Jean Smart on Why Call Me Izzy Is a Timely Reminder of the Importance of Art

It鈥檚 been a quarter century since Jean Smart was on Broadway; she was last seen on the boards opposite Nathan Lane in a 2000 revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner (for which she received a Tony nomination). But it鈥檚 not like she鈥檚 been twiddling her thumbs in the interim. During her time away, the legendary actor has won five (of her six career total) Primetime Emmy Awards, three of them for her current screen role as comedian Deborah Vance in HBO Max鈥檚 Hacks.

鈥淭he stage was always my first love,鈥� she says fondly. 鈥淚 did it for years before I ever did anything in front of a camera. It鈥檚 been way too long since I鈥檝e done a play.鈥�

She鈥檚 fixing that with Call Me Izzy, a new play from playwright Jamie Wax (making his Broadway debut) that sees Smart playing Isabella, a woman in rural Louisiana who鈥檚 trapped in an abusive and loveless marriage. Her emotional outlet comes via a library card and an uncommon gift for writing. The solo play opened at Broadway's Studio 54 June 12鈥攕ee what critics had to say here. Performances continue through August 17.

But don鈥檛 expect Deborah Vance if you catch Smart鈥檚 performance. With a thick, Louisiana accent (which Smart has developed with dialect coach Suzanne Selby), Smart might just be closer to her other iconic television role, Charlene Frazier in Designing Women. 鈥淪he has that same kind of optimism,鈥� Smart says. 鈥淎n older Charlene.鈥�

But where Charlene is not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself, Izzy鈥檚 story is a more painful one: A woman who thinks her bleak life is all she deserves, because it鈥檚 what the world has told her to expect. It takes some loving care from some special friends and teachers鈥攁nd the wonder of books and plays鈥攆or Izzy to start discovering that maybe she鈥檚 worth more, too.

Jean Smart in *Call Me Izzy* Emilio Madrid

For Smart, a childhood of reading Nancy Drew books and going to the theatre with a beloved grandma showed her all sorts of possibilities for herself, which might just be why she鈥檚 as adept at playing a woman living in a Louisiana trailer park as she is playing a multi-millionaire comedian living in a Las Vegas mansion. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always fun to do something different,鈥� she shares. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we become actors. You get to use different parts of yourself.鈥�

But ultimately, it鈥檚 less important in the context of Smart鈥檚 varied career than it is on the impact to kids, especially in a country that is now cutting library and arts funding at an increasingly rapid rate. Smart says Call Me Izzy is an ode to the sometimes-hidden ways art can be not merely important, but lifesaving. The play is performing the bulk of its run during the summer holiday, but Smart says the production is working on finding ways to get school kids in to catch a performance and to witness the life-changing impact of art on Izzy (and hopefully on the kids watching, too).

鈥淚t鈥檚 so distressing when you see schools cut their budgets, and one of the first things that goes is always the arts,鈥� Smart laments. 鈥淎ny child psychologist will tell you it鈥檚 immeasurably important for kids to have artistic outlets. They learn so much about themselves. To be able to see yourself in different lights and learn different things about yourself is so vital to mental health, their sense of joy and self-confidence.鈥�

Appropriately, Smart compares Call Me Izzy to a fantastic anecdote that you can鈥檛 wait to tell a friend, mirroring the wonder and curiosity that books and plays are uniquely skilled at inspiring. 鈥淵ou know what it feels like when you find a book that just hooks you to the point where you can鈥檛 wait to get back to it every night鈥攊t鈥檚 the most wonderful feeling,鈥� she says wistfully. 鈥淭heatre can do that too. It really is a necessity.鈥