Unlike us fans and journalists, however, Hecht actually was nominated for a Tony Award this year. She's up for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her work as PTA mom Suzanne in Eureka Day. On nominations morning, however, Hecht couldn't figure out how to watch the nominees being announced.
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Unlike many of the 2025 Tony nominees, Hecht's show Eureka Day, isn't currently on Broadway, completing its limited run earlier this year. The show, which is also nominated for Best Revival of a Play, focused on the five members of a private school's PTA board, navigating a vaccine policy in the wake of a mumps outbreak. Hecht's Suzanne often serves as the comic relief during the first act of the play before her much darker backstory is revealed towards the end of the play.
"If you don't get nominated," she tells us, "You have like 24 hours, maybe 48 at the most, kind of like, 'Oh, I guess I just paled in comparison,' but you deal with it. You say to yourself, 'But I do feel proud of my work.' I very rarely get nominated for certain kinds of awards, almost never. Someone once told a friend of mine, that being an underdog is better for your acting, which I believe."
With the Tony Awards presented tonight, hopefully most of the dog-and-pony show elements are in Hecht's rearview. When asked if she has a speech prepared for if she wins, Hecht says, "It's very dry, what I do write out in my mind. I really love my agents, so I always think one day I want to thank my agents. I'm really close to my mom. All the classics. I'm more mortified about who I would forget. If I win something one day, it's going to be a little bit of a list."
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Who Jessica Hecht Would Thank in her Winning Tony's Speech (0:33)The first time was for an Arthur Miller play [in the 2010 production of A View From the Bridge], and being with Liev [Schreiber] and Scarlett [Johansson] was so precious, because Arthur is my truly favorite writer. And there's something about elevating your sense of self because you're doing that kind of work, that you think [awards] shouldn't matter.
This one was really delicious, but this ensemble is fire, as my kids would say. Many times as we were doing the play, I just looked around and thought, "This is the most kick ass ensemble I have ever been with." They would throw things at you, so alive. I owe them such a debt of gratitude.
There's the sense of the community that you already have here. Bill [Irwin], I knew a bit from the New York theater scene, and I feel a reverence for Him, and he's extraordinary. Each person had a different place in my history here. We didn't hang out a ton because I'm not a big hanger outer, but Bill arranged a couple of beautiful meals for us.
Well, I think people who have experienced terrible tragedies often create a really complex and meticulous way of overriding that. This character is beautifully written because her life's biggest tragedy occurs when her kids are little, and so the play is constructed around being in an environment where you are around children and you feel the joy of that. You are trying to maintain safety and hope and the preciousness of childhood for many kids, until that totally cracks. So the play is written, to my mind, like the little playpen until the walls collapse, and then you're suddenly without any safety net.
There's two things for me. One was to not make it a satire. I was very anxious about that when we were developing it. When you're dealing with stuff that could be considered woke subjects. The way many left-leaning people are navigating life has been the subject of a lot of comedy. I was desperate for it not to fall into that, so to create something that made people think they knew the characters was essential for me. Then the second half of the play, when she reveals to someone who she thinks is her friend, the rationale for her beliefs, I couldn't quite figure that out. Anna [D. Shapiro, the director] was so gracious, helping and guiding me, but not telling me what it should be. That was an extraordinary part of our rehearsal process.
Jessica Hecht and Amber Gray in Manhattan Theatre Club’s Broadway premiere of Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector, directed by Anna D. Shapiro. ©Jeremy DanielJeremy Daniel
Do you have any pre-show rituals?
What show tune do you sing most often?
Because Eureka Day's limited run ended in the winter, have you been able to see some of the other nominees?
To pivot, you're in the movie Eleanor the Great, which premiered at Cannes in May. You work with June Squibb who is an icon. What was it like working with her?
First of all, she was a huge theater star. People don't realize that she was a hoofer. She was iconic in these wonderful character parts and musicals. She goes to Sardi's every weekend if she's here shooting, and so she had these Sunday night dinners. I went a couple of times, and I brought the actors that I'm friendly with, who were like, "How do you know June Squibb?" All these people who really know theater history just love her. The exquisite thing about the way she works is she's actually very clear. She doesn't mess around. She makes a decision, and if she feels maybe that's not right, at least she'll try. If you give her a direction, she'll always try it, or she'll say, "You know what, I don't think I'd do that the way you're describing," and we move on to a new idea. She knows herself, and she has such a way of focusing everything. She's also just a beautiful energy. She's so present. It was incredible to work with her.
Bill Irwin and Jessica Hecht in Manhattan Theatre Club’s Broadway premiere of Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector, directed by Anna D. Shapiro. ©Jeremy DanielJeremy Daniel
Scarlett Johansson is the director, and this is the first movie that she's directed. How was it having her direct?
You're also in Dan in Real Life, which is one of my favorite movies. You guys are all staying in this big house and doing these crossword puzzle competitions, what was it like filming that?
You were also in Succession, and so many Broadway actors were on that show. Was Broadway just abuzz with that one?
What do you get recognized most often for?
You've been in four different Law and Order episodes, plenty of other guest roles in procedurals.
How is it popping on those for one episode?
What is the oddest part that you've ever taken in one of those?
If they've got a nun role, they know who to call!
This interview was condensed and edited for length and clarity.
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