My worst moment: Too soon? Jackie Hoffman and her story about a person who had recently died

A seasoned theater actor known for her way with a blunt, sarcastic line, Jackie Hoffman stars in the Paramount+ prequel series inspired by “Grease,” called “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” as assistant principal McGee.

In the original 1978 film, McGee was played by Eve Arden. Is Hoffman’s version emulating that or going her own way? “It’s tough to ignore Eve Arden and say I’m going to be nothing like her because I adore her, I grew up watching her. So yeah, especially when I do the school announcements, I like to have that sing-songy thing in my voice. But any Jackie Hoffman role can’t avoid my darkness.”

McGee gets her own song in Episode 5 “and it’s really good, I’m so psyched.”

Hoffman’s other credits include everything from Hulu’s “Difficult People,” the indie films “Shiva Baby” and “Kissing Jessica Stein,” to the animated series “PB&J Otter” and the comedy whodunit “Only Murders in the Building.” She also spent seven years in Chicago at Second City from 1987 to 1994.

When asked about a worst moment in her career, she replied: “Probably the most damaging was a gig — well, it wasn’t paying — when I hosted a casting directors’ awards banquet.”

My worst moment …

“The casting directors throw an awards show for themselves in New York, it’s called the Artios Awards. And I was hosting it one year, it might have been early 2000s, and it’s an incredible opportunity because you’re hosting in front of all the casting directors in the city who does Broadway, TV, film and commercials. It’s a chance to show every casting director in town my stuff, and maybe that will help me get future jobs. That’s what you hope.

“And part of the evening was, they were paying tribute to a casting director colleague who had passed away very recently. Like, the body isn’t even cold yet. So, all night people are getting up and talking about this person.

“I open with a musical number, it does great. I’m doing really well. So I’m thinking: Well, why don’t you tell a story, Jackie, about your experience with this person who has just died?

“So I tell a story about a hot mess of an audition. And I say, ‘Yeah, I remember this guy, I remember this guy. He walked into the audition two hours late. He’s holding Tiffany’s bags and he says, ‘I’m sorry, there’s no excuse.’ Then I get into the casting room and he talks to me about his inhaler and he wants me to teach him how to use his inhaler. So I teach him how to use his inhaler. And then I read for this movie. And he tells me that no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. I think maybe that meant I was too much of a Jew for the role? I’ll never be appropriate for this role? It was a disaster. Needless to say, I didn’t get the role.

“So now I’ve told the most unflattering story about this person and a chill comes over the room. Even as I was up there, I think I realized (laughs) that maybe this wasn’t the best idea. And next on the agenda that evening was a tribute to this guy, which was a slideshow of these pictures of him set to sad music. (Starts singing a made-up song): ‘Sad music, sad, this is our friend that died. This is our colleague who died, we respect him and he died.’

“Needless to say, my career probably never recovered from it. This happened in front of every casting director in the city.

“I wasn’t able to defuse the situation because that may have been my swan song of the evening. It ended shortly thereafter. I remember the guy who runs it, who is a huge casting director himself, he said, ‘And let’s give a hand for our host, Jackie Hoffman!’ and there was a smattering of applause — a smattering of hatred — and you could tell the damage had been done.

“It took a little while to process.

“Years ago, I thought, well maybe tragedy-plus-time made it better. Maybe the wound is no longer fresh. My manager was talking to a casting director and he said, ‘Yeah, Jackie Hoffman hasn’t hosted Artios Awards show lately’ — this is years later — and the casting director said, ‘Oh, you mean since the incident?’ It was infamous.

“When I do damage, baby, I go big.

“I do regret it. Everybody was saying these grand beautiful things, and I talked about when he was a (jerk).

“But he was a (jerk). He did arrive two hours later, with shopping bags. He did say there’s no excuse. He did have me show him how to use his inhaler. And then he said that weird thing to me. So it was all true.”

Did she get any feedback after the fact?

“Nobody talked to me! I sat down at a table next to Cynthia Nixon, god love her, and I said under my voice, ‘It’s pretty quiet in here.’ And she said, “That’s because they’re thinking about how much they loved your story.” (Laughs)

“I’m still thinking about it now. I live a life of self-torment and self-loathing, so every bad choice I made on stage at Second City, every embarrassing scene I’ve done, every mistake, they replay constantly in my head. Constantly. I have no memory for success, but I have a memory for failure and tragedy.

“And now I’m going to do additional damage by telling you this story. Just when there’s a new generation that might have forgotten! Although I do think some casting directors overlook this kind of stuff. Some of them are professional enough to move on, even if they can’t stand the person, and separate those feelings from deciding who’s right for the role. And some don’t.”

If someone told a story about Hoffman after her death that poked fun at her, would she be somewhere in the afterworld laughing about it?

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough! (Laughs) Maybe I would come back to haunt people. That I would love.”

The takeaway …

“Don’t insult dead people.

“Especially dead people whose colleagues are in the room.

“Especially dead people whose colleagues are casting directors.”