Elizabeth Perkins Praises Jean Smart’s ‘Hacks’ Role: ‘Thank You for Presenting a Woman of a Certain Age in a Brilliant Way’
The actress says seeing complex, funny older women onscreen feels like a long-overdue shift in Hollywood
Key Takeaways
- Elizabeth Perkins thanked Jean Smart for her groundbreaking role on 'Hacks.'
- Perkins said Hollywood still struggles to create roles for women over 40.
- The actress believes representation for older women has improved in recent years.
If you’ve ever felt invisible after a certain birthday, you’re far from alone—and one beloved actress is speaking up about it. Elizabeth Perkins is publicly thanking her fellow performer Jean Smart for a role that’s quietly reshaping how Hollywood portrays women of a certain age. For women who grew up watching the entertainment industry sideline anyone past 40, her words feel like a long-overdue exhale.
Watch Episode 14 right here! ‘What Matters with Elizabeth Perkins: Art, Authenticity & Self-Acceptance’
A heartfelt thank-you between two veterans
Perkins, whose own career has spanned decades, recently singled out Smart’s lead performance in the comedy series Hacks as a turning point. The show centers Smart as a sharp-tongued, complicated, deeply human comedy legend navigating a career in transition—and Perkins says that kind of role has been a long time coming.
“I have to thank Jean Smart because what she did on Hacks was, thank you,” Perkins said. “Thank you for presenting a woman of a certain age in a brilliant, funny, self-actualized way.”
The unspoken cutoff at 40
For decades, actresses have talked about an invisible line in Hollywood, and Perkins named it plainly.
“I do think it will always be a challenge, particularly for older women,” she said. “In Hollywood, older is like anything over 40.”
That benchmark has long been cited by actresses and industry observers as the point at which leading roles become harder to find. Male performers often see their careers extend well into their 60s and 70s with leading-man status intact. Women, by contrast, have historically faced a steeper drop-off in opportunities, frequently being recast in supporting roles as mothers, mentors or background characters once they cross that threshold.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because the same pattern shows up far beyond Hollywood. Plenty of women in their 40s, 50s and 60s have felt overlooked at work, in advertising and even in stories told about their own lives. Seeing it named out loud by someone like Perkins is its own small comfort.
Real progress, even if slow
Perkins didn’t dwell on grievance. Instead, she pointed to how much has shifted, even in just the last decade.
“I do think we’re getting more representation now than we have even, say, 10 years ago, and that’s been great,” she said.
Industry observers have noticed the same trend. The past decade has brought an increase in projects led by or built around women in their 40s, 50s and 60s across film, streaming and television. The share of leading roles still remains uneven compared with younger performers and with men of equivalent ages, but the needle is moving. Each breakout performance makes the next one a little easier to pitch, fund and promote.
Perkins’ phrasing—that the challenge “will always be” present “particularly for older women”—suggests a measured optimism rather than a declaration of victory. Hollywood’s underlying preferences don’t change overnight. But they do change.
A thank-you that doubles as a milestone
Perkins’ tribute to Smart works on two levels. On one, it’s a colleague-to-colleague acknowledgment, a moment of professional gratitude from one accomplished actress to another. On another, it’s a marker—a way of identifying which performances are doing the cultural work of widening the field for everyone who follows.
The progress is real. The remaining gap is also real. And the difference between a tokenized supporting role and a fully developed protagonist often comes down to whether the writers, producers and network are willing to imagine a woman over 40 as the center of the story rather than the background.
“That’s been great,” Perkins said of the progress so far. It’s a simple endorsement, but one that carries the weight of someone who has watched the industry change, slowly, from the inside—and who refuses to stop noticing every win along the way.
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