Emmys 2026: Jean Smart makes history with five consecutive wins for Hacks
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Jean Smart wins Emmy Photograph: (AFP)
Jean Smart has made history by winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. This trophy marks her fifth win in the category. Read on to know more.
Jean Smart has added another achievement to her already remarkable career. The 75-year-old actor won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. The recognition was given to Smart for her performance as Deborah Vance in HBO Max’s Hacks, and it marks her fifth win in the category. She has taken home the trophy for every season of the comedy series.
Jean Smart wins Emmy
As Hacks ends its five-season run this year, she becomes the first performer to win an acting Emmy in the same category for every season of a television series.
Her name was announced by presenter Zendaya, and Smart received a standing ovation from the audience. "Just the men stay standing. The girls get to sit down. I’m serious. Every time this happens, I think of the girls who are going: ‘I just got comfortable. Why she did have to —?’ You got your Spanx and your corset and your tape and your shoes that are cutting your toes off, going, ‘Oh my god. She’s not that good. You just stood up ’cause she’s old."
She further expressed gratitude to the creators of Hacks, Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs. "It all begins and ends with them. I love you guys so much. What a ride this has been."
Jean Smart creates history
Now, Smart’s total number of acting Emmys reaches to eight, and she shares the record for most acting Emmy wins with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cloris Leachman and Allison Janney.
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Before Hacks, she won two awards for her guest appearances as Lana Gardner on Frasier in 2000 and 2001, followed by a supporting comedy actress win for Samantha Who? in 2008.
Her first lead actress Emmy for Hacks came in 2021. She subsequently won for the show's second, third and fourth seasons.
Smart's role in Hacks
In Hacks, she plays Deborah Vance, a veteran Las Vegas comedian. The series follows Deborah’s complicated professional and personal relationship with young comedy writer Ava Daniels, played by Hannah Einbinder.
Other nominated actresses in the category included Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Ayo Edebiri for The Bear, Elle Fanning for Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Lisa Kudrow for The Comeback.
