Christopher Briney has thoughts on a “Hacks” spinoff about his pop-star character — on one condition
Christopher Briney has thoughts on a “Hacks” spinoff about his pop-star character — on one condition
Gerrad HallFri, April 24, 2026 at 1:30 AM UTC
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Jean Smart and Christopher Briney on 'Hacks'Credit: Courtesy of HBO MaxKey Points -
The Summer I Turned Pretty star Christopher Briney plays a young love interest to Jean Smart's Deborah Vance on Hacks.
Briney portrays Nico Hayes, a pop star who lands a Las Vegas residency.
Briney shares his idea for a Nico Hayes Hacks spinoff.
This article contains spoilers about Hacks season 5, episode 3, "No New Tricks."
Hacks turned out to be a real win/lose situation for Christopher Briney — but mostly a big win.
The win: The Summer I Turned Pretty star cozies up to Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) in episode 3 of Hacks' final season, playing pop star Nico Hayes, who's landed a residency at Deborah's former digs at the Palmetto Casino. During an event, he sees her from across the room, lured in by her charm, sense of humor, and beauty. So he makes a move, asking her to join him for drinks. She thinks it's a date just for publicity, so she tips off some paparazzi friends — but it's not a publicity stunt for the young and private musician.
The lose: The casino wasn't kind to him on his first-ever trip to Las Vegas, where he filmed the episode for two weeks. While his time there was mostly focused on the work, he managed to get in a little gambling.
"It happened so fast that I was just sitting in my room trying to be prepared and trying to learn the song I had to play," he tells Entertainment Weekly about readying himself to sing a few songs as Nico. "But housekeeping kept calling my room like, 'Hey, can we clean your room? We just want to make sure you didn't burn to the ground.'"
Eventually, he let them in. "So I went down to the lobby, and I lost 50 bucks on slots. Went back up, and they were like, 'Oh, we're not done yet.' And I went and lost $50 more. But it was great. And it could've been worse. The thing is, I was down there for seven minutes and I was like, 'Oh, s---.'"
Playing Deborah's younger love interest was a lot more rewarding, though, even though their romance ends before it ever really began. Below, he tells EW about landing the job and why, after not wanting to sing in Mean Girls, he was willing to do it for Hacks, those Harry Styles comparisons, whether the songs will ever get released, getting cozy with Smart, and his idea for a Nico Hayes spinoff.
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Christopher Briney on 'Hacks'Credit: Courtesy of HBO Max
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this come your way?
CHRISTOPHER BRINEY: It was sort of a whirlwind. I was doing a bunch of press for something else and I had a Zoom that came in super last minute, auditioned for it. I came home 30 seconds before it started, threw everything off my desk, hopped on the Zoom, lied to them and told them I could sing. It was great. They were super amenable when they found out I couldn't sing. But I mean, to be a part of one of the best comedies of all time, it's pretty cool.
It's funny you brought that up about singing because I remember when we spoke with you for Mean Girls, you had said that Aaron Samuels was originally supposed to sing, and you weren't interested in the role. But then you found out he wouldn't sing, so your mind was changed. You told us about not getting to sing, "I was fine with that. I don't want to do that to people. I wasn't born to do that."
That sounds like something I would say.
So you're saying there wasn't much arm-twisting involved here? You really wanted to do this that badly that you—
Of course. What a pleasure to be in the room. Emmy's aside, it's proven that it's one of the best shows of this generation, easily one of the best comedies in the past couple decades. What they're doing is so cool and fresh and new and funny, and just to be a part of that, I was like, "Yeah, I'll figure it out. I'll make it work. I'll take some lessons or something."
You mentioned the song that we do see you eventually sing on camera on social media. Did you learn to play guitar for that or you already knew a bit?
I can pluck out some chords on guitar. When I first started auditioning [for jobs], I got a bunch of auditions for dudes that play guitar and I was like, well, s---, I should learn how to play a few chords. So I mean, I can pluck a tune, but I have a really hard time playing and singing, especially if it's not the most basic strumming pattern or something. They had the song designed by one of their guys and he sent me all this material to help me learn it. And so I was able to play it pretty well, and then I was able to sing it okay. So I ended up having to ADR the whole thing over because I couldn't do two things at once.
There are two other songs we hear as scene transitions: "Bubblegum Blue Jeans" and "Summer Squash." Did you also sing those?
