On June 5, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2025 ceremony will have fun the creators and stars accountable for a number of the most spectacular and fascinating work of this TV season. Curated and chosen by IndieWire’s editorial staff, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the creators, artisans, and performers behind tv effectively value toasting. We’re showcasing their work with new interviews main as much as the Los Angeles occasion.
Within the second episode of “Hacks” Season 4, the viewers is launched to Randi, the brand new assistant of dysfunctional managing duo Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Meg Stalter). Even by the requirements of the acclaimed Max sitcom, which frivolously skewers the egos and neuroses of the Hollywood set, Randi is a capital “C” Character: a Brooklyn-accented former Hasidic-Jew-turned-lesbian-atheist who had by no means even seen a film earlier than she arrives on the places of work of LuSaque & Schaefer.
It’s a component that would solely be performed by Robby Hoffman, the stressed, sharply chaotic comic who portrays her — which solely is smart, contemplating how creators Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky wrote the half with Hoffman in thoughts.
“It was one of many worst calls I’ve obtained,” Hoffman informed IndieWire about being approached for the position. “They’re like, ‘It’s for you. It’s high quality. It’s [an] simple audition.’ However think about you’re auditioning for one thing written for you, and also you don’t get it. That’s even worse than if I’m going and audition for one thing not for me, and I don’t get it. I don’t have to know that I couldn’t do the audition for myself.”
Hoffman did greater than handle to nail the audition, although: as a brand new thorn within the facet of the long-suffering Jimmy and a fellow irritant with the cheerful Kayla, the comic match the world of the present like a glove, and what was initially a one episode half received expanded right into a recurring character via the season.
Hoffman herself discovered a parallel between her and Randi past the anticipated: identical to Randi is discovering herself in an unfamiliar Hollywood world, Hoffman herself is venturing past stand-up and writing to attempt appearing for the primary time.
“Randi, she’s new to her job as an assistant, and Robbie IRL is new to her job as an actor. So we’re each doing our first jobs,” Hoffman mentioned. “We had totally different jobs. She’s attempting to be an assistant, I’m attempting to be an actor, however we each have the identical stakes: ‘Is that this going to work?’”
“Hacks” is barely the most important piece of what’s develop into an more and more busy first half of 2025 for Hoffman, a comic who has been effervescent on the verge of a breakout since round 2020, when she was featured in Vulture’s annual checklist of comedians “you need to and can know.” On the time, Hoffman had a stand-up particular out, in addition to writing credit on a number of Canadian TV reveals.
2025 has seen her department out to appearing — most notably with “Hacks,” but in addition in a visitor spot for the acclaimed FX on Hulu collection “Dying for Intercourse.” She’s additionally been a visitor on “All people’s Stay with John Mulaney” and received married this winter to her longtime girlfriend, former “Bachelorette” star Gabby Windey — who herself had an enormous yr after successful Season 3 of “The Traitors.”
Now, Hoffman is taking up one more new hat: occasion host, because the performer will host the IndieWire Honors ceremony on June 5 in Los Angeles.
“By way of my profession as an entire, it’s been gradual and regular wins the race. We’ve had folks slowly however certainly soar on,” Hoffman mentioned. “If anyone’s discovering me now, they’re considering like, ‘Whoa, all these items.’ But when anyone discovered me 5 years in the past, seven years in the past, they’ve been on that regular trip with me. So wherever you’re becoming a member of, welcome to the occasion, I’m glad to have you ever right here.”
Regardless of her steadily rising profile, Hoffman nonetheless talks about herself as a Hollywood outsider, one who feels shock and pleasure when her idols like Sarah Silverman and Howard Stern talk about her on Stern’s well-known radio present: “I confirmed Gabby [Stern’s] film, ‘Personal Components,’ considered one of my favourite films,” Hoffman mentioned. “He’s OG, king of media, I really feel just like the prince of media arising.”
