When casting began in 2020 for the award-winning HBO Max series “Hacks,” its three creators — Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky — saw hundreds of actors for the role of Ava Daniels, a 20-something comedy writer who teams up with a Vegas comedian, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), whose act has grown as dated as her updo and glittery outfits. In choosing Hannah Einbinder, they put a little-known stand-up comic who’d never before set foot on a TV series shoot on a path to four Emmy nominations. So what did they see then that indicated Einbinder could hold her own with Smart, a storied actress who famously can do anything?

Downs, who also stars as manager Jimmy LuSaque Jr. on “Hacks,” says Einbinder caught the trio’s attention with her audition scene, in which Ava threatens to kill hers

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