J. Smith-Cameron Calls ‘Hacks’ Casting ‘A Dream Come True,’ Hopes Kathy Isn’t Gone for Good
J. Smith-Cameron is hopeful that she’ll return to Hacks as Kathy Vance should the opportunity arise.
“It was a dream come true,” Smith-Cameron, 66, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, June 4, while promoting her partnership with Jif for its Jif Peanut Butter & Chocolate Flavored Spread campaign. “I had been a fan of the show already.”
The actress said as a viewer herself, she was “delighted at the casting because like everyone else, I wondered what Kathy Vance was like and if we'd ever really get to know her.”
Hacks introduced Deborah Vance’s (Jean Smart) sister, Kathy, in person during season 1, with Linda Purl playing the role. Kathy then disappeared and didn’t return until season 3, episode 6, in May, which is when Smith-Cameron took over the character.
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Smith-Cameron’s Kathy made quite the splash when she showed up ahead of Deborah’s Christmas party. The reunion came after Deborah revealed during her stand-up special that Kathy had an affair with her husband, Frank, years prior, leading to their estrangement.
“I love that they wrote her to be sort of disarmingly human and not quite the witch she's described by her sister,” Smith-Cameron explained. “I think they kind of left it on this note where, you know, Kathy's washed her hands of that relationship. But I hope that isn't the case.”
During the season 3 finale, which aired on Thursday, May 30, the Vance sisters agree not to mend their relationship after fighting at their parents’ former mausoleum. However, Deborah’s daughter, DJ (Kaitlin Olson), is pregnant and wants her aunt in her life, so the women might not stay apart for long.
Smith-Cameron pointed out that “it’s not so easy to just write off a sibling forever,” because family “can always kind of revisit things.”
Therefore, she is optimistic that the sisters will find their way back together, so she can have more time on the Hacks set.
“I'm hoping, you know, I don't want them to feel any pressure, but I'm hoping that [creators] Paul [W. Downs] and Jen [Statsky] and Lucia [Aniello] consider having Kathy back,” Smith-Cameron confessed.
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Fans would also like to see Deborah and Kathy reunited for season 4, since neither one addressed the rumors that Deborah set Frank’s house on fire after his affair with Kathy. The alleged arson attempt ultimately derailed Deborah’s career.
Although Smith-Cameron’s future on Hacks is up in the air, she has been keeping herself busy following her time on Succession, which ended in 2023.
The actress recently partnered with Jiff for its new Jif Peanut Butter & Chocolate Flavored Spread campaign, which was influenced by her time on the Emmy-winning show.
“I really, really did have fun,” Smith-Cameron said of the commercial, which shows her as a boss babe creating the ultimate merger between peanut butter group and chocolatey group. “I expected to have fun because I read the treatment of it and looked at their sort of look book for it. I just had a fabulous time. It was like being in a short comic film.”
Watch the new Jif Peanut Butter & Chocolate Flavored Spread commercial here — and learn more about the brand’s latest innovation on their website.
With reporting by Mandie DeCamp
