Jean Smart recalls being rushed to hospital for heart surgery after shooting Hacks scene

Jean Smart has revealed she underwent triple bypass heart surgery three years ago.

In February 2023, the Hacks actress announced that she was recovering from a "successful heart procedure".

But in an interview for Variety published on Wednesday, Smart offered up more details about the medical emergency she suffered.

The Hollywood legend began by recounting how she felt fatigued while shooting a scene in which her character, Deborah Vance, goes to a frat party in season three.

"After several takes, I was like, 'Did you get it? Was that enough?' I was feeling a little tired. But I didn't think anything of it," she remembered. "I would always think, 'Jean, you're in such c**ppy shape.' It didn't ever occur to me that it might be anything other than the fact that I needed to exercise more."

But when she returned to the set a few days later, Smart realised something was wrong and called her doctor. A cardiologist advised her to go straight to the emergency room.

"(I told the driver) 'Flag on the play. We're not going back home. We're going to the hospital,'" the 74-year-old recounted. "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."

Speaking to the outlet, Hacks co-creator Paul W. Downs described how he visited Smart and was stunned by how quickly the surgeon decided to operate on his co-star.

"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,'" he shared.

Smart's husband, actor Richard Gilliland, died at the age of 71 following a brief illness in March 2021.

The fifth and final season of Hacks, co-starring Hannah Einbinder, begins streaming via HBO Max this week.