Jean Smart Wins for Her Role onHacksat 2025 SAG Awards After Missing Show Due to Filming

Mar. 15, 2025

Jean Smart.Photo:Phillip Faraone/Getty

Phillip Faraone/Getty

The2025 SAG Awardshave named their choice for outstanding female actor in a comedy series!Jean Smartwon the award for her performance inHacksduring the event, taking place at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 23. The actress was not there to accept the award, but presentersMolly ShannonandKumail Nanjianishared a message following her big win.“Unfortunately, Jean is shooting on location and can’t be here tonight, but we accept this award on her behalf,” Shannon said.Jean Smart in ‘Hacks’.Jake Giles Netter/MaxInHacks, Smart plays comedian Deborah Vance, who is often at odds with Ava (Hannah Einbinder) as they navigate a generational gap while revamping her career.While speaking toThe Hollywood Reporterin June 2024, Smart revealed that she wanted to be believable as a comic when she took on the role on the hit Max series.“When I read the script, I said, ‘This is everything I could possibly want for my next job,’ ” she explained. “But I needed to be sure that real stand-ups could believe I was a comic.““I had never been a comedian, so they were the real litmus test. And I passed, I think!” she added.The competition was fierce, with other nominees, includingKristen BellforNobody Wants This,Quinta BrunsonforAbbott Elementary,Liza Colón-ZayasandAyo EdebiriforThe Bear.Kristen Bell in ‘Nobody Wants This.'.SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIXBell, 44, stars as sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell), who falls for newly single rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) despite the naysayers inNobody Wants This. In November 2024, the actress opened up about what she hoped viewers took away from the hit Netflix show in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter.“I hoped people would walk away and think weeks later about: Is love really this story we’ve been told about finding your puzzle piece, or is it something way more nuanced than that?” she explained. “Is it a choice that you have to continually make because you’re up against it all the time?”“And I think the latter, and I think the show did a good job of saying you can start off with connection and chemistry, but there’s a lot that’s going to stand in your way and you just have to decide what you’re willing to compromise on, depending on how badly you want it,” she added.Quinta Brunson in ‘Abbott Elementary’.Gilles Mingasson/DisneyBrunson was nominated for her role as Philadelphia school teacher Janine Teagues onAbbott Elementary.The 34-year-old actress previously opened up about Janine’s evolution over the course of the last three seasons.“When the show first started, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my god, the budget is so bad, Janine’s hair looks so bad. It’s like, ‘It looks bad on purpose,’” Brunson explained onHot Onesin February 2024. “She’s a girl who doesn’t quite know what to do with her hair and wardrobe yet, but she’s proud of herself regardless.”“That’s what I want people to take away with that kind of character,” she added. “Everybody’s not perfect or knows how to do it all. Janine’s a character now who has started to watch some YouTube videos and she’s like, ‘That’s how I maintain my curls.’ And then she went, ‘Maybe not that shirt with that skirt.’”“That’s fun, it’s a way for us to show her brain on the outside of her head,” she concluded. “And it’s important to really have those things for all characters, but especially a young Black girl character.”Liza Colón-Zayas in ‘The Bear’.FXColón-Zayas, 52, portrayed the role of Tina Marrero inThe Bear, which is about a Chicago restaurant and its eclectic kitchen staff.Her nomination comes after major career milestone, when shetook home her first Emmy winfor the same role in September 2024.“Thank you to my husband David Zayas, he told me to write a speech and I didn’t, because I didn’t think it would be possible,” she said during her acceptance speech. “How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett and Janelle and Sheryl Lee Ralph. I love you all, I revere you to the bottom of my heart.“Ayo Edebiri in ‘The Bear’.FXLike her costar, Edebiri was also nominated for her role as chef Sydney Adamu onThe Bear.In January 2024, the actress shared how she was able to pull from her real-life experiences while working on the hit FX series.“I worked in restaurants for five or six years in New York,” Edebiri toldToday. “I’ve worked in restaurants a lot in my life. Never in the kitchen, but waitstaff or hosting, reservations, and my first job was being a dishwasher. I understood, I think, the rhythm of how people spoke and the feeling of being in a kitchen, but never from the chef’s vantage point.”She also added that she trained with her costarJeremy Allen Whiteat the Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, California, as well as in the kitchen of several Michelin-starred restaurants in preparation for the role.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.SeePEOPLE’s full coverage of the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, airing on Netflix.

