While conceiving what would become Max’s exquisite comedy “Hacks” with wife Lucia Aniello and longtime collaborator Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs clearly had his eye on playing talent manager Jimmy, whose clients include both legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and up-and-coming comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder).
Subtlety had no place in the room. “The pitch actually said the actor would have brown hair, blue eyes and these teeth — and then I flashed a smile,” says the unpretentious Downs, 41, over Zoom from the Los Angeles home he shares with Aniello and their toddler. “In the pilot script, it said, ‘Jimmy (Paul W. Downs), in a Tom Ford suit he gets to keep.’ So yes, the plan was always for me to do it. I did not get a Tom Ford suit, but otherwise, having the role was pretty great.”
Designer ensemble notwithstanding, Downs does don many hats on “Hacks”: writer, producer, showrunner, director, actor. He’s played many of these roles — sometimes all of them — on other projects as well, including the Scarlett Johansson comedy “Rough Night” and the 20-something female-led comedy “Broad City.”
“They go so hand in hand for me that they feed each other,” he says of his various responsibilities, adding that he initially started to write to be able to act. “Coming from a performance background has helped my writing, and obviously, being so inside [‘Hacks’] certainly helps me as an actor.”
The challenge, he notes, is to never favor his character just because he plays him. “I am the last to pitch for Jimmy and also the first in the edit to say, ‘We could cut a couple of Jimmy lines if we need to tighten the scene,’” he says. “But a joy of it is that, when I’m in the writers’ room, I can drop into the character and improvise a little bit, and often, that becomes part of the dialogue.”
Downs says he is shocked and moved by the “absolute thrill” of being nominated for his acting this year (in addition to nominations for writing and comedy series). Critics, viewers and academy voters are surely less shocked, since Jimmy’s part was expanded in Season 3 — organically, Downs is quick to point out.
“With this goal Deborah’s had of getting this late-night talk show, her manager would be really integral to that,” he says. “It was really more about the story than about us just finding ways for Jimmy to exist in the show.”
Fans of the series need no other reason for Jimmy to exist than his working relationship with his clueless but self-assured assistant Kayla, played by Meg Stalter, whom Downs calls “a brilliant scene partner.” “That’s also encouraged what would’ve been a natural progression for the character.”
Growing up in rural New Jersey as the eldest child of parents with great senses of humor, Downs has long found making people laugh the fuel that feeds his soul. “It’s been the thing that’s made me feel the most connected to people,” he says. “As an eccentric, weird kid, it was the thing that made me feel a little less alone.”
Downs studied theater and improv at Duke University, but he calls Upright Citizens Brigade — Chicago’s famed improvisational and sketch comedy training ground — his “clown graduate school.” It’s where he met Aniello and started doing solo shows, and where the couple began creating digital shorts.
With “Hacks,” Downs is at no loss for talented scene partners. Fellow nominee Einbinder, for instance, is now on her third Emmy nomination and so far has never won. “She’s so, so good. It is crazy. I can’t believe she’s someone who hadn’t been onscreen before ‘Hacks.’ And the amount she’s grown. But also, the fact that it was there from Day 1,” Downs says, quick to also mention her decency and dedication.
“I think there are moments on set when I can even see Jean [Smart] recognize how supernaturally talented [Einbinder] is. So — I’ve thought about this — I think I might be more excited for Hannah than for myself [at the Emmys] because she is so deserving, and she works so hard. She’s a stand-up comic. She really cares about comedy. The show is all that much more poignant for her. It’s much more personal for her because she is a disciple of comedy with a capital C.”
With Downs, Aniello and Statsky now pulling together Season 4 in view of a September shoot, are there any insights he can share? “We pick up very, very shortly after [the end of Season 3], so not a lot of time has passed,” he offers. “People enjoyed the drive Deborah had because getting that [late-night show] chair, for a woman — especially a woman of her age — was a herculean task. But what we keep saying as we break Season 4 is that getting the job is actually the easy part. Launching a successful late-night show and keeping it successful is almost impossible. Especially, again, for a woman. So, we have some really great stakes for Season 4, because it is actually her biggest challenge as a character.
“And this time, there is all of the friction between her and Ava. It’s very juicy. We get to have a lot of fun with them going head-to-head as they try and make this thing they both care very much about.”
Regardless of what happens at the Emmys this year, it’s clear Max owes Downs that Tom Ford suit.
