Seattle-born American actress Jean Smartshe will return to her hometown to receive the The Hollywood Reporter’s Breakthrough Award at the 50th Seattle International Film Festival next month.

The “Hacks” star will also chat onstage with THR editor Stacey Wilson Hunt about her career and share an episode of the third season of HBO’s Emmy-winning sitcom Max premiering on May 2.

In the series, Jean Smart plays Deborah Vance, an elderly comedian struggling to stay in the spotlight in a world that no longer wants her.

THR’s Breakthrough Award recognizes artists whose work and career illuminate stories and characters that have traditionally been marginalized in Hollywood.

Jean Smart is a five-time Emmy Award-winning actress, a graduate of the University of Washington, and began her career in theater at Seattle Repertory Theater and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

THR notes her strength as a performer, but also her advocacy for the LGTBQ+ community, for which she was honored by the Human Rights Campaign in March. At the ceremony in Los Angeles, her “Hacks” co-star Hannah Einbinder praised her friend for championing queer visibility on screen, particularly for Smart’s starring role in “Designing Women” and the landmark 1987 episode of the series highlighting the AIDS epidemic.