From the beginning of “Hacks,” creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky knew they wanted the show’s finale to take place in Paris. Of course, at the top of their wish list was a photoshoot at the Louvre.
After all, this is the most famous museum and is home to the world’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa. So there was no question. The Louvre was necessary for “Hax’s” farewell. It was the perfect place for Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Eva Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) to bond.
“We scouted the Louvre, and I’ll tell you, it was incredible,” says cinematographer Adam Bricker. “We were alone in the Louvre on the afternoon of the closing day, and I was like, oh, that’s great! That scene was going to be very important to us!”
The series finale of “Hacks” ends with a shot of Deborah and Eva walking down the Las Vegas Strip with big smiles on their faces as they plan a new comedy special. But in reality, the final scenes of the entire series were filmed at the Louvre, where a small group of staff, producers, and Smart and Einbinder experienced the show’s final episode.
What made it even more special and touching was the fact that they were able to shoot at the Louvre.
Production at the museum had been confirmed, but on October 19, four masked thieves broke into the museum in broad daylight, packed it with visitors, and made off with part of the French Crown Jewels in less than eight minutes.
“We were going to shoot at the Louvre, and things looked like they were going to work out,” says Aniello. “And then the robbery happened.”
Bricker said the show was filming an “Amazing Race” episode when the production news out of Paris got tough. “I heard it was impossible to photograph the Louvre, so I should start looking for backup,” Bricker recalled. “It was very disappointing, but filmmaking in general is really difficult. This show had its challenges, but things were always going against the grain for us.”
Protocols at the Louvre have been tightened following the robbery. “It was essentially a question of management and what their policy was and how they would allow outsiders to come in and do things that were not the normal day-to-day operations of the Louvre. So obviously in terms of bringing in a film crew, it was a no-go.”
The production team began scouting other museums and ended up at the Palace of Versailles. That’s good, but it wasn’t the Louvre.
From there, the show went back and forth for weeks. An agreement may or may not be reached with the Louvre. The possibility of returning to the Louvre was raised, but then new problems arose and that idea was dashed. Employees at the Louvre went on strike over working conditions and wages. Then the director of the Louvre fell on hard times (in fact, he ultimately resigned in February). But then another opening appeared, and “Hax” canceled his contract with Versailles, angering the museum in the process.
“I don’t think the three of us will ever be allowed to go back to Versailles,” Statsky says.
The clock was ticking as the Louvre’s management was unable to make a decision. The remaining “Hacks” crew in Paris was scheduled to leave, but Aniello, Downs and Statsky persuaded studio Universal TV and its streamer HBO Max to extend the trip, not knowing if they would make it to the Louvre.
Among them were Smart and Einbinder, who also remained there while the crew waited. “So we’re hanging out in Paris, and by ‘hanging around’ I mean we’re editing in a hotel room all the time,” Aniello says. “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to HBO Max and Universal and the production staff who had so much faith in us to get this work done. You’re asking for a huge production budget for us to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to be here in Paris while you let us shoot this crazy scene.’ I honestly can’t praise our corporate overlords enough.”
In the end, the Louvre decided on Aniello, Downs, and Statsky, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Bricker said, “We just kept pushing and Jen, Paul, and Lucia were relentless in their pursuit to protect the creative integrity of the show. We finally found out that we could shoot at the Louvre, but with very strict restrictions in place. We’re rolling deep and we have a lot of great artists working on the show. Our staff size is in the hundreds, and when we filmed this, we were only allowed to bring 12 people into the Louvre.”
That meant getting creative. “All the technical stuff was something we were thinking about, like what the lighting approach would be on set,” Bricker says. “But ultimately it was a question of how many hands do we need to carry these things at one time? Normally, when we arrive on set, our wonderful riggers have things pre-set for us. But here, everything has to be carried by hand: cameras, lenses, lights, etc. We can only fit 12 people in.”
Bricker says it felt like being back in film school. “Paul had a lens case and he, Jen, and Lucia had makeup bags and were going to do touch-ups for Gene and Hannah if they needed them. They all came together to accomplish this really special thing.”
Mr Smart said: “They were like dogs with a bone and just kept begging, and the museum finally said, ‘Okay, but you can only shoot in this little section of the museum while the museum is open.'” We originally planned to run the place after hours. They said, “No, you can shoot in these two areas while the museum is open.” So we faked a Mona Lisa scene. ”
Indeed, in that scene, it was necessary to superimpose Smart and Einbinder in front of the masterpiece. The museum was open during filming, but the “Hacks” team was allowed into restricted areas to film. “Hacks” First AD Jeff Rosenberg organized the afternoon to make sure it worked.
“We had plenty of time to make the scene special and do multiple takes,” says Bricker. “But we’ve always moved very quickly and we’re very efficient. That’s how we’ve been working for seven years.”
The producers all held up clapboards at some point to begin the action of the scene. And Bricker said each slate was “pretty emotional. And then when it was over, Jeff Rosenberg called Rapp and I told them to keep the cameras rolling. Jen, Paul, Lucia, Hannah, and Gene had a big group hug in the middle of the Louvre, and then they all came together. It was very special.”
Smart also remembers the scene fondly, as he recalled in Variety magazine’s April 8 cover story, saying, “We said, ‘I love you’ and cried… Me and Hannah were the only cast members there, and we were sitting in this huge room with 40-foot-tall paintings, lots of Dutch masters.” We’re lying on this leather bench and we’re looking up at the ceiling, and there’s a huge high ceiling in this hallway, and she’s asking, ‘If we’re going to donate our bodies to science, we’re just being silly,’ and it was kind of fun to end it like that. ”
Aniello said ending on such a quiet note with the skeleton crew felt like a poetic way to go out. “We started out with just the three of us, and then it ballooned into this big, wonderful world of writers, actors, cast, crew, executives, marketers, the post office, and all these people,” she says. “And then when we finish the show, we close out the L.A. crew, we close out Las Vegas, we close out everyone. And then we go back to very few people again. It seemed like a really natural ending.”
