‘Hacks’ Star Hannah Einbinder Reacts To Message From Brooke Shields

Anyone with decent taste in television and an appreciation for niche pop culture references rides for the cinematic excellence that is “Hacks” on Max — including a pop culture icon in her own right: Brooke Shields.

The hit series — the recipient of 32 Emmy Award nominations and six wins — stars Hannah Einbinder, whom Shields says she loves “so much,” and Jean Smart.

When the model and founder of the new hair care line, Commence, recently stopped by Studio 1A, she had a message for Einbinder.

“She better keep her promise to me,” Shields told TODAY.com.

Shields explained she recently met Einbinder at the conference and festival South By Southwest and elaborated on what Einbinder’s “promise” was to her.

“Her promise was she was going to bring me back — go back to the writers room and go, ‘I got Brooke Shields. What have you got?’” Shields recalled.

On June 13, Einbinder, whose stand-up comedy special “Everything Must Go” is now streaming on Max, reacts to Shields’ message during an interview with TODAY.com.

“Oh, my God! Wait, that’s so — wow, Brooke Shields that’s crazy,” an astonished Einbinder responds, putting her hands over her face.

As for keeping that promise?

“I will, Brooke,” the 29-year-old says.

In “Hacks,” which just concluded its third season, Einbinder stars as a comedy writer alongside the legendary Smart as a famous comedian.

On May 30, Warner Bros., which owns Max, announced that “Hacks” had been renewed for Season Four.

The show is renowned for its lineup of guest stars. The third season notably featured J. Smith-Cameron as Deborah’s sister and Helen Hunt as a network executive.

Shields knows exactly what kind of role she’d want to fill on “Hacks.”

“I love Jean Smart so much that anything that I can do to be beneath her,” Shields said with a laugh.

She said she’d love to film with Smart directly and play a character that works with Deborah “in a similar way” to Einbinder’s Ava.

“Not in that (way), obviously, but in some way that (Smart) has to get along with me,” Shields says.

“I don’t see myself playing an executive who she’s got to come up against, or something like that, to be formidable towards her,” she adds. “I should be an annoyance of some kind that she can’t get rid of.” 

Looking ahead to Season Four, Einbinder says it’s possible for Shields to fit into the world of “Hacks.”

“Look, the next season of ‘Hacks,’ I don’t want to spoil anything, but it would take place in Los Angeles. So, Brooke Shields could conceivably come into the fold somehow,” Einbinder says.

“I’ll pass the note upstairs,” she adds.

We’ll keep things spoiler-free for those who haven’t watched and just say that Season Three ends on quite the cliffhanger, rattling the dynamic of Ava and Deborah’s relationship. One of the show’s other characters, Marcus (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), the CEO of Deborah’s company, also keeps some big news of his own from his boss.

Carl Clemons-Hopkins previously reflected on the ending before the show’s official renewal in an interview with TODAY.com.

“I will say that, definitely, this season sets itself up for continuation of this story,” he said. “And I really do pray we get the opportunity to keep telling the story because there’s more.”

We hope that “more” will also include Shields.