Laurie Metcalf, Margaret Cho, Ming-Na Wen, and Martha Kelly join Hacks' second season

These additions to the cast of the Emmy-winning HBO Max series drum up even more excitement for the new season

By Tatiana Tenreyro  |  March 18, 2022 | 5:41pm
Aux News Margaret Cho
Laurie Metcalf, Margaret Cho, Ming-Na Wen, and Martha Kelly join Hacks' second season
L to R: Laurie Metcalf, Margaret Cho, Ming-Na Wen, and Martha Kelly Photo: Frazer Harrison

HBO Max knows there are plenty of people anticipating the second season of its hit, Emmy-winning series Hacks, and to make us all wish it’d just arrive already, the streamer announced some stellar new guest stars. Laurie Metcalf, Martha Kelly (who most recently appeared in Euphoria as the terrifying Laurie), The Mandalorian and The Book Of Boba Fett star Ming-Na Wen, and Margaret Cho.

No details of their roles have been announced yet, but at the Critics Choice Awards, Hacks stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder had revealed that Cho would appear in the new season while speaking to Variety on the red carpet. When asked who Cho would be playing, Smart and Einbinder said they couldn’t reveal that, but it’s difficult to imagine the comedy world without Cho, so it would make sense if she plays a heightened, fictionalized version of herself.

The Hacks stars also told Variety they would want Rosie O’Donnell to make a cameo—but the comedian and former talk show host hasn’t made any plans to appear on the show (to our knowledge, anyway).

HBO Max has also shared the official logline for the second season, teasing that the “the dark mentorship between legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her young, entitled writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) continues to evolve as the two travel across the country workshopping Deborah’s new stand-up act.”

In the show, Smart stars as Deborah Vance, a once-legendary comedian who has fallen behind on the times and is stuck in her diva ways. But once she begins working with Ava, a young writer desperate for a job after a graceless tweet left her unemployed, her career gets back on track—with some bumps along the way.

The role earned Smart an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series, marking her first win in 13 years. The show also won Emmys for Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing For A comedy Series.

The show was renewed for a second season last June, but a premiere date has yet to be announced.

 
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