Deidre Hall Previews Her Guest Turn on Hacks!

Get ready to see Days of Our Lives icon Deidre Hall as you’ve never seen her before… well, sort of! Marlena’s beloved portrayer is guest-starring in an episode of the MAX series Hacks that premiered on May 23 and she’s playing herself — well, a heightened version of herself.

The award-winning comedy series centers around Deborah Vance, a legendary stand-up comic played by Jean Smart, and her relationship with an upstart comedy writer played by Hanna Einbinder. Hall is appearing in the seventh episode of the third season titled “The Deborah Vance Christmas Spectacular” as the mother of Jimmy, played by series co-creator Paul W. Downs. 

The role came about because Downs’ mother is a big DAYS fan and randomly suggested Hall play his mom on the show! “Come on, being asked to play the showrunner’s mother at her request?” the actress told Soap Opera Digest. “I mean, that’s such incredibly high praise. It was completely irresistible.”

While Hall unfortunately didn’t share any scenes with series star Jean Smart, she did get to work opposite legendary actor Christopher Lloyd. “He is just so game, he’s so ready,” she enthused. “He so participates.”

Naturally, playing herself meant the actress didn’t have to do a lot of special prep work before shooting her scenes. “No, no,” she laughed. “Because I was playing from myself as myself, obviously, but that’s also how I play Marlena. So you won’t see a whole lot of variety there — except as we all know, Marlena cannot cook. And this character is a phenomenal cook. Very cute.”