From the tense dinner table of The White Lotus in Thailand to the uninhibited dinner table on Hacks in Montecito, Leslie Bibb has been part of some of TV’s wildest moments of late. For the final season of Hacks, Bibb delivers an instant-classic guest turn as Monica, the wife of Cherry Jones‘ Kelly, a couple who find themselves caught up in a dubious plot hatched by Jean Smart‘s Deborah Vance.
In Episode 7, titled “Montecito,” Deborah convinces Ava (Hannah Einbinder) to pretend to be her lesbian lover and spend a weekend with Kelly and Monica in order to borrow a classic Carol Burnett dress from Kelly’s wardrobe. Things unsurprisingly go awry.
Bibb tells Gold Derby she had a trip acting alongside the “Holy Trinity” — Jones and the show’s Emmy-winning stars Smart and Einbinder — while stripping down and delivering some bawdy dinner banter. Read on for the actress’ unfiltered account of the episode and the lines that fans keep quoting back to her.
You share the screen with Cherry Jones, Jean Smart, and Hannah Einbinder for an entire episode. What was that group dynamic like to play off of?
Leslie Bibb: It was like an acting master class too. To get to see those three women work, I was like, “Oh, I’m going to just come out of this a better actor.” I’ve been bowing at Cherry’s altar and Jean’s altar for a very long time.
The Hacks season finale generated massive buzz. What was your reaction to it?
Hannah is so phenomenal. I just watched the finale today and I was texting her and I was like, “If you don’t win an Emmy, I’m going to bring somebody’s house down.” I think when people do comedy, they always think, “Oh, it’s so easy.” And it’s not because it’s really nuanced. There’s big broad comedy, but her comedy is coming from an insecurity and covering something. It may be the most perfect finale I’ve ever seen in any show to break your heart and also to pull it back up.
Did you have any hesitation when you were first approached for this guest spot?
I feel lucky that [creators] Paul [Downs], Lucia [Aniello] and Jen [Statsky] thought of me for this. I mean, they really had me at Cherry Jones and Hacks. I was like, “I’ll come read the phone book.”
Your character goes through an incredible range of wardrobe, from a full beekeeper suit to completely nude. How did you handle that vulnerability?
I’ve never played that card. I was like, “I’ve never dropped my drawers for anybody. I just haven’t done that. I’m a little shy.” And that set makes you feel so safe. I was like, “I’m going to take off.”
This episode is an instant classic, and the buzz surrounding your performance has been huge. Did you anticipate this kind of widespread love when you first read the script?
No. It’s amazing. I mean, I just feel really lucky. People love Hacks. I was just in that grocery store and this man walked up to me and he was like, “I loved you in Hacks.” I’ve been working a long time, but in the last couple of years to be on The White Lotus and then have this episode of Hacks, I’ve never felt the love of Hacks and The White Lotus, they’re like family.
Did you have any favorite lines from the episode?
The line was something like… “Darren Aronofsky wrote Black Swan for me.” And I was in a yoga class in New York City and my yoga teacher, Franz, said, “Once a dancer, always a dancer.” And then three weeks later Hacks happened and I’m reading the script and I got to set and I said, “Paul, my yoga teacher said this line,” and he was like, “Oh, it’s going in now.” So I said, “Once a ballet dancer, always a ballet dancer.” So that was really fun.
You went from The White Lotus in Thailand to this. Are you having any FOMO that the White Lotus crew are filming in France right now?
No, I went to Thailand. I went to Los Angeles and I did Hacks. It’s so funny to have this haircut become such a thing, and it’s so funny to give that haircut that’s so synonymous with Kate from The White Lotus and put it on Monica from Hacks. That is really fun to me. And to also have another dinner table scene where you go from, “Did you vote for Trump?” in White Lotus to in Hacks I’m like, “Do you strap?” I just loved sitting at a dinner table again with another group of women.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