The2025 SAG Awardshave named their choice for outstanding female actor in a comedy series!

Jean Smartwon the award for her performance inHacksduring the event, taking place at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., on Feb. 23. The actress was not there to accept the award, but presentersMolly ShannonandKumail Nanjianishared a message following her big win.

“Unfortunately, Jean is shooting on location and can’t be here tonight, but we accept this award on her behalf,” Shannon said.

Jean Smart in ‘Hacks’.Jake Giles Netter/Max

Jake Giles Netter/Max

InHacks, Smart plays comedian Deborah Vance, who is often at odds with Ava (Hannah Einbinder) as they navigate a generational gap while revamping her career.

While speaking toThe Hollywood Reporterin June 2024, Smart revealed that she wanted to be believable as a comic when she took on the role on the hit Max series.

“When I read the script, I said, ‘This is everything I could possibly want for my next job,’ ” she explained. “But I needed to be sure that real stand-ups could believe I was a comic.”

“I had never been a comedian, so they were the real litmus test. And I passed, I think!” she added.

The competition was fierce, with other nominees, includingKristen BellforNobody Wants This,Quinta BrunsonforAbbott Elementary,Liza Colón-ZayasandAyo EdebiriforThe Bear.

Kristen Bell in ‘Nobody Wants This.'.SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX

SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX

Bell, 44, stars as sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell), who falls for newly single rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) despite the naysayers inNobody Wants This. In November 2024, the actress opened up about what she hoped viewers took away from the hit Netflix show in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter.

“I hoped people would walk away and think weeks later about: Is love really this story we’ve been told about finding your puzzle piece, or is it something way more nuanced than that?” she explained. “Is it a choice that you have to continually make because you’re up against it all the time?”

“And I think the latter, and I think the show did a good job of saying you can start off with connection and chemistry, but there’s a lot that’s going to stand in your way and you just have to decide what you’re willing to compromise on, depending on how badly you want it,” she added.

Quinta Brunson in ‘Abbott Elementary’.Gilles Mingasson/Disney

Gilles Mingasson/Disney

Brunson was nominated for her role as Philadelphia school teacher Janine Teagues onAbbott Elementary.

The 34-year-old actress previously opened up about Janine’s evolution over the course of the last three seasons.

“When the show first started, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my god, the budget is so bad, Janine’s hair looks so bad. It’s like, ‘It looks bad on purpose,’” Brunson explained onHot Onesin February 2024. “She’s a girl who doesn’t quite know what to do with her hair and wardrobe yet, but she’s proud of herself regardless.”

“That’s what I want people to take away with that kind of character,” she added. “Everybody’s not perfect or knows how to do it all. Janine’s a character now who has started to watch some YouTube videos and she’s like, ‘That’s how I maintain my curls.’ And then she went, ‘Maybe not that shirt with that skirt.’”

“That’s fun, it’s a way for us to show her brain on the outside of her head,” she concluded. “And it’s important to really have those things for all characters, but especially a young Black girl character.”

Liza Colón-Zayas in ‘The Bear’.FX

FX

Colón-Zayas, 52, portrayed the role of Tina Marrero inThe Bear, which is about a Chicago restaurant and its eclectic kitchen staff.

Her nomination comes after major career milestone, when shetook home her first Emmy winfor the same role in September 2024.

“Thank you to my husband David Zayas, he told me to write a speech and I didn’t, because I didn’t think it would be possible,” she said during her acceptance speech. “How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett and Janelle and Sheryl Lee Ralph. I love you all, I revere you to the bottom of my heart.”

Ayo Edebiri in ‘The Bear’.FX

Like her costar, Edebiri was also nominated for her role as chef Sydney Adamu onThe Bear.

In January 2024, the actress shared how she was able to pull from her real-life experiences while working on the hit FX series.

“I worked in restaurants for five or six years in New York,” Edebiri toldToday. “I’ve worked in restaurants a lot in my life. Never in the kitchen, but waitstaff or hosting, reservations, and my first job was being a dishwasher. I understood, I think, the rhythm of how people spoke and the feeling of being in a kitchen, but never from the chef’s vantage point.”

She also added that she trained with her costarJeremy Allen Whiteat the Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, California, as well as in the kitchen of several Michelin-starred restaurants in preparation for the role.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

SeePEOPLE’s full coverage of the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, airing on Netflix.

source: people.com