Broadway Director Jack O’Brien Takes Role in Third Season of The Comeback

Jack O’Brien, a director with a career spanning the 1960s, has directed major theater productions including Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love and the three-part epic The Coast of Utopia. He has received four Tony Awards, one for directing Hairspray.

At 86, O’Brien recently appeared in the third season of the HBO series The Comeback, marking his entry into onscreen acting despite limited prior acting credits.

O’Brien portrayed Tommy Tomlin, the new hairdresser for the show’s lead character, Valerie Cherish, played by Lisa Kudrow. The role was created following the 2017 death of Robert Michael Morris, who had played Valerie’s previous hairdresser and friend, Mickey, in the first two seasons.

The Comeback, co-created by Kudrow and Michael Patrick King, premiered on HBO in 2005, was canceled, gained a cult following, returned in 2014, and resumed for a third season nearly 12 years later, which is expected to be its final one.

The series follows Valerie Cherish’s efforts to regain relevance in the entertainment industry. In the third season, Valerie stars in an AI-written sitcom titled How’s That?! She encounters Tommy while filming a low-budget independent film at the retirement home where he resides.

O’Brien was cast after Kudrow and King viewed a YouTube interview he conducted with Playbill, in which he discussed his career while promoting the play The Roommate, directed by O’Brien and starring Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow.

The casting process involved mutual friend Victor Garber connecting O’Brien with King, who inquired if O’Brien had considered acting. O’Brien, who began his theater career writing full-length musicals and skits at the University of Michigan, largely abandoned acting after going bald at age 22.

He once attempted a hairpiece, which shifted during an encounter with actress Helen Hayes at a pool party.

In the series, Tommy is depicted as direct and honest, differing from the gentler Mickey. In the third episode, which serves as a tribute to Morris, Tommy and Valerie clash over her preferences for his wig as she processes her grief. O’Brien described the role during an interview at Nice Matin restaurant on the Upper West Side, where he recounted attendees at Tom Stoppard’s funeral last year, including Mick Jagger, whom he observed from a distance.

O’Brien expressed that he has not recovered from Stoppard’s death and noted he was taught by masters, referencing the play The Heiress. He was entrusted with directing several of Stoppard’s works in the United States. O’Brien stated he now says yes to all opportunities at this stage of his life.

The Comeback addresses themes in reality television and the entertainment industry. Its third season involves Valerie navigating challenges in her career, including interactions with Tommy at the retirement home set.