Yeah, that was me. I spent a day in a recording studio with a vocal coach. It was not my song; it was somebody else's song that was written and I guess I basically covered it. But yeah, I was in a booth doing that for a good six hours one day, which is cool.
Did you sing a full song or was it just enough of what would be heard in the show?
No, I sang the whole thing, and we got the backing vocals and stuff. We did the whole thing.
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So in theory, we could hear a couple singles come out that are Chris Briney as Nico Hayes.
Technically, yeah. [Laughs]
I think we need these songs. Let's make that happen.
I'm going to fight you on that. I want to hear it. I want to hear it at some point.
Christopher Briney and Jean Smart on 'Hacks'Credit: Kenny Laubbacher/HBO Max
Deborah is listening to "Summer Squash" at one point and asks what the lyrics mean, and it's very reminiscent of people wondering what Harry Styles' "Watermelon Sugar" meant. Nico also has a lot of tattoos, some in similar places as Harry. And in a CNN interview, Jean said the best concert she's ever been to was Harry. Was Harry part of the DNA of this guy from the beginning, or did that come later? Or is it not Harry Styles at all?
I think it would be untrue to say that there's no inspiration from that. When I got there, I had a photo shoot for the poster of his residency or whatever, and I was talking to [co-creator Paul W. Downs] and everybody, and I was like, "So who is it?" Because I had had that discussion with myself of like, which way does it lean a lot? There are pieces of Harry, there are pieces of Charlie Puth. Those pop guys. I thought he should have some real swagger about him. And Harry Styles definitely has a swagger, but that's not the kind that I was sort of wanting to play. I thought he had some old school rock. Mick Jagger's not quite the right thing, but just someone who sits in their s---, you know what I mean? And sort of sees themselves in that way. And I think Harry Styles might be a little more self-aware than what I was going for. But there's definitely some inspiration.
When you got this script, what was your initial impression of Nico given everything that's laid out about him? And what did you want to bring to this guy?
Well, my first impression is, I'd be hard-pressed to remember any other script I've read and laughed out loud. Immediately, I was like, This is what it's about, man. It's funny writing, it's really good. And with Nico, I think it's pretty obvious that he has this sort of shell, but he also is just this kid who was forced to grow up a little too fast and a little too early and became independent before you should. He's a sensitive guy, and I think he's sweet. And whether it's right or not, he knows what he wants and he's super open about it. That's why things unfold the way they do, because he's like, "I know what I want." He thinks that they're on the same page, and maybe they were, maybe they weren't — probably weren't.
The first time Nico and Deborah go out for dinner, he tells her he's a guy who knows and goes for what he wants. It's very mature and can be a very attractive quality in someone. So I understand why he feels so confident to go in for the kiss.
Right. He's that guy. He's like, There's no point in thinking about stuff and wondering what if. I think that's the mantra he lives by. Afterwards, he says something to the effect of like, "We're good, right? Maybe I shouldn't have done that."
And then we start to see the very beginnings of a May-December romance, and fans give them the couple name, Nicorah. All fun stuff. But were you nervous to get into those types of scenes with Jean, for the kiss and all of that?
No. I mean, she's a total pro. I think what I was most nervous about was just stepping onto such an established set. It's their fifth season and a show with so much acclaim. I kept making the joke, "If she doesn't win the Emmy this year, it's my fault." I think I was just more concerned about being up to par. They set the bar so high and I respect and love and admire this show so much that I just want to be able to hang. She's very giving and generous, and I would argue that she doesn't have to be with that kind of a career, with that much time on this show specifically, but she would just hang out and chat and be with people and have discussions. And that was really cool because that doesn't happen all the time. The fact that she made that time meant a lot.
If the Hacks creators came to you and said, "We're thinking about a Nico Hayes spinoff," your reaction would be what?
I would pitch that in the pilot, he loses his voice, and it's like ...
Just one episode?
Right, right, right. What does a musician do after he loses his voice? And then it becomes Entourage or something. What does a famous pop star do when they lose their voice?
Shania Twain has talked about that because she dealt with that. It's a real thing. One of the guys from Backstreet Boys, too; I think he couldn't sing for a long time. So you might be onto something.
It was a joke, but there is some reality there. It's an interesting thought.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
on Entertainment Weekly
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