I happen to know the best writer in the world – Tony Kushner,” Jean Smart as Deborah Vance says in the first episode of the final season of “Hacks.” Her plan for a comeback is to win an EGOT, which means getting Kushner, the Pulitze winning playwright and four time Oscar-nominted screenwriter to ghostwrite her memoirs, which she can then record on an album and win a Grammy.
Kushner plays himself – or, actually, a satire of himself.
Semi-transcript below:
Hannah Einbinder as Ava: Mr. Kushner. I just want to say it’s, it’s such an honor to observe the writing process of one of my heroes. I mean, Angels in America, was just Yeah, so formative for me.
Tony Kushner as Tony Kushner: Oh, that’s sweet.
Jean Smart as Deborah Vance: She’s just shadowing, so feel free to ignore her. I often do.
Oh so Tony. Where do we start? I’m thinking a chapter a day, 15 chapters. We should be able to wrap this up in two weeks easy.
Kushner: We’re gonna need far longer than that. I really believe in an immersive process.
Deborah: Okay, well, I don’t tend to love those whiny childhood parts of most celebrity memoirs, but then again, I was a very strong child. I held up my own head at three months old, my little blonde head, I know. Oh, that would make a great opening sentence. Quote, “I was born blonde.”
Kushner: I actually want to start way before that. Your people descend from Scotland, I’ve been reading the lion in the north 1000 years of Scotland’s history. Did you know that your eighth great grandfather was a prominent figure in the Battle of Glen frewen. I didn’t It’s really fascinating stuff. It starts with the MacGregor clan. They were in a feud with the Coughlin clan over cattle thefts and land thefts. It’s like the beginning of the 17th century, when James the sixth, there was a big homo moved to England to become James the First and it was the start of the Jacobean era…
In a later scene, Tony insists on playing the soundtrack he’ll listen to while writing the first chapter.
“I don’t know,” Deborah says, a polite way of saying no.
Tony stops smiling. “I have a Pulitzer.”
Afterward:
Deborah: I fired Tony Kushner.
Ava: You fired Tony Kushner? No, Deborah. God, I was going to slowly develop a relationship with him over the course of the years and then eventually ask him to read my script, and he was going to love it.
