Kaitlin Olson on DJ Vance’s Big Moment in the Spotlight in ‘Hacks’

this is a franzer from Awards buzz and I'm very excited to be speaking with Caitlyn Olen about hacks how are you Caitlyn hi good how are you good good we spoke a couple of years ago before the show started with Hannah and Jean because I feel like even though Jean's been around for a while you might have been the most well-known of those three people at the time when when H like at Max were launching this new show not anymore what has it been like to sort of be a you know part of the show but not not like a series regular I love it um I I think it's such an incredible show I think that Gan and Hannah are both so amazing and I love um I love that it's their show and I love popping in and having really fun things to do um I it's like it's the best of both worlds it's really it's so fun and they're just so great and I love being in scenes with both of them and it's just a really special it's a special place and it's not always like that what do you relate to most about TJ um I relate to most well I like I like when people like me but not maybe as much as she does I don't know she's what I love about her is that she's very um very broken and very needy and like pretends to be really uh independent and fine all by herself but all she really wants is her mom's attention and approval um and there's just something so funny to me about um a a broken character who's desperately clawing to be recognized for um some anything I feel like she'll just she'll she'll try anything to get her mom's attention and that's very funny to me you feel like you are prone to Endeavors that might not be so well advised other people tell you that but you're still just like going to make a go of this and it's it's going to be successful I feel like one thing we have in common is I definitely use all of those past experiences of people maybe not believing in me to build this chip on your shoulder to U drive you to success and I um I would say that she has had some great success this season um if it's it doesn't have to be Financial she just she finally figures out um that her mom is human and fallible and that's that's a huge success for her and I she used you know 40 plus years of of um neglect kind of and um just not really being um well cared for or loved as much as she wanted to be in the way that she wanted to be um to build all those chips on her shoulder to then finally have this like re not Revenge moment but I don't know what you'd call it like a success for her yeah I know that I was nervous as I'm sure many watching were about what was going to happen with the roast especially after all the you know the worry of not really being funny and what was it like just building to that pretty impressive moment it was so much fun I love that you get the catchphrase at the very beginning so you know like what her plan is and you're like no no no don't do that and I think it was just such a great surprise that it actually ended up working for her and what I love the most is that she she went to these professionals she went to H um Ava's Ava for advice was given the advice did it anyway was told by her mom not to do it and believed in herself I think it's like really the first time that you see d DJ relying on herself rather than relying on her mom for something like she really believed in herself and she she committed and she made it work and it was just so much fun and it was fun playing the turn of just being kind of attacked right before she went up on stage in front of all those people and feeling completely gutted and the butt of the joke and still getting up there as nervous as she was and turning it around and um and and just just being proud of herself I think it's the first time she's been proud of herself and she wasn't she wasn't she didn't have Redemption because her mom was was proud she she filled that for herself which I thought was pretty good we also had a great if not quite a dramatic reveal about a certain character finally showing up after hearing so much about her what was it like sharing scenes with the Fantastic Jay Smith Cameron uh unbelievable she is so kind and so sweet and just um very much like aunt Cathy very much like her character she just was so um she's just such a talented woman it was so uh I I was in I'm in awe of her I love her and everything she's done but she's just such a giving scene partner and she was so lovely and that softness for for D I just was excited that DJ has um a very like a motherly figure in her life um especially now that she's pregnant and has a whole new Dynamic with her own mom um I mean I I just loved that Aunt Cathy is the one who gave her the crib first um and it's just like this secret that she's been keeping that she has all to herself yeah it's just such a great that's such a great Dynamic the three of them absolutely and I don't know why we don't have news yet on season 4 I'm hoping just people are you know waiting to the finale to announce it or something what do you expect do you think that DJ is going to be a big part of this and being a grandmother is going to be a big thing or Deborah's not really gonna do as well as she should and it's still going to be a little bit of an afterthought I don't no that's really interesting I I haven't heard anything I think it would be really fascinating to have Deborah really want to step up and be a grandmother and maybe it's a little bit too late for DJ um and then she's got to sort of gravel a little bit um I think that would feel really good to have the tables turned and have her mom want to get back in her life and I can see how that would be complicated because it would be well you don't