Stephen Colbert toasts Hacks star Hannah Einbinder’s Late Show return with apology champagne, socks
Einbinder's initial appearance came at a decidedly chaotic time, you guys
TV News Stephen Colbert
As her Hacks character knows all too well, the path to the top of the comedy mountain is a winding and treacherous one, so Hannah Einbinder seemed to take it in stride that Late Show host Stephen Colbert didn’t remember her. Even though the actress, writer, and stand-up comedian had done a set on The Late Show. Ouch. And while her acerbic aspiring comedy writer Ava Daniels on Hacks might have made some potentially self-destructive hay out of Colbert’s perceived act of erasure, Einbinder merely used the opportunity to angle for some free footwear.
Now, to be fair to Colbert, Einbinder’s Late Show debut had a couple of things working against it, memorability-wise. For one, Einbinder’s March 2020 big break came immediately before the entire world shut down because of that whole pandemic that’s decided to make a big summer 2021 comeback. For another, Colbert never actually saw the pre-Hacks Einbinder perform live, since her set was pre-taped while Colbert was, one can only assume, taking a meeting about whether or not his NYC-filmed show was shutting down entirely for the foreseeable future. (As it turns out, Colbert was just about to launch late-night’s first(?) socially distanced at-home bathtub monologue.)
Still, though. As Einbinder (no doubt inured to the vagaries of show biz from mom and original SNL vet, Laraine Newman) told Colbert, it was still a magical night, especially once she got a load of the cool swag in her green room gift basket. It seems that comfy sock-wear is one of the ways Colbert gets his guests in the right mood to chat, with Einbinder deadpanning that it’s the perfect time for her (in-person, sure-to-be remembered) Late Show return, since those original, luxurious hose finally wore out. (Einbinder praised the supportive nature of the gift socks without making Colbert feel overly guilty for his own initial lack of support.)
With some suitably joshing reminiscences about working with her onscreen sparring partner and real-life acting idol Jean Smart on Hacks, Einbinder recalled how, after a kiss between her bisexual neophyte writer and Smart’s old school Vegas comedy trouper, the seen-it-all Smart delivered the perfect next-day one-liner at Einbinder’s expense. (To be fair, Einbinder confessed to trying to milk the stage kiss for all it was worth.) All in all, not a bad second appearance for the budding star, as a contrite Colbert not only brought out the bubbly to toast his Emmy-nominated guest’s success on the just-renewed HBO Max series, but had his staff hustle up a new pair of those truly comfortable-looking socks. Unlike her Hacks character, Einbinder’s learned not to burn your bridges, because, free socks.
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(Note: I really, REALLY enjoy Hacks, and Einbinder’s performance. Just FYI)
I had no idea she is Laraine Newman’s daughter.
If I were to invent a filter that removes all media that stars people whose parents/family were also famous stars, would I much to watch?
Beautiful people who live in Hollywood have beautiful children who live in Hollywood, so I’d be really surprised if there weren’t at least one Hollywood scion working on most productions. That said, is it really that epidemic?
I’ve some family whose lifelong ambition was to make it as an actor, and I can say that the London acting scene is dominated not so much by the children of actors, as the children of the rich. Confidence and the ability to live for years in an expensive city with no money of your own is what it takes these days. (My family member gradually gave up this ambition. Moved to Europe juuust before Brexit and covid would have made it difficult.) True for all the arts these days.
All art ever, really.
So true, even the likes of Da Vinci and Mozart essentially relied for most of their careers on their benefactors and patrons.
Living in certain places even if not related to anyone in media or without wealth gives people advantages too. Being already associated with that business gives people even more advantages. It’s just kind of the way it is. Luckily you get a Carrie Coon or Samuel L Jackson or Krysten Ritter (just 3 people I can think of off the top of my head not associated with anyone or from money) from nowhere that make it too. We’ll probably see more and more people coming out of Vancouver and Atlanta, just like New York and Los Angeles as we keep filming there.Makes you think about that whole patriotism and borders thing differently honestly. People being lucky or unlucky to born in certain circumstances.
If you restrict it to “starring people whose parents were stars” you’d lose a bunch of stuff but still have probably the bulk of Hollywood stuff to watch. If you decide you want to cut out “starring people whose parents worked in the film/television/theater industry” I think you get a clearer picture of the extensive role early exposure and family connections play in building a career. If you’re gunning for prominent work at the beginning of your career maybe you get an extra boost if one of your parents is a famous face, but if you’re trying to get in the room and build a career you’re also clearly getting a boost if one (or both) of your parents is a known director, cinematographer, writer, producer, casting director … there’s a LOT of those around.But Mrwh in another reply has a good point too; transferring from London theater to Hollywood, troll through actor bios on IMDB and Wikipedia and while you’ll find a lot of folks from average middle class or poor backgrounds (because there’s just a lot of middle class and poor people to begin with), you’re going to find a disproportionate number of actors whose parents had non-Hollywood jobs which were high-paying, high-status, or both. After a while I think acting starts looking like any other high-paying/status profession; they’re all a bit nepotistic but also there’s a lot of social advantages people use that aren’t, strictly speaking, nepotistic.
Looks are inherited. Talent isn’t, but acting is a skill that can be learned, especially if you have support (emotional and monetary) from people that have “made it” and know the right people.
She is beyond adorable.
She is fantastic. There are moments in this interview where she really looks like her mom!