2021 has been a good year for television. From “Wandavision” to “Pose” to the upcoming season of “Ted Lasso” (which we already know will be good), there’s been plenty to watch. However, prepare for us to make a bold claim: “Hacks,” the HBO Max comedy starring Jean Smart as a Joan Rivers-like figure, stands out above the rest. So too does Jean’s co-star in “Hacks,” the Jewish comic and actress Hannah Einbinder.
Hannah is a newcomer to Hollywood, but she’s well on her way to becoming your favorite new star, so let’s not waste time! Here are 18 things to know about Hannah Einbinder:
1. Hannah was born in Los Angeles to Jewish parents.
2. Her father is Chad Einbinder, an actor, writer and director; her mother is Laraine Newman, a founding member of the LA comedy troupe The Groundlings and an original cast member of Saturday Night Live.
Additionally, her sibling Spike Einbinder is also a comedian, most well known for being in the HBO show “Los Espookys.”
3. In an interview with the New York Times, Hannah described her childhood awareness of her mother’s time on the iconic, long-running sketch show as “a spooky legend that’s always lurked around.”
4. Here she is as a child drinking wine (OK, probably grape juice) from a kiddush cup:
5. She’s put her bat mitzvah photos to good use on Instagram:
Hannah, if you’re reading this, please do a bat mitzvah party theme reveal. We simply must know.
6. She wasn’t always interested in doing comedy. In fact, in high school, she was a cheerleader! If you’re thinking “a Jewish cheerleader?” that’s also what her mom said. But it’s true, see:
7. Hannah attended Chapman University in California where she auditioned and got into an improv group. Her first ever stand-up set was opening for Nicole Byers for a campus show! From there, she started performing stand-up in Los Angeles.
8. Hannah experiences a different kind of Jewish guilt from her mother.
“It’s our version of ‘You should marry a doctor,’” Hannah explained of her mother’s wish for her to do more impressions and characters. She continued, parodying her mother, “You should do voices in the act. You really should. You’re breaking my heart if you don’t do voices in the act.”
9. In 2019, Vulture named Hannah as a “comedian you should know and will know,” and they weren’t wrong. Notably they described her absurdist sets, saying, “Sometimes, that will involve dancing with audience members or reciting a Hebrew chant as part of a bit.”
Whatever the opposite of dayenu is, that’s how we feel about Hebrew chanting in stand-up routines!!
10. Hannah made her television debut in March 2020 doing a stand-up set on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” She was the youngest comic at the time to be featured on the show. She was also the last on-stage comic the show had on for 15 months because — you guessed it — the pandemic soon shut everything down. The set was truly iconic; you can watch it here:
11. She wears a Star of David necklace often and proudly:
12. Hannah has made a splash in the entertainment world as Ava in “Hacks.”
Watch this conversation between Hannah and Jean Smart to hear about path to being cast as the young, down-on-her-luck comedy writer:
Hmmm … making an impression through insulting someone? Sounds very Jewish to us!
13. Hannah, who’s relatively new to acting, had a unique way to help her cry on camera for a scene in “Hacks”:
“Then for one I watched (laughs) the end credits of ‘Schindler’s List.‘ Yeah, that always gets me. I mean that movie, like, obviously tears me apart. So I just was like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna obviously trigger me.'”
14. Much like her character Ava, Hannah is bisexual.
“There are so many years that I spent so lost. Ava is not perfect, but she is very real to me,” Einbinder told the Advocate. “I think we’re only now around to the existence of fluidity in a widespread way. I really have only recently stopped putting pressure on myself to fall into a rigid category in terms of my sexuality and gender.”
Watch below as she further discusses her sexuality and gender identity with “Hacks” co-star Megan Stalter:
So what we’re trying to say is: Hannah, call us maybe? Haha just kidding … unless …
Anyway.
15. LOOK at this babka she made:
Delish!! And it was for a good cause to boot.
16. Hannah deals with ADD and ADHD.
“Especially with my brain, I am someone who is a million places at once,” she told Vanity Fair. It’s very hard for me to be present. I just have such bad ADD and ADHD that my mind is so scattered. I’m analyzing everything that I say in real time, there’s a separate loop going all the time.”
17. She has spoken out publicly against antisemitism:
18. Hannah has received her first Emmy nomination for her role in “Hacks”!! Check out her reaction to it below:
Mazels to YOU, Hannah!!! We can’t wait for season two and to see what you do next.
