Jean Smart says Harry Styles uses her 'Hacks' character name to check into hotels

Hacks star Jean Smart recently revealed that Watermelon Sugar hitmaker Harry Styles uses her character's name from the acclaimed comedy series to check into hotels. In a Tuesday, May 7 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, the 72-year-old actress told the host that Harry Styles used the name of her Hacks character 'Deborah Vance' as an alias to check into hotels.

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The actress also revealed that Styles was such a big fan of the show that he even sent her a bouquet of flowers and a salt shaker as a call back to an episode where Deborah collects an antique salt shaker, along with tickets to his show.

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Harry Styles sent Jean Smart a gift inspired by Hacks along with tickets to his show

In a preview clip of the Tuesday, May 7 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the 72-year-old lead of the comedy series Hacks, Jean Smart opened up about pop star Harry Styles' adoration of the HBO Max show. Host Drew Barrymore asked Smart if Styles was a big fan of the show and if he had ever sent her anything. Smart replied in the affirmative. The actress elaborated:

"I have never met the man, unfortunately. But we did an episode where it shows that Deborah collects antique salt and pepper shakers."

Barrymore said that the salt and pepper shakers end up being a fun running gag in the show. Smart further revealed:

"And about a week or two after it airs, I get this beautiful bouquet of flowers and a package, and inside was this gorgeous vintage salt shaker that looked almost exactly like the one that we used in the show."

Harry Styles was a big fan of 'Hacks' (Image via Instagram/@harrystyles)

The package was from "H" who she later found out was Harry Styles as she knew his then-girlfriend Olivia Wilde, who told her. Styles also gave Jean Smart and her youngest kid tickets to the show, which they "of course" ended up going to. Furthermore, Styles even sent her the same present once again the very next year.

Later, Jean Smart found out that he was using her character's name "Deborah Vance" as his alias to check into hotels. Smart elaborated:

"We saw there was a picture of him sitting next to his bodyguard and his bodyguard had the envelope with his keys and everything in it and it said, ‘D Vance,’ and he was on the 13th floor, and we found out indeed, he did use ‘D Vance’ to check into hotels."

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'Hacks' has amassed an impressive 32 Primetime Emmy nominations

Hacks starring Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Kaitlin Olson, and Poppy Liu premiered on HBO Max (now known as Max) in May 2021. The second season of the show hit the platform in May 2022, and the third season just premiered last Thursday, May 2, 2024.

The IMDb description of the show states that it explored the "dark mentorship" between a legendary Las Vegas comedian named Deborah Vance played by Jean Smart and an "entitled, outcast 25-year-old" comedy writer played by Hannah Einbinder of I Might Be Famous fame.

The series has received quite the critical acclaim with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 87% and an IMDb rating of 8.2. In a review of the series, Lucy Mangan of the Guardian wrote:

"There are plenty of laughs along the way, but it’s the unforced emotional truths that make Hacks a right and proper vehicle for Smart."

The series has also swept a plethora of awards, including 6 Primetime Emmy Awards from 32 nominations, with Jean Smart bagging the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category in both 2021 and 2022. Hacks is currently available for streaming on Max. Episodes and seasons of the show can also be purchased on Prime Video.