? Is it a choice that you have to continually make because you’re up against it all the time?” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Quinta Brunson, nominated for her role as Janine Teagues in Abbott Elementary, has always been intentional about her character’s growth. Reflecting on Janine’s early days, she once explained, “When the show first started, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my god, the budget is so bad, Janine’s hair looks so bad. It’s like, ‘It looks bad on purpose.’ She’s a girl who doesn’t quite know what to do with her hair and wardrobe yet, but she’s proud of herself regardless.”
As the seasons have progressed, so has Janine’s style —showing a young Black woman learning and evolving, just like in real life.
Liza Colón-Zayas, who plays Tina Marrero in The Bear, continues to impress, especially after winning her first Emmy in 2024. In an emotional acceptance speech, she shared, “Thank you to my husband David Zayas, he told me to write a speech and I didn’t, because I didn’t think it would be possible.” She also expressed deep gratitude for being nominated alongside legendary actresses like Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett.
Ayo Edebiri, another The Bear nominee, drew from her real-life experiences in the restaurant industry to prepare for her role as Sydney Adamu. “I worked in restaurants for five or six years in New York,” she told Today in early 2024. “I’ve worked in restaurants a lot in my life. Never in the kitchen, but waitstaff, hosting, reservations. My first job was being a dishwasher.” To prepare, she even trained at the Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena and shadowed chefs in Michelin-starred restaurants.
