Jean Smart poses with the award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for "Hacks" during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. Photo: Reuters

Jean Smart wins eighth acting Emmy for Hacks, makes history with fifth win for show

Actor Jean Smart won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. The victory made her the first lead comedy actor to win the category for every season of one series and took her to eight acting Emmys.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Smart thanked her collaborators and signed off calling the journey a ride
  • She beat Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Elle Fanning and Lisa Kudrow
  • Before this, Smart won for Frasier, The District and Samantha Who

Jean Smart made history at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Tuesday, September 15, after winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks.

Smart won the award for her performance as veteran comedian Deborah Vance in the HBO Max comedy. The victory made her the first lead comedy actor to win the category for every season of a single television series.

The win also took Smart's total number of acting Emmys to eight. She now shares the record for the most acting Emmy wins by a performer with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cloris Leachman and Allison Janney.

While accepting the award, Smart joked with the audience, saying, “Just the men stay standing, the girls get to sit down.” She went on to thank her collaborators before ending her speech with, “What a ride this has been!”

Smart was nominated alongside Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Ayo Edebiri for The Bear, Elle Fanning for Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Lisa Kudrow for The Comeback.

The actor won her first two Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Frasier and The District. She later won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Samantha Who?

Smart first won the lead actress Emmy for her role as Deborah Vance in Hacks in 2021. She repeated the feat in 2022, 2024 and 2025, before adding another victory in 2026.

Created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, Hacks follows legendary comedian Deborah Vance as she tries to protect her legacy while working with a young writer brought in to refresh her comedy material.

In its fifth season, Deborah sets out on another campaign to take control of her legacy while rebuilding her career after walking away from her late-night talk show.

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