Who Does Helen Hunt Play on Hacks?

Helen Hunt makes a welcome return to her sitcom roots in Season 3 of Max‘s Hacks, where she may very well hold the late-night fate of Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance in her hands. Here’s a peek into the Mad About You star’s Hacks‘ character, Winnie Landell.

Who Does Helen Hunt Play on Hacks?

The iconic Hunt cuts an intimidating profile that makes her perfect for Hacks‘ Winnie, an equally cutthroat network executive and pickleball player. With Deborah Vance vying for her long-awaited second shot behind the late-night desk, Hunt’s network boss stands to play a crucial role in Hacks‘ third season. Hunt’s dry delivery makes Winnie a particularly entertaining puzzle for Deborah’s team to crack on their road to late night, particularly when she continues to drop casual tidbits about her past romantic lore.

Hacks Season 3 premiere left audiences and Deborah’s manager, Jimmy Lesaque Jr., with a powerful first impression of Winnie, who nonchalantly disclosed her connection to a member of Deborah’s team. Paul W. Downs’ Jimmy attempted to keep his professional wits about him when Winnie reminisced about a sexual encounter with his father during their initial introduction. Hunt raised the challenge meter on this awkward networking conversation when she failed to remember whether this hookup occurred during Jimmy’s parents’ marriage. Winnie referenced her own divorce in the same conversation, an anecdote that bloomed to surprising comedic fruition during their second meeting. Well into a heated pickleball game, Winnie chided her doubles partner Beth about their divorce – catching everyone off guard once again. 

Though Hacks predominantly revolves around the codependent creative partnership between Deborah and her comedy writer, Ava Daniels, many themes naturally flourish from their dynamic. Hunt’s addition to Season 3 capitalizes on Hacks’ ongoing examination of what it means to be a woman of a certain age in the entertainment industry and how a lifetime dedicated to one’s career informs interpersonal relationships. 

LGBTQIA+ identity maintains an ever-present voice in Hacks‘ ecosystem, and not just through queer characters such as Ava and Marcus. Episodes like Season 2’s “The Captain’s Wife” and the recent Season 3 episode, “Join the Club,” demonstrate how Deborah’s approach to queerness has evolved through her relationship with Hannah Einbinder’s Ava. Having the 60-year-old Winnie casually reveal her bisexuality (and properly employ nonbinary pronouns over a business call) in that same episode offers a juxtaposition to the biphobia Deborah encountered from the crotchety comedians of her generation in “Join the Club.”  

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Helen Hunt’s Not the Only Star in Season 3 of Hacks

Hacks hails from the same camp as 30 Rock, Barry, The Other Two, and countless irreverent comedies that have satirized the entertainment industry, thus leaving room for a revolving door of celebrity cameos. While comedians like Margaret Cho and Patton Oswalt have appeared as themselves on Hacks, the series has also attracted stars such as Hunt to portray fictional figureheads within its version of the entertainment industry. Christina Hendricks and Succession‘s J. Smith-Cameron are among the guest stars joining Hunt on Season 3 of Hacks.

And that’s who Helen Hunt plays in Hacks.

Hacks is streaming now on Max.