“I really feel like, due to how I grew up and coming into this world of elites in Hollywood, I’m the child who received in and I’m working again, and I’m telling everybody,” Hoffman mentioned. “Sso anyone who desires to know what’s occurring has form of completed it with me, with out having to truly be out each evening previous 8 p.m.”
Regardless of her outsider perspective, Hoffman finds methods to curb any potential impostor syndrome. In Episode 4 of “Dying for Intercourse,” which stars Michelle Williams as a lady dying of most cancers, she performs G, a lady who instructs Williams’ Molly within the artwork of BDSM. Hoffman auditioned 3 times for the position, and as soon as she obtained it, her first day on set was an intimate scene between the 2. The intimacy coordinators helped hold her snug, however as Hoffman put it, she by no means felt an imbalance between her and Williams for one easy cause: she’s an knowledgeable at “being a dyke.”
“I wouldn’t suggest being a lesbian 9 out of 10 occasions,” Hoffman joked. “However the one uncommon time that it labored as an asset, it was like, ‘Oh, I’m the knowledgeable on this shit.’ Michelle Williams is Oscar-nominated however I’m, like, the knowledgeable on this very area of interest. So I really felt prefer it was equal ultimately, as a result of she’s coming in with the Oscar noms and all that. However I’m the dyke. I’m the one one coming in with that, they usually wanted that.”
Though she’s branched out into appearing, Hoffman remains to be actively performing and rehearsing stand-up, and has writing initiatives in improvement. Talking about how she approaches every medium, she mentioned she believes doing totally different disciples helps hold her work sharper and smarter.
“I’m simply so grateful that I’ve mediums for all the things. As an example, generally you have got a joke and it’s only a tweet. Typically you have got a joke, and it’s a bit. Typically you have got an thought, and it’s a script. Typically you have got an thought, and it’s a characteristic script. Typically you have got an thought and, oh, it’d be nice for a personality,” Hoffman mentioned. “I actually take all the things I do critically. I’m a piece arduous, attempt arduous, discuss so much, assume so much kind of individual, and I’ve at all times felt like there’s like two camps. There’s the Pete Davidson, can form of simply present up, smoke, kill it. And I take pleasure in watching him a lot as a result of he’s the antithesis of me. He’s relaxed and I’m not relaxed. I’ve by no means relaxed in my life.”
Hoffman associated her profession to the breathless output of a celeb like Taylor Swift: “Write so much, performs so much, does so much, tries so much, and I’m in that camp. You simply must know which camp you might be. Each can work. So I’m actually of that one, and I discover that all of them assist one another as I do it, gradual and regular, and I take all the things critically because it comes. Typically once I do stand-up the evening earlier than and I’m in a writing room the subsequent day, I’m sharper.”
Whereas Hoffman’s 2025 has already been busy, in some methods it’s just the start for her. She teased to IndieWire that she has a number of initiatives within the pipe proper now, though just one she will actually speak about — and even then, she’s very reluctant to say a lot about it past the truth that it’s “not for the faint of coronary heart.”
In April, Deadline reported that HBO had purchased “Unentitled,” which the outlet described as that includes Hoffman enjoying a model of herself. Hoffman informed IndieWire that she offered the present within the room throughout her pitch, which occurred earlier than she received her gig with “Hacks.” “It was a kind of kismet issues that each one got here collectively,” Hoffman mentioned. “I knew I solely wished HBO or or bust for this. They received that. They jumped on board instantly. Now we have the right staff collectively, and the present is simply good.”
First, although, she’s making ready to host Honors, which she sees as a chance to “get her ft moist” and check her internet hosting talents for the primary time.
“You already know, first cease IndieWire, subsequent cease Oscars,” Hoffman mentioned. “If I’m going too far, what’s the worst case? [IndieWire] gained’t have me again. However the very best case is, I’m going too far, you guys are a superb sport, and I host the subsequent 10 years, when you’re fortunate.”
“Hacks” is now streaming on Max. “Dying for Intercourse” is now streaming on Hulu.