Video: Jean Smart Explains How CALL ME IZZY is 'More Intimate' Since Returning to the Show
The limited engagement is playing at Studio 54 through August 24, 2025.
By: Josh Sharpe Aug. 08, 2025
On July 22, Jean Smart returned to her one-woman play, Call Me Izzy, after missing several performances due to a knee injury. Now back in full force, the Emmy winner visited Late Night with Seth Meyers to discuss the experience, her quick recovery, and the show itself, which is running at Studio 54 through August 24, 2025.
"Well, luckily, I didn't do any big tap numbers or anything in the show. So the audience doesn't seem to mind that I mostly sit," Smart shared. In the play, the performer plays a woman who uses writing to express her struggles amid an abusive marriage. Coming back to the show, she has noticed that the change in her physicality has added a new layer to the performance.
"Because I'm talking directly to the audience and because now I don't get up and really walk around, it's more intimate. I feel like I'm putting more energy towards the audience because I'm not standing. I've never been in a show that has such quiet moments," she shared. Watch the full interview, where she also talks about her ongoing dynamic with actor John Krasinski, who is currently starring in Angry Alan Off-Broadway.
Written by Jamie Wax and directed by Sarna Lapine, Call Me Izzy is a darkly comedic story about one woman in rural Louisiana who has a secret that is both her greatest gift and her only way out. It is a moving, tour de force portrait of a woman who resists being silenced by embracing her tenacity, humor, and fiery imagination.
