Fans first got to know the hilarious Mark Indelicato on ABC’s iconic GLAAD Media Award winning series Ugly Betty. From there, Indelicato went to star in Prime’s With Love and now Max’s Hacks. To talk about his character Damien on Hacks, Indelicato joined GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos for a chat!
“My bruise has healed!” Indelicato proclaimed, referring to when he and fellow Hacks star Hannah Einbinder performed a bit on stage while accepting the award for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards where he slipped on a banana peel.
“The story of that is that I came back after the little Ugly Betty reunion moment and sat back down at the Hacks table, Hannah Einbinder goes, ‘So we’re gonna do a bit where you, slip on a banana peel,’ and I was like, ‘So, no one else wanted to do this?’ I was like, ‘I’m wearing a skirt!’ She was like, ‘Nope, you’re doing it.’” He continued, ‘And I said, ‘ok.’ I listen to whatever Hannah Einbinder tells me to do.”
View this post on Instagram
In the most recent episode of Hacks, Indelicato’s character takes Deborah Vance, played by the legendary Jean Smart, on a trip to LA’s famous West Hollywood for a night of gay bars and fun. Fans get to see a side of Damien they’ve never seen before.
In the episode, Damien explains to Deborah what it means to be an “LA gay,” and how it’s different from being queer in other parts of the country. “I live in West Hollywood myself, and lived in New York City for 13 years, and the communities are very, very disparate,” Indelicato explained. “They’re very different. There are obviously some innate similarities, but they are quite different.”
Indelicato went on to say, “I also think that being LGBTQ or a cis gay man, we’re not a monolith.” He continued, “I was talking to my fiancé about this the other day where when someone that means well, is like, ‘Oh, I have a gay friend, you should meet them!'” He said, “That doesn’t mean that we’re gonna get along just because of our queerness.”
He talked more about his experience on the show for the last four years, saying, “It’s the closest to Ugly Betty that I’ve ever felt, the sense of community, the sense of everyone wanting each other to genuinely win and get the joke, get the laugh, everyone wants each other to succeed on this show.” He continued, “From the ground up, from top to bottom, not just the cast, the crew loves this show, the writers love this show. I think that audiences respond to the show so well because of that. It’s very palpable to feel how much love goes into making the show and how much we all genuinely like making it.”
He said, “That was the way that Ugly Betty felt to me, it’s a testament to the fact that that was real because all of us on Ugly Betty are still very, very good friends.”
Speaking of Ugly Betty… Indelicato shared a bit about an upcoming rewatch podcast with co-star Ana Ortiz!
View this post on Instagram
The stars teased this on stage at the 36th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in LA. Indelicato told GLAAD, “Ana Ortiz and I are working with iHeartRadio and we’re doing our own and we’re going to do some fun little crossovers with Michael (Urie) and Becky (Newton)!” He added, “Again, the idea that they’re not being competition. Everyone wants each other to win.”
“It is so rare, but I feel so lucky in my experience in Hollywood to have had two shows that I’ve been on that have been successes that everyone feels this sense of camaraderie.” He spoke about how nice it’s been to get to work with so many talented queer actors on Hacks like Johnny Sibilly, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Megan Stalter, and Hannah Einbinder. “This was the first time as an adult that I was on a show with so many queer people, that I was also out and proud about it. I think that Ugly Betty was a little bit more of a tumultuous experience because I was so young.” He continued, “It’s incredible, we just really genuinely support each other, and we’re all genuinely friends.”
Indelicato, like so many others, is rooting for the show’s main characters Ava and Deborah to make up after their huge fight. “I love an ensemble cast,” he began, “and we really are a genuine ensemble cast. But I love just watching Deborah and Ava together, and I love their dynamic, not only as Deborah and Ava, but also as Hannah and Jean. Watching them work together and after these last 4 years, like from season one to now, you get to know people.”
Indelicato remembers a fond memory of when they first started filming Hacks where he told Einbinder, “Your life is about to change forever.” He praises his co-star, “I’ll never forget that moment of just being like, ‘Your life is going to change because you’re gonna be a really big star and you deserve it.’ She’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met.”
Don’t miss season 4 of Hacks, streaming Thursday nights on Max!
