“Hacks” Star Hannah Einbinder Says Her Standup and Acting Careers Came from 'Wanting to Feel Like I Had Value' (Exclusive)
“Hacks” Star Hannah Einbinder Says Her Standup and Acting Careers Came from 'Wanting to Feel Like I Had Value' (Exclusive)
Kirsten AcunaSat, June 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC
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Hannah Einbinder at the Critics Choice Association's 3rd Annual Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on May 29.Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty -
Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder launched her comedy career in search of self-worth
"When I first started performing, it came from a place of wanting to feel like I had value," she tells PEOPLE
Einbinder stars in the August horror comedy Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma
Hacks star Hannah Einbinder never planned on acting, let alone being a stand-up comedian. The 31-year-old Emmy winner, who recently wrapped the fifth and final season of the HBO series, was simply seeking a sense of self-worth."It was probably a desperate need for external validation," the L.A. native dryly jokes to PEOPLE of shifting her career focus at Chapman University from broadcast journalism to television writing and improv.It was a natural pivot. For the daughter of Saturday Night Livealum Laraine Newman and actor Chad Einbinder, comedy is in her DNA. Einbinder launched her career at age 23 in 2020 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. At the time, she was the youngest comedian to perform on the show.
Einbinder made her comedy and TV debut on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on March 6, 2020.Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty
"If I'm totally honest, I think that when I first started performing, it came from a place of wanting to feel like I had value, and I felt like if I made people laugh, I was valuable," Einbinder, who counts Jim Carrey as a source of inspiration, says.That Late Show appearance helped change the course of her career. After seeing the set online, Hacks star Jean Smart said, "This is the girl" to play opposite her on the series. The show followed legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) and her complicated partnership with Einbinder's scrappy, struggling writer, Ava Daniels, who helps propel her back into the spotlight."I never planned to be an actor," Einbinder tells PEOPLE of her evolution from the stage to the screen. "I was perfectly content to be on the road as a comic, but I just auditioned for Hacks, and I felt a really strong connection to the work and the people who made it, and I got to learn about this beautiful collaborative experience. Standup is an incredibly solitary pursuit. I got kinda bit by the bug."Pitched to Einbinder via email as "a 25-year-old bisexual comedy writer who had recently lost her job," the role earned Einbinder four Emmy nominations and a best supporting actress win in 2025. It also allowed Einbinder to infuse some of her own personality into the quirky Daniels, right down to the character's queer identity.
Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart on the fifth and final season of 'Hacks'Credit: Courtesy of HBO Max
"I feel like I imbued Ava with some of my affect and my low and slow comedic rhythms," says Einbinder.Now that the series has wrapped, Einbinder has turned her attention to the big screen. After making her big-screen debut in Seekers of Infinite Love, which premiered at SXSW in March, she'll next star in Mubi's August release, the queer slasher-comedy Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.An equally hilarious and heartfelt exploration of one's identity and sexuality, Camp Miasma premiered to critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Einbinder headlines the movie as Kris, a filmmaker tasked with rebooting an outdated horror franchise who embarks on an unexpected journey of self-discovery alongside a character played by Gillian Anderson.
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Einbider plays a director whose run-in with Billy (Gillian Anderson) changes her life in 'Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma'Credit: Mubi
The experience became a deeply personal one for Einbinder, who describes her leading role as "a little bit of a surrogate" for director Jane Schoenbrun, who helmed the 2024 psychological thriller I Saw the TV Glow."I had to reckon with certain things that I don't think I had examined…. just feeling dissociative," she says.Now Einbinder's focus has shifted from seeking validation for herself to uplifting and supporting fellow artists to ensure they feel seen and valued.
"How can I make contributions to others? I think the value of our work as artists, yes, is the experience of making it," she says. "I think that is incredibly rewarding and inspiring, but the truest, purest value of our work is as an offering.""Queer artists and marginalized artists have had to be scrappy," says Einbinder. "I know so many filmmakers who are just extremely DIY, and they make work for very little money, and it's really incredible. They deserve to be backed."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
