Devon Sawa Is More Than 'Sexy FedEx Guy' in 'Hacks'
The 'Casper' teen heartthrob talks to Thrillist about playing opposite Jean Smart.
In the sixth episode of this season of HBO Max's Hacks, Ava (Hannah Einbinder) wonders where her boss Deborah Vance, played by Jean Smart, has gone. They are in Memphis at a bar with a mechanical bull. Deborah's personal blackjack dealer-slash-friend Kiki (Poppy Liu) explains, nonchalantly, "She's about to get her titties sucked by a 40 year-old." That 40 year-old happens to be played by erstwhile teen heartthrob Devon Sawa.
You'd be forgiven for doing a double take. Sawa, the star of Casper and Final Destination, now has a gravelly voice and is coated in tattoos. His character's tryst with Smart's Deborah is deeply sexy and blessedly sweet. This guy, who works at FedEx, genuinely doesn't know she's a comedy superstar. He's just into her. They have a lovely, intimate night together, and she leaves in the morning, feeling desired and refreshed. (He may be clueless as to who she is, but his roommates are well aware. They have her spice rack.)
Sawa hopped on Zoom with Thrillist to discuss going head to head with Smart, and surprising fans. And, also, we made him blush.
Thrillist: How did this role come to you?
Devon Sawa: I just got lucky. I don't watch a lot of TV. This is one of the shows I do watch because I was able to binge the whole first season in a weekend. I already loved it. I will be completely honest with you, though. When I got the audition for it, it said Hacks. I was so excited. And then it didn't say Jason, it said Sexy FedEx Guy. And I'm like, "What? Sexy FedEx Guy? I'm not playing a Sexy FedEx Guy! I'm going backwards in my career! I'm not doing this." I don't know why they wrote that in there. But it was a really good part and it was all with Jean Smart and so it was a no-brainer.
What was it like when you got on set?
I've been doing this a while but because there were so many Emmys involved in this show I got to set and I was in my trailer and I was pacing and my heart was thumping in my chest. I was like, "Are they going to like me? Are they not going to like me? Am I going to be funny? Am I not going to be funny? Should I be funny?" All this was going through my head and I remember [co-creator] Paul [W. Downs], who directed the episode, and the producers came and they knocked and they introduced themselves and I was still nervous.
An hour went by and I got this knock and I'm like, "Yeah?" And it's like, "Hello, it's Jean." I'm like, "Oh my God! Uh, uh…" So I opened the door and she introduced herself to me and she said, "Welcome," and, "I'm glad you're here," and, "This is going to be so much fun." And she was in full Deborah. And the nerves just went away and we went off and did the car scene and I followed her lead because it's her show. She just made it feel very comfortable and it was a lot of fun. It felt like a workshop with a really talented artist I respected.
How so?
I've been doing this so long and she's been doing this so long and it just felt fun to play with another artist. And we've got these well-written scenes on this well-written show. Everybody's at the top of their game and we can just be comfortable and it felt safe and we explored and it was amazing. It was really a lot of fun. You leave set and you go, "That's why I do what I do. To work with people like that." I remember I did stuff with Sharon Stone and Guy Pearce on different things that felt the same way. You're working with these well-oiled machines, you know what I mean?
You've been a heartthrob and in this you're playing someone who is an object of affection, but on the other side of celebrity. Did you think about that at all?
I didn't. I wanted to think of this as two people on the exact same [level]. I didn't think about a lot of things purposely. I just wanted the scenes to be authentic between two people. I wanted it to feel really lovely and natural and grounded and organic. I purposely didn't want to think about the age thing. People kept mentioning it to me and I was like, "Not important to me."
Who kept mentioning it?
The agents and whoever I told I was going to be on the show. Clearly, there's a 30 year age difference and I didn't know how big of a thing it was until it actually came out and you see all the Twitter comments and people are celebrating it. We've gone so many years where it's usually the other way. It's the Jack Nicholsons or the Pacinos that are with these younger [women]. It's really rare. I wanted it to be just two cool people and interesting conversations. I didn't want to think about a sex symbol or a younger man or anything like that.
It takes people a moment to recognize you and connect the dots in their head. What has it been like watching that unfold on Twitter?
Well, it's weird reading how many people didn't recognize me until the credits or they didn't recognize me at all until somebody told them. Over the last two years I've been playing all these weird characters. On Chucky, I have these weird prosthetics. This was as close to my every day being, I suppose.
What was that like? Playing the "sexy guy" with all these tattoos?
It was easy. For instance, [the movie] Hunter Hunter came out and the same thing happened but opposite. It's like, "Oh my God! That's what he looks like now?" Because I had this beard and I was smoking and it was like a really gnarly dude. So it was nice. It was nice to be clean-cut and looking good, I suppose. You're making me blush.
I know you're on Twitter a lot. So you were monitoring the reaction to your appearance, right?
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Yeah. A little bit. I'm guilty of that. It was well received.
How would social media that have changed your experience when you were a kid in this business?
There's so many things that are different than when I was a kid in acting. Like those teen magazines. I needed to be in those teen magazines. I didn't ever want to be in those teen magazines. But you wouldn't need to be in them with Twitter. First of all, you never got paid from teen magazines anyways. No one did. But we made them money so why not just do it yourself on Twitter? You know what I mean? But Twitter really is going downhill very quickly. From when I started it in like 2009 or 2008 or whatever when it was 90 percent positive and 10 percent toxic, it's really kind of flipped the switch. You can't just go to Twitter anymore and have a good time without seeing some craziness. But it's definitely a good way to get your stuff out there.
How does it feel when people are excited to realize it's you in the episode?
I try to cherish everything now. When I was in my early 20s and I did movies like Final Destination I didn't appreciate it the way I should have. And it was more important about which clubs and parties, this and that. I burnt out really hard and I took a break. And now that I came back and I'm doing things differently, I'll never take for granted what I have. Like now that this episode is out, I'm on Chucky and I'm working, it's just like I'm never going to not be appreciative of it anymore. It's a different feeling. Like I should have felt this way while shooting Final Destination but I didn't. I just felt like it was always going to be this way. Always going to be number one on the call sheet. There are always going to be movies. And it could go at any time. It doesn't matter what happens. So, I'm in a good place and I'm on two great shows and I got a beautiful family.