Stage, silver screens, TV screens – Jean Smart‘s acting career has spanned four decades, with a glittering trophy cabinet to prove it. From Designing Women and Frasier, to Sweet Home Alabama and 24, Smart is a versatile actor often drawn to comedic roles, most recently as comedian Deborah Vance in Hacks (for which she’s won three back-to-back Emmy Awards). And while Hacks is very good and has rightfully earned her praise, perhaps Smart’s best TV performance can be found in FX’s weird superhero series Legion, in which she played Dr. Melanie Bird.
For 2017’s Legion, a show envisioned by Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley, Smart left the comedy at the door for a while; the series demanded something else entirely. Her work as Dr. Bird reveals layers of her talent in ways she doesn’t always get to tap into; she was glad to sink her teeth into the challenge. While Hacks allows Smart to operate in her comedic sweet spot, her performance in Legion stands as a daring, transformative work – dare we say, her best.
Jean Smart Brings Years of Expertise to ‘Hacks’
Max’s Hacks premiered in 2021, and focuses on the relationship between two comedians from different generations who reluctantly join forces. Smart took on the role of Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas stand-up comedian whose casino residency is threatened after decades of success. As her career begins to stall, her management company pairs her with Ava (Hannah Einbinder), a young comedy writer who was blacklisted from Hollywood following a controversial tweet.
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As Vance, Smart portrays a hardworking, sharp-tongued comedy veteran who built her career during an era when women comedians faced even more barriers than they do today. Her comedic presence is also graced with dramatic weight as her character deals with professional challenges, personal regrets, and a complicated relationship with Ava. The performance has rightfully earned Smart a legion of new fans four decades into her career.
‘Legion’ Is an Unlikely Superhero Story
Legion aired on FX for three seasons, from 2017 to 2019. The Marvel series and stealthy X-Men spinoff follows David Haller (Dan Stevens), a person who is diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, which is actually a result of his mutant psychic abilities, something which puts him at the center of an epic power struggle. Smart portrays Dr. Melanie Bird, a psychiatrist who heads a group of mutants at Summerland, a facility that works to help people with abilities. She may initially be a composed mentor figure, but undergoes a significant transformation as the series progresses.
You also can’t go wrong with the wonderful Aubrey Plaza on the bill; it instantly piques your curiosity. Here, she delivers a shape-shifting performance as Lenny Busker, evolving from David’s hospital friend to becoming the vessel for David’s nemesis, the Shadow King. Smart and Plaza star alongside other unconventional characters, played by Amber Midthunder, Rachel Keller, Navid Negahban, Katie Aselton, Bill Irwin, Hamish Linklater, and the delightful Jemaine Clement, who plays Melanie’s husband.
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Legion, originating from the pages of Marvel’s The New Mutants comic, involves themes of mental illness, reality manipulation, time travel, and questions of perception versus reality, enabling Smart to attempt something way beyond her comedy comfort zone. She told The Hollywood Reporter, “I just have to embrace that. It’s different from anything I’ve ever done. I think it’s safe to say it’s different from anything any of these actors have ever done. It’s even different from what most people have seen on television.”
Dr. Melanie Bird wouldn’t be Smart’s only small-screen comic-book role: in 2019, Smart starred in another strange TV series loosely based on a graphic novel, playing an aged-up version of Laurie Blake in Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen on HBO.
‘Legion’ Is Underrated as a Marvel Superhero Spectacle
True creative Noah Hawley is best known for developing FX’s Fargo anthology series, reimagining the Coen Brothers’ film into a multi-season anthology (Smart played crime boss Floyd Gerhardt in Season 2). This paved the way for Hawley to build a successful Marvel small-screen adaptation, which, as always, required honoring source material while taking creative risks, so Hawley was the right person for the job. Taking Legion from page to screen, his distinct visual and narrative style and his writing prowess — he’s published several novels, including Before the Fall and The Good Father — freed him to push the bizarre aspects of Legion’s plot.
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Critics and audiences alike were more than satisfied, with the three-season series garnering a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Matt Zoller Seitz over at Vulture said, “…the whole thing is so aesthetically fresh that I could see myself continuing to watch it even if it suddenly became dumb as hell, just to see what new storytelling trick showrunner Noah Hawley and his collaborators have up their puffy magicians’ sleeves.” Yet Legion remains understated both as a superhero show and a Marvel offering.
Nonetheless, Hacks, Legion, Fargo — they’re all great, and Jean Smart is great in them. Legion may be over, but with Hacks and other titles, Smart shows no signs of slowing down. You can stream Legion on Hulu through the link below:
Release Date
2017 – 2018
Network
FX
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