‘Hacks’ guest star Kaitlin Olson on her hilarious showcase episode: ‘I was counting down the days’

[Music] welcome back to Gold Derby I'm Christopher Rosen I'm so pleased to be joined by caylin olon and Emmy Award nominee for hack who plays DJ on Hacks the max series which you could watch the season finale of uh this week uh Kaylin I was saying I'm a huge fan of your work and the show so this is great to speak with you I guess I was I feel like this is certainly a great show that is maybe its best season yet for season 3 of hacks and I guess certainly for DJ I feel like it's your best material so far in your past emom I did you get did you feel like that I guess or were was that your take on it before the season started when you were like approached with where DJ was going to be headed oh yeah the roast episode I just couldn't I was counting down the days to do I was so excited it's just so good it's got everything it's like she's such a mess and she's so vulnerable and she's making stupid decisions that she's 100% standing by and then she's also correct in her assessment of the situation and there's some Redemption and um yeah I just I was I was delighted when I read that episode talked about it the roast episode is so great uh just from top to bottom but you start with the I mean it's great because I think you get to be so funny and obviously and you like you said there's like really good dramatic stuff too I feel like and like your stuff with Jean is obviously always so great and I found like the AA meeting is fantastic in in those early stages and especially because you're being it's fun funny but like also it's just the way you balance the comedy and the drama in in that those sequences is so good because it is so funny but it also is like really heartbreaking and obviously their relationship is so fraught can you talk a little about like those I guess that aspect of it like kind of balancing being funny but also making sure the drama of the comedy is kind of coursing through it I guess for lack of a better phrase yeah yeah um thank you I appreciate that and I I just I find such joy in characters that are just total messes and I think just the the more you dig into the reality of their experience um that can either be very comedic or very emotional and I just have to give credit to the creators and writers Jen and Paul and Luchia for setting that tone from the very beginning you know you can't you can't do a comedy and then or have just a comedic character and then later try and CR some emotion and it just doesn't it it's jarring and it doesn't work but this character was always um I believe supposed to be um fun and funny and broken and intense but you know if you look on paper at what she's upset about and what she's striving to do she wants her mom's attention she's never gotten it and that is sad like that is that is a really uh profoundly sad thing especially a a grown woman in her mid 40s being like still desperate for her mom's attention to the point where she has to act like a child or she is acting like a child it's both funny and heartbreaking so um just finding that balance and really digging into the the the desire to get This Woman's attention um I don't know both things are true to me it's it's I love characters like that it's hilarious to me and it's also sad it's great it really is and it's a great and that's the great thing about I think yeah the show is like that's like a lot of lot of that and especially DJ you mentioned like how getting Deborah's attention I guess like there's in the same in the roast episode you you get a couple of nice moments with Ava Hannah I'm binder's character and I guess like how did you like how do you think of how is the DJ Ava relationship evolved as like Ava is coming back in as her like surrogate daughter right or like kind of like and I I feel like they it feels like a little different this season I guess I don't know it's a viewer but I mean how did you kind of feel like they're where they are in their relationship I guess yeah I I mean I love any scene I get to do with Hannah she's just a dream um but I I particularly love walking into the room having Hannah be on the toilet and having it just completely unfaced DJ's just like launches right into the conversation doesn't you understand why she stops and shuts the door like I'm here to talk it's such a um I don't even think she knows there's a power Dynamic there but she treats her as a sibling she also treats them as the I feel like I've decided that DJ just feels like their siblings basically they're on the same playing field they're even um even though DJ is a lot older than this young woman um but it's like yeah just two girls just like being girls hating their mom together she just adopted her as a sister without any uh recognition on on Ava's part that that's what's going on um yeah it's just there's such a selfishness in that and just a DJ just decided that's how it is so that's how it is um I don't know the more I can play DJ as a child who's completely unaware of how her actions are affecting other people the the more fun so you get to do that too and this obviously with her incredible catchphrase what what a I guess like when you it's just so good and in that you it's introduced in that scene right with Ava and it just it's like oh my God this is gonna be so it's like it's gonna be so bad right and you think it's going to be really bad I guess so first like what was your thoughts I guess when when you heard that was going to be like catchphrase for her I guess had it like was that like oh this is the best or like was that like justed I mean I can't think of a better one myself just it's a home run um I I it's so perfect for her it's so stupid it's like the opposite