Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 Julianne Nicholson cameo is the unhinged viral scene you need to watch
Deborah Vance is finally in Hollywood, baby. As the star settles into her dream of late-night presenting, Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 brings her an unhinged guest star in Julianne Nicholson.
TheHBOhit Hacks follows legendary comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) struggle to hold on to her dwindling empire, so she hires young unemployed writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) to liven up her material.
Obviously, a lot has happened since then. What started out as a borderline sapphic relationship with undeniable chemistry became the mother of all betrayals by the end of Season 3. In Season 4 of thebinge-worthy TV show, the pair are starting to find their way back to each other, though Ava no longer works for Deborah.
Meanwhile, Deborah has finally achieved her lifelong ambition of becoming a late-night talk show host, with Ava watching on in the wings. Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 took her time on camera to the next level, thanks to Julianne Nicholson’s wild cameo.
Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 stars Julianne Nicholson as TikTok star
Yes, you read that correctly – not only is Julianne Nicholson finally doing comedy, but she’s playing a fictionalTikTokstar in Hacks Season 4 Episode 5. Known as Dance Mom, she essentially goes viral for embodying the phrase “dance like no one is watching.”
In the now viral scene, Nicholson performs a dance routine to ‘Lifetime’ by Katy Perry, beckoning Deborah to join her. As expected, Ava watches on in horrified confusion.
“I never get to do comedy. No one ever asks me to do comedy,” shetoldGold Derby. “It’s so fun when you can do different things and flesh out different colors. And so, I was just so delighted to be asked. I love that show anyway. I think it’s brilliant.”
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This doesn’t mean her character is actually based on anyone dancing to viral hits, though. “You can dig around on the internet – Instagram, TikTok – and find versions of this character, people who are doing their dances, selling their products,” Nicholsonaddedto LA Times. “But I worked with a choreographer twice a week, and we’d work for hours to get it into my brain, make it feel natural. He already had kernels of the big dance.
“Then every time we’d meet, he’d add a couple of steps, or we’d add together, or we’d just be silly. Then he’d make videos. There were some dances where we went way extreme, one that was super raunchy. And he sent [the video] to [the producers] and they were like, ‘Um, not the direction [we’re going in].'”
“Is that Julianne Nicholson?!?” one Hacks fan replied on TikTok, with a second weighing in, “Omg this is iconic! So cool to see Julianna step out of her serious drama shell.”
A third added, “She NAILED that one mom’s dancing,” with a fourth musing, “Some might say the best three minutes in TV herstory.”
Amazingly, this isn’t even the best news. Dance Mom is a two-episode character, meaning we still have more scenes (and hopefully, more dance moves) to come from Nicholson. However, we don’t yet know exactly when in Hacks Season 4 she’ll return.
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