The actress and writer is happy to serve a story. As a playwright herself, she knows what it’s like to wrangle all the elements of the creative process. But purely from an acting standpoint, the stage didn’t offer her that boundless outlet she expected.
A few decades later, she looks back on an on-screen career largely defined by recognizable and always entertaining character work, and she can point to a handful of roles where she was able to channel that energy. But few have been as freeing as her recurring turn as unpredictable Las Vegas mayor Jo Pezzimenti, who often crosses paths with comedy legend Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) on HBO Max’s “Hacks.” She credits series creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs with encouraging improvisation from day one and for giving her the breathing room to fuel her best work.
It’s so what I crave.” Appearing at least once in each of the comedy’s five seasons, Weedman did what she’s always done — made her mark, left people in stitches and then moved on. Despite returning, she never dreamed up what might await the zany, often copiously inebriated mayor. More Mayor Jo, on top of her fan-favorite appearances across the series’ run, earned Weedman her first Emmy nomination.
On the morning of the nominations, she was inundated with so many messages from fans claiming this was long overdue and retroactive for all the previous roles they felt she was overlooked for, specifically HBO’s dramedy series “Looking.” “I don’t think that’s true, but it’s so sweet that people say that,” she says of the chorus of support. We knew you would do it!’ I’ve never experienced that feeling that there are people really supporting me like that.” “Looking,” which still boasts a mighty fanbase within the queer community, allowed Weedman to blur the line between comedy and drama, letting some of her more self-deprecating humor expose deeper layers of her character, Doris, than just drawing a well-deserved laugh. Weedman always wants more of that, and she found it on “Hacks.” During a scene in Season 4, when a scandal-ridden Mayor Jo appears on Deborah’s talk show, the emotion of her character’s precarious predicament overcame Weedman and she leaned into it — with the full-throated support of Smart.
She’s feeling something,’” Weedman says. Aren’t we all supposed to do that?’ But it’s not always a given in comedy environments. It’s definitely why I loved working with HBO back in the day.
This was the one place you were allowed to do both.” But in its final season, “Hacks” also became deeply personal for Weedman, who was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in 2024, which causes facial paralysis on her right side, among other effects. With a better handle on how it impacts her life, she no longer minces words about the diagnosis and how tough it was, on “Hacks” specifically, to work through the early stages of it. Like all the shows that I worked on when I was sick, I’ve never experienced being that vulnerable in a working environment.” She worried, initially, that she wouldn’t work at all.
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