of any wellth thought out joke it's just it's just a blue bottom Baseline swear word like the worst you can think of and that's it there's no there's nothing funny to back it up so I it's a perfect punchline for DJ the fact that AA is trying to be diplomatic about it and try and find ways to fix it um I just I also love how much how much Ava cares about DJ because Ava also sees how Deborah can um be very hurtful uh especially to people who are vulnerable which AA recognizes that DJ definitely is um and she's trying to help her and gently advises her not to goes behind her back and asks Deborah to like do something to help her out um yeah I just I that's it's such a fun it's such a fun like sisterly Dynamic and I love that DJ just ignores the whole thing it's like n it's gonna work completely and so the thing is like I I've watched this I've watched that episode like many times because I think it's so funny you're you're obviously really funny in real life right like and you I I know like standup is not necessarily like a thing you do but like you're really funny you're playing somebody who is not as funny but obviously becomes hilarious as it goes on because she really does like kind of lean into it I found that like your performance is so great because you have to start where you're very uneasy and unsure and kind of build into it I guess like how did you kind of like think of it and not like was it hard for you not to be as like to get the momentum too fast I guess you know what I mean like as you see her gaining the momentum of the crowd like for you is that hard to like hold it back um well no because because de uh DJ that that moment begins with her complete completely crushed because she becomes the butt of the joke she's there to Mom down and she's the butt of the joke the second before she gets up there and is supposed to perform in front of this crowd performing is not her thing uh the whole the whole idea is terrifying but she's hellbent on doing it because she wants to prove a point and um I I just thought it was such a beautifully written thing because it starts off so I mean she should be sobbing and running out of there but she stays there and it's incredibly Brave of her and it is her own desire to prove that she can do it keep there and to have that Redemption and have it not only work but work really well and have the audience love it and have love it that's all great but the most beautiful thing to me is that she proved it to herself that she did it by herself and didn't need help so it made sense to me it was sort of a slow Arc and a slow burn and that somewhere along the way she starts to get comfortable and somewhere you find out later she's recognizing oh this is what you're addicted to this is what my mom loves this does feel really really good um and just that observation while she's in it um yeah no I just thought there were a lot of layers to it and it was a fun thing to to to work with yeah it's Fant I mean like I said you're like fantastic casting in it because I think you could see all of that all those evolutions and like not obviously a lot of time right and you're kind of also doing she's not saying these things but I think you really could see it in your performance it's just so great I think it's like really fantastic especially for someone who's like you like it feel like you're so funny and you can realize I just like oh this is like really good it's just like acting I guess right like that's I was acting thank you oh my gosh that's so sweet thank you now normally in real life I get up there and just nail what a out of the gates are correct I make it work you mentioned like the the scene where she like or the realization I guess that DJ has that Deborah is like addicted to the laughs kind of right and like that kind of is her addiction and I love that sequence with you and Gan and obviously I think you get to like really like that's like a like a foundational thing for the show I feel like like you're getting to a spouse right there which is really cool I guess like and that scene is great just in Trel between you and Jean how like so like working like how is like how how has your work with Gene evolved I guess over these these three seasons and like to get to that key scene like that to like kind of really if not a culmination but like feels like a peak or maybe among Peaks yeah um that's a good observation I would say that leading up to that scene every scene with Jean is very much um DJ paying a lot of attention to what Deborah is doing and saying and giving to her and basing her reactions and feedback off of what she's getting because really all she wants for her mom to validate her um I think that was a scene where DJ didn't care or need to see how Deborah felt about what she was saying and so I as an actor didn't really need to see or feel what Jean was going to do it was really just about like that was awesome I had this Epiphany I understand now something that you don't and I'm just going to tell it to you um like people walking by and just being like fully engaged in everything else that was going on and kind of giving her the time of day and like a hug a real but then very quickly and easily moving on um I think that's the first time there's been a scene with DJ and debah where DJ wasn't just fully invested in my even if she's poking her to try and get negative feedback it's always about like how does Deborah feel about how does my mom feel about me how does my mom feel about this moment and this was a scene where she was like free for the first time I think do you have like you obviously like were like you're like a guest actor on this show and incredible and obviously been like always sunny for for years now right like as a regular