really want me you want the baby and then that could lead to more jealousy jealousy is always fun well not being a serious regular you don't get to interact with that many people on the cast if you could write the script who would you get to share scenes with that you haven't yet that I haven't yet um gosh who have I not well I mean I've done the Christmas and I've done my birthday so I've been in scenes with a bunch of people uh Christopher Lloyd I mean Christopher lyd for sure let's bring him back for every episode and I'll do all my scenes with with uh with Hannah and Jean Christopher it'll be a spin-off well there's another show that just ended this year which you weren't part of this season but you were a memorable part of a few years ago which is ker Your Enthusiasm and I would have loved to see Becky come back and just provide Larry a reminder of just how terrible a person he is what was it like being part of that show uh incredible I mean I I don't know how many times they could bring bring me back cuz I mean what Larry loves best is when um I'm screaming at him and that's just so much fun it's what he loves best about what everyone's character um that show's especially rewarding because it's all improvised and I mean I'm sure you've heard this but when Larry calls to ask you to do an episode he won't tell you what the episode's about which for someone like me is so unnerving because you got to show up and you have he doesn't want you to prepare which is fine but give me an idea of what's going to happen so I can like mentally prepare um but it's just it keeps you on your toes it's very fresh it's so fun working with Larry he's the best um and and when it's successful like there's extra pride in that because you it wasn't there's nothing written so that's like it's such a fun show it's hard it's great I do think you Channel rage pretty well in all across all of your roles one of the things I thought when I knew I'd be speaking with you I was thinking about the movie Arrow which I think occupies a very you know special place in genre and I know that Dani McBride I'm sure has to be a formidable scene partner do you enjoy doing that kind of really you know sort of over the top but still within your wheelhouse role yes I I absolutely love I think I was always fascinated by this growing up and watching actors I'm I'm fascinated with people who can get as big as humanly possible but still keep it grounded and not go into like cartoon character World um so I think because I was always so appreciative of that um watching it growing up that's like my favorite thing to do is just um like explosive emotion but that's still grounded that like it's still an actual human being um and that's just I don't know yelling at people is funny yelling at men is funny I don't know I can't explain why but it's Universal on the note of yelling at men it's always sting in Philadelphia has had a very nice long and healthy run I know that when I SP first spoke to the creators of hack they're like oh Caitlyn's in it so we have to run you know whatever it was at that point 14 15 Seasons how does it feel to just have this project that follows you actively through so much of your career it's uh kind of indescribable like it's just it's so surreal to look back on the life of the show and how far we've come and I mean I married one of them and we have two kids together um it's also just like it feels like you've got this family that you can always go home to and you can like spread your wings and do other things and play other characters and um I think it helps it it does help you take I think I can speak for all of us it helps us take more risks on other characters to play because um it's not a it's not like okay now I'm fully committing to this thing and and have to turn my back on everything else we it's we can take risks do other projects do other characters and we always have this to come back to and D is one of my favorite characters in the entire world I'd play her for the rest of my life well I know that you're doing something new soon which from what I've read feels like a departure from what you've done in the past what can you prove you about high potential yeah exactly that that's kind of what one of the things I'm talking about it's a very different character um high potential is an hourong uh procedural drama my character is still fun and Goofy um but she's a mother of three and she's a total mess and uh but she has an incredibly high IQ um and finds that she has a knack for helping she's a cleaning lady in a police precinct um and just accidentally stumbles into figuring out that she's got this knack for solving case cases that's almost like a neuroses like she sees that they're missing things and can't go to sleep at night without like writing the wrongs um so it's kind of a fish out of water thing it's a very fun character it's an hour long so it's much more she's much more well-rounded and human and um you know she's got three kids um there's a lot of heart and emotion in it um it's still very fun and it's a procedural so it's exciting sound exciting we also here at awards Buzz we love Awards and I'm curious if there is a show or performance you've seen recently that you feel is particularly Awards worthy I have to say well number one I've been shooting fulltime so I've been watching a ton of things but I'm not kidding when I say I think Jean Smart is just on top of her game this season I'm loving everything that she's doing her range is just incredible she is um yeah she's just a masterclass in uh in great acting well thank you so much Caitlyn for taking some time uh to speak with me today it's a real pleasure thank you nice to talk to you