Cocaine, Boofing and Gator Tails: ‘Hacks’ Stars Megan Stalter, Paul W. Downs and Julianne Nicholson Explain That Wild Season 4 Scene
In one of the most unhinged — and now infamous — scenes from HBO Max’s “Hacks,” actors Julianne Nicholson, Paul W. Downs, and Megan Stalter deliver a riotous mix of chaos and sharp comedy in what fans have dubbed “the boofing scene” from Season 4. Sitting down with Variety for Making a Scene presented by HBO, the trio unpacked the iconic moment featuring Dance Mom’s drug-fueled desperation and the unforgettable term that had fans quoting the scene for days.
“Boofing is a funny word,” Nicholson admitted with a laugh. “And then when you know what it actually means in this context, it all adds up.” In the episode, Nicholson plays the deranged “Dance Mom” who, after a wild bender, demands cocaine from her talent managers — Downs and Stalter’s characters– in order to wake up and perform her spot on “Late Night.”
What made the moment even more surreal for Nicholson was stepping into the absurd dynamic between Jimmy and Kayla. “I came in as a huge fan of the show. So it’s a bit surreal to suddenly be sort of under Jimmy and Kayla,” she said. “But my character doesn’t think this is funny at all. Dance Mom is having a real moment. I just had to live in that.”
The physicality of the role was no joke either. Nicholson worked closely with choreographer Corey Baker to develop her character’s clunky, earnest dance style. “I worked my ass off to learn these dances,” she said. “I had to work really hard to look that bad.”
Stalter, who plays fan-favorite Kayla, said she was encouraged to lean into her absurdity. “Kayla, she’s just so the one to say the crazy thing,” she said. “[They] encourage me in moments of improv, to be the crazy yeller.” Stalter’s character notably added some of the most amusing lines in the scene, like yelling “Gator tails!” — a bizarre metaphor for the thickness of a cocaine line. “It’s like a line that’s as thick as an alligator tail,” she said, still laughing. “Which is… really thick, I guess?”
The absurdity of the moment is matched by the improvised brilliance surrounding it. “Breakfast is served,” Downs says matter-of-factly in the scene — a line so absurd and perfectly delivered that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t scripted. But as Nicholson revealed, that moment was pure improv. “I almost lost it,” she admitted, recalling her reaction to Downs’ deadpan delivery. “I can’t believe he’s saying that about lines of coke.”
The scene escalates to the unforgettable line from Nicholson’s Dance Mom: “I need you to boof it to me.” For the uninitiated, boofing — as Nicholson explains — means “putting drugs in someone’s butt.”
“I am not gonna boof it,” Downs, who plays the strait-laced Jimmy, exclaimed in the scene.
Offscreen, the line sparked some awkward conversations: “My parents asked me, ‘Is that real? Did you make that up?’” Downs recalled. “And I had to say, ‘It is a real thing. It is putting drugs in someone’s butt.’ I had to say that to my mom.”
“Boofing is a funny word,” Nicholson admitted with a laugh. “And then when you know what it actually means in this context, it all adds up.” In the episode, Nicholson plays the deranged “Dance Mom” who, after a wild bender, demands cocaine from her talent managers — Downs and Stalter’s characters– in order to wake up and perform her spot on “Late Night.”
What made the moment even more surreal for Nicholson was stepping into the absurd dynamic between Jimmy and Kayla. “I came in as a huge fan of the show. So it’s a bit surreal to suddenly be sort of under Jimmy and Kayla,” she said. “But my character doesn’t think this is funny at all. Dance Mom is having a real moment. I just had to live in that.”
The physicality of the role was no joke either. Nicholson worked closely with choreographer Corey Baker to develop her character’s clunky, earnest dance style. “I worked my ass off to learn these dances,” she said. “I had to work really hard to look that bad.”
Stalter, who plays fan-favorite Kayla, said she was encouraged to lean into her absurdity. “Kayla, she’s just so the one to say the crazy thing,” she said. “[They] encourage me in moments of improv, to be the crazy yeller.” Stalter’s character notably added some of the most amusing lines in the scene, like yelling “Gator tails!” — a bizarre metaphor for the thickness of a cocaine line. “It’s like a line that’s as thick as an alligator tail,” she said, still laughing. “Which is… really thick, I guess?”
The absurdity of the moment is matched by the improvised brilliance surrounding it. “Breakfast is served,” Downs says matter-of-factly in the scene — a line so absurd and perfectly delivered that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t scripted. But as Nicholson revealed, that moment was pure improv. “I almost lost it,” she admitted, recalling her reaction to Downs’ deadpan delivery. “I can’t believe he’s saying that about lines of coke.”
The scene escalates to the unforgettable line from Nicholson’s Dance Mom: “I need you to boof it to me.” For the uninitiated, boofing — as Nicholson explains — means “putting drugs in someone’s butt.”
“I am not gonna boof it,” Downs, who plays the strait-laced Jimmy, exclaimed in the scene.
Offscreen, the line sparked some awkward conversations: “My parents asked me, ‘Is that real? Did you make that up?’” Downs recalled. “And I had to say, ‘It is a real thing. It is putting drugs in someone’s butt.’ I had to say that to my mom.”