I guess is it different for you or do you do you appro like I don't know if you would approach it differently but does it feel different to come in as a guest I would imagine than like being a regular or does that like there's not a real delineation because just about the work uh both I think are true it's it really just about the character and and making it the best version of that character and the most special unque unque and interesting version that I can come up with um but I really love being guest star on this show because I as a an audience member I'm a fan of the show um this is Jean's show Gan and Hannah's show I love watching them I want hop in anymore because I want it to be that when my character shows up there's something really um special like with the scene and then I just want to be out of it and watch them do their thing um but yeah on Sunny I'm like looking through the scripts like okay more D more D what is D set on fire in this episode what do I get to say do I chop my hair off what's happening uh so I think that's the difference is like you get to pop in as a guest star and you just know you're gonna have this really juicy little storyline then scoot for a while I guess I want to ask you a couple of things so you're in you're also in you have in the Christmas episode I know you're in as well uh and you have a couple of scenes with uh Jay Smith Cameron who plays Kathy and I love that dynamic or that butting I was like I can't wait to see more of this but I guess like how is that like to kind of think about their Rel like the Kathy DJ relationship I guess it's so great it's not just the Kathy DJ relationship which I'm so excited about because especially now that DJ's pregnant and has somewhat a decent time role model a mother figure that she could maybe you know get some some things from um but I love also for DJ that there's this triangle it puts DJ in the middle and I think there's probably I hope a part of J loves that her mom's jealous because she just she wants her mom's attention so like oh you are jealous of I would think that I'd want to more into um the relationship with Aunt Cathy because it's getting Deborah's attention but then on the other episode it's nice that she doesn't care and doesn't want to rock the boat because again she's kind of let go of that need to get her most attention at every moment of the day um so for right now it's just pregnant having a a Christmas party getting ready for the baby enjoying the love of her aunt stuff like that I really like that too because I like that you like you said like you kind of get like the little slow like oh we get to see how the roast episode like really impacted like DJ's opinion of all this or like feelings about this and you kind of really get to then play like make good on that in the next one I think that was like really cool that's a lot of fun exactly yeah so fun and it would be nice to see you know the ways in which Deborah is trying to maybe get her back because I bet much as she would deny it that feels good to have somebody want your attention at times and so have your daughter suddenly be like never mind I don't need it anymore and that would be I would think very jarring and upsetting I hope yeah well that's maybe season four we could hope for right I guess I'll write a letter I want before we go I want to ask you we had uh I mentioned OE suay there before you had that great emy's moment or this year I guess it was in January you guys were all on stage together and I guess like you kind of talked about like how the show's never gotten that the enemy Nom any enemy recognition which is just kind of crazy I feel like for people who are aware of it or watch it just I don't know it seems like I think if you ask somebody on the street they would say of course it was it's one manyam or whatever but I guess like you can't worry about that obviously but like did you like why do you think is I guess for a lack of a better word like why do you think it's been like not paid tribute in the way it maybe should have been know I think for a while you know listen in the first five seasons we had a very tiny underground following most people hadn't seen it and we started to get real traction and then a lot of attention was being reviewed very well and I think people were hearing about it and kind of like oh yeah yeah that's such a funny show I love that show but hadn't really seen it so if you pop into like a scene and you don't watch a whole episode it looks like this runchy inappropriate comedy if you watch the whole episode you see it's satire it's actually very intelligent and it's making a lot of uh insightful commentary so I think there may have been a misinterpretation of our show that it's this like blue low brow like like gross humor show um which I don't think it is and I think it maybe just wasn't Emmy worthy in that way um but but I think if you watch episodes it's like I think it's very intelligently written and um has a quite a perspective um but at a certain point now we're in our 17th season like it's just passed like now it's just it's fine it's funny we we lead to a point because it's just another thing to make fun of and we're always looking for something to sat eyes or make fun of so it became great fod so I'm grateful to it for that's funny yeah maybe an honorary Emmy in like five years or something they could do I don't even know if they do that I'll take you can make whatever God for I'll take a postumus one right it on our grave tombstones Kayla Olson is an Emy nominee for hacks uh and is is eligible again this year for for season three for a fantastic guest appearance as DJ Deborah's daughter uh Kaylin thank you so much for doing this is a lot of fun thank you nice to talk to you n