Jean Smart Joins Romantic Comedy ‘Egg Baby’ From Amazon MGM Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Jean Smart has joined Amazon MGM Studios‘ romantic comedy Egg Baby, Deadline has learned. For Smart, the project is the first since wrapping her run on the lauded HBO comedy series Hacks. For her turn as Vegas comic Deborah Vance, she recently scored her 15th Emmy nomination — set to compete once again for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series after winning that prize in her last four tries. Smart’s character in the rom-com is Ms. Downey. She joins the previously announced Ariana Greenblatt, Kingston Rumi Southwick and Arthur Conti. Written by Sawyer Perry, Egg Baby follows a rebellious artist (Greenblatt) and a golden-boy quarterback (Southwick) who are forced to co-parent an egg for health class, only to find that raising “Yolk-o” might crack open something real between them. Watch on Deadline Natalia Anderson is directing, with XYZ Films producing alongside Allison Friedman (Find Your Friends), in association with BuzzFeed Studios. We scooped Amazon MGM’s acquisition of the film for streaming in June. One of only two actors to win Emmys across the comedy lead, supporting and guest categories, Smart saw Hacks unveil its series finale in May. She’s devoted the majority of her focus to that show for the last five years, though she’s also recently been seen in Apple TV’s The Studio and Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, among other projects. She is repped by WME and Untitled Entertainment.