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Jean Smart is opening up about a health scare that tested her resilience. The 74-year-old Emmy-winning actress reveals she underwent triple bypass heart surgery in February 2023 after dismissing warning signs as being out of shape. Now, as Hacks enters its final season on HBO Max, she’s sharing how she powered through one of Hollywood’s toughest challenges.
🔥 Quick Facts
- Surgery Details: Triple bypass performed at Cedars-Sinai Hospital after Smart went straight from the Hacks set.
- Her Response: Smart said, “You start to feel so fragile” waking up after the procedure, consulting 3 surgeons first.
- During Filming: Smart experienced chest pressure and fatigue while shooting season 3 episode “Yes, And” on UC Berkeley campus.
- Recovery Timeline: Three years of recovery and resilience later, Smart completed season 5 of Hacks, the series finale airing May 28.
A Chest Pressure She Nearly Ignored
Jean Smart was filming a scene in the season 3 episode “Yes, And” when everything changed. The episode featured her character Deborah Vance at a frat party, performing a comedic keg stand at UC Berkeley. Smart recalled feeling increasingly tired after multiple takes, but attributed the exhaustion to being out of shape.
The pressure in her chest came and went. “I had gotten used to feeling a little pressure, like if I’d go up a couple of flights of stairs,” Smart explained. “But it would always just go away. And I would always think, ‘Jean, you’re in such crappy shape.'” She spent the weekend feeling unwell but didn’t seek medical attention.
Jean Smart breaks silence on triple bypass heart surgery ahead of Hacks finale
Wordle hint today: #1760 has one vowel and repeating letter
The Message That Changed Everything
By Monday, Smart realized she couldn’t ignore her body any longer. After losing her husband, Richard Gilliland, to a heart condition in 2021, the actress understood the stakes. She called her cardiologist after hours, expecting to schedule a stress test. Instead, the message came back immediately: “You’re gonna go to the nearest emergency room right now.”
Smart still had a scene to shoot. She finished filming, waited for her driver, and told him, “Flag on the play. We’re not going back home. We’re going to the hospital.” Her Hacks co-star Paul W. Downs happened to be at Cedars-Sinai visiting his mother. He witnessed Smart hearing the diagnosis that would change everything. “I was there with her as she was talking to surgeons and hearing them say, ‘You can’t get a stent. You have to get a triple bypass,'” Downs recalled to Variety.
Consulting Three Surgeons Before the Surgery
Smart didn’t rush into surgery. She spoke with three heart surgeons before deciding on the triple bypass. The procedure is complex, requiring bypass grafts to reroute blood around blocked arteries in the heart. For someone 73 years old at the time, the recovery would test her physical and mental endurance.
| Element | Smart’s Experience |
| Surgery Type | Triple bypass heart surgery |
| Date | February 2023 (during Hacks season 3) |
| Location | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) |
| Recovery Statement | “You start to feel so fragile” (waking up after procedure) |
Smart woke up the next day and confronted the reality of what surgeons had done to save her life. “I wasn’t really scared until I woke up the next day, and I’m thinking about what they had to do,” she shared. The physical fragility was overwhelming, but her mental determination remained intact.
A Powerful Message From The Hospital Bed
Despite her recovery, Smart chose to encourage others. At the time, she posted on Instagram: “Please listen to your body and talk to your doctor. I’m very glad I did.” Hannah Einbinder, her Hacks co-star, remembered being in the hospital room when Smart woke up and seeing her incredible strength. “She is the most durable woman in America,” Einbinder said. “I tell her this all the time.”
What made Smart’s situation even more remarkable was her medical history. She had previously suffered a knee injury while performing on Broadway in “Call Me Izzy” in summer 2025, breaking her kneecap but finishing the show’s run in a leg brace. Einbinder joked that Smart is “genuinely the clumsiest person I’ve ever met” but also “constantly pushing through” injury and pain.
“I wasn’t really scared until I woke up the next day, and I’m thinking about what they had to do. You start to feel so fragile.”
— Jean Smart, Hacks Star, on her heart surgery recovery
Will Jean Smart’s Health Crisis Make Fans Appreciate Hacks Finale More?
Now, three years after her triple bypass surgery, Smart completed the final season of Hacks, which premiered on HBO Max on April 9, 2026. The show’s creators and co-stars marveled at how she powered through production. The fact that Hacks made it to completion felt like a miracle to showrunners Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs.
“There have been deaths and cardiac issues and births on set,” Downs reflected. “There have been so many things that made us every year ask, ‘Are we going to actually get to even finish the season?'” From COVID-19 protocols at the start of production to industry strikes, fires, and Smart’s heart surgery, the show overcame extraordinary obstacles. The series finale airs on May 28, marking the end of an era for one of TV’s most celebrated comedies.
