‘Hacks’ Star Kaitlin Olson Breaks Down DJ’s Surprising Maturity in Season 4

Spoilers ahead of “Hacks” Season 4, Episode 7

In any other show, Kaitlin Olson’s DJ would be little more than comedic relief. The entitled, delusional and self-absorbed daughter of Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), DJ started “Hacks” as a woman who sold unflattering photos of her famous mother to tabloids. But as the series has progressed, DJ has quietly matured in the background of this Max comedy.

“It’s really fun because I’ve done ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ for 17 seasons, and one of the main goals from the beginning was these characters will not grow and change,” Olson told TheWrap. “So it’s nice to play a real human being who has growth and makes mistakes and lashes out and is funny but then can feel deep feelings. It’s such an honor to be part of the show because they write it so beautifully.”

Though DJ has quietly evolved over the years, Season 4 truly cements how much this character has changed. And it’s all thanks to the birth of her son, AJ. Going into the season, Olson knew that Season 4 would explore DJ as a mother. But despite how much she loves the character and the show, she didn’t talk to series creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky about her arc before she started filming her episodes.

“It’s very rare that you get to work with creators you trust so implicitly that you know you would never be able to come up with something better than what they’re already thinking,” Olson said. “I honestly look forward to reading these scripts every time. It’s always fresh.”

That surprising twist reveals itself in “D’Christening.” When anti-Catholic Deborah tries to steamroll DJ and Aiden’s (Paul Felder) wishes to give their son a christening, DJ puts her foot down, threatening to go LC — or low contact — if her mother doesn’t behave. After three seasons of DJ slowly accepting her mother’s narcissism and addiction to attention, she finally draws some healthy boundaries. DJ may be responsible for some of the funniest moments on “Hacks,” but this episode sees her being a genuinely great mom as she tries to protect her child from the toxic behavior that scarred her.

“DJ probably really enjoys this. This is the only time she’s felt like she has any sort of control in this relationship,” Olson said. “What I love so much about her is how immature she is for being a fully grown woman. That’s why I like exploring DJ trying on this new role as a responsible mom but not quite hitting the mark. That’s what’s funny to me.”

Olson does not have much in common with DJ, a woman obsessed with rock tumbling who is as self-centered as her mother. But she did pull from her own experience as a mother when it came to exploring this side of her character.

“There’s nothing that’s going to come between you and protecting your child. So there was certainly a lot to draw upon there because it’s hard to hold a boundary for yourself. Sometimes it’s much, much easier to hold a boundary for your child,” Olson explained.

As much possibly sick joy as DJ takes from having this power over her mother, “D’Christening” also explores a more vulnerable side of the character. Early in the episode, DJ asks Ava to be her son’s godmother. After panicking about her lack of direction in life and getting high at the christening, Ava confronts DJ, hellbent on turning down her request. It’s only then that DJ reveals that she didn’t ask Ava because she wants the her to be a role model for her son or to raise him. She asked Ava because Ava understands Deborah, and DJ realizes she will never feel that way about her mother.

“Hannah is just so wonderful to act with because she’s there 100%. I’m so impressed by her that this is her first acting job. She doesn’t come with any baggage,” Olson said. “So doing scenes with her, it’s always so fun. But it’s so important to tap into the humanness of DJ. I love that there is a surprise. And the surprise is [DJ] is mature enough to realize her son deserves a relationship with his grandmother and that she loves her son enough to give him that and doesn’t want to mess that up for him because he deserves to be loved by as many people as possible. Being able to step out of the way and invite Ava to show what she sees in Deborah to her son, I just think it was so beautifully written. When I read that, I was like, ‘That’s so nice. That’s good parenting.'”

That doesn’t mean that “Hacks” has completely rewritten DJ’s character. By the episode’s end, Deborah learns that her daughter’s sudden infatuation with the Catholic church is all part of a scam to sell more of her jewelry. She may be learning to be a better mom than Deborah, but she’s still the same complicated person.

For Olson, that duality speaks to the kind of characters she loves to play most, people who are “ridiculous and overreact to things and behave inappropriately” but who have real emotions. Though Sweet Dee on “Always Sunny” will never grow, there is real pathos to her character, and over the course of its 17 seasons, the show has made a point of evolving.

“It’s important, right? The characters can’t grow, but we want to grow as creators and filmmakers. I don’t want anyone to ever get bored or find the show predictable, and I don’t want to get bored with the character that I’m playing,” Olson said. “It is fun to find moments of redirection, if nothing else other than to surprise the audience.”

Looking ahead to Season 17, Olson noted that the second part of the “Abbott Elementary” crossover is a standout because it shows another side of the “Abbott” crew that can’t be shown on network television. But beyond the ABC crossover, this upcoming season will take some swings of its own.

“There’s an episode that gets pretty emotional that I’m really excited to see. It’s obviously still very funny,” Olson teased. “That was fun to do. Because I love that show so much, it will never get old to me. Sweet Dee is one of the greatest people I’ve ever known, and we still want to keep trying new things and surprising the audience.”

New episodes of “Hacks” premiere Thursdays on Max.

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