At 17, Jean Smart’s youngest son is growing into a young man with a striking presence — including the raven-black hair that has become one of the features fans notice most when he appears alongside his famous mother.
But behind those family photos is a story filled with extraordinary highs and devastating loss.
Died unexpectedly
His father, actor Richard Gilliland, died unexpectedly, leaving Jean to raise their teenage son while continuing one of the busiest periods of her career. For Jean, the years that followed brought grief, motherhood, and a realization that life could change without warning.
And perhaps the most remarkable part of the story began long before her son was born — when Jean was told that becoming a mother could put both her and her unborn baby at serious risk.
Arrived against the odds
Long before she became one of television’s most celebrated actresses through Hacks, Jean Smart was already building an impressive career.
She was starring as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on Designing Women when her personal life took an unexpected turn. Jean later recalled discovering she was pregnant on the very night her character got married on the show.
She was sitting in her dressing room, still wearing a tight corset-style wedding dress, when she suddenly realized something was different.
“Jean, you are pregnant. You know you were pregnant.”
She soon received confirmation from her doctor — but instead of simply celebrating the news, Jean was confronted with frightening warnings.
She had Type 1 diabetes, and her blood sugar had not been well controlled. According to Jean, her doctor warned that the pregnancy could result in serious complications.
“My doctor almost stopped speaking to me. And he just freaked out at me and started telling me that my baby was gonna have heart problems, and I was going to go blind. And I was gonna lose my kidneys,” she recalled during an interview on the podcast Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Jean later testified before the U.S. Senate about the experience, explaining that she and Richard had even been advised to terminate the pregnancy because of the risks.
But Jean decided to continue.
She eventually found a specialist at the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara and underwent an intense regimen to keep the pregnancy on track.
“I had to become like the poster child for pregnant diabetics,” she said.
She was checking her blood sugar by pricking her fingers as many as 12 times a day, taking insulin and even waking at 4 a.m. for injections, all while continuing to work.
Against the frightening predictions, the pregnancy went well.
Her baby was, as Jean put it, “perfect.”
Years later, the family grew again
Jean and Richard eventually decided to expand their family once more.
But this time, the road to motherhood looked very different.
Jean had begun trying to convince Richard to have another child when she was in her early 50s. At the time, she said, “my life was peaking and everything was just the best.”
Richard worried they were too old.
“Richard kept saying, ‘Oh, I think we’re too old,’” Jean told Glamour.
Eventually, after Jean broke down in tears, he changed his mind.
“And I said, ‘Well, yeah, maybe when we first started talking about it, we weren’t.’ But then I just cried one day, and he finally went, ‘Okay, okay. Just don’t cry.’”
The adoption process was anything but simple, involving “mountains of paperwork.”
Eventually, Jean and Richard traveled to China to bring their new son, Forrest, home. The moment they finally held him, however, all the uncertainty disappeared.
“But the second this baby was handed to us, we were just so besotted,” Jean said. “It was the best.”
Jean’s older son, Connor, was already 19 when the family traveled to China and had to complete some paperwork himself because he was no longer a minor.
But watching his family welcome a new brother gave him an understanding of adoption that stayed with Jean.
“You don’t feel any different,” he told her.
Jean understood.
“When they put that baby in your arms,” she said, “you suddenly realize you’re the person that’s gonna protect and keep that baby alive, and that baby needs you so much.”
Then Forrest lost his father
Forrest grew up with both parents before tragedy suddenly changed the family.
Sadly, Richard Gilliland died unexpectedly in 2021 at age 71, following an unspecified ”brief illness.”
Jean was still working on Hacks when she received the devastating news, and she had only a week of filming left.
“I still had a week of ‘Hacks’ left to do,” she told The New Yorker. “That was hard. I had to do a funeral scene.”
Jean said she was “a wreck” at the time.
The loss was particularly painful because Richard had played such an important role not only in her personal life but also in her career.
“He was one of those actors who never got the chance to really show what he could do,” Jean said. “He really sacrificed his career for me to be able to take advantage of my opportunities.”
Suddenly, Jean was trying to navigate grief while raising a young son.
In a 2022 interview with ELLE, she described becoming a single working mother as “the hardest thing I’ve ever done, not having my husband.”
She also admitted that working did not mean she could stop worrying about what was happening at home.
Her mind would wander to whether her son had eaten breakfast or made it to school.
Yet amid the grief, Forrest gave her moments of comfort that meant everything.
“My 14-year-old still kisses me and says, ‘I love you.’ That’s as good as it gets,” she said.
Today, that little boy has grown into a 17-year-old, and Jean has spoken about how watching her children move forward helped her begin finding her footing again.
“I guess watching my kids overcome all that and be happy and thriving,” she said, “that’s probably what helps the most.”
Never expected to date again
After more than three decades away from dating, Jean eventually found herself entering another unexpected chapter.
She met Joe Pacheco at a party hosted by comedian Caroline Rhea, where the two crossed paths on the dance floor.
Jean later admitted that their first date left her convinced she had completely blown it.
“And I remember standing outside myself, watching myself in this restaurant. Just going, ‘Oh God, you didn’t just say that. Oh, could you be more boring? Could you be less interesting? Oh, my God! Oh my God, all night,’” she recalled.
She went home believing she would never hear from him again.
“I went home thinking, I will never hear from this man again!”
But then came a text.
“So then he started texting me. So I was like, ‘oh wow. I didn’t send him running 100 miles the other direction,’” Jean said.
There was another surprise: Joe was younger than her.
Who is Jean Smart’s new boyfriend?
When asked his age, Jean revealed that he was 67.
By September 2024, Joe was openly sharing their relationship, posting a photo from the Emmys and writing:
“Heading to the Emmys with my date, the incredible Jean Smart! She’s AMAZING! @realjeansmart.”
Their relationship has since appeared in glimpses of their life away from Hollywood as well.
In February 2026, Joe shared photos from Paris, where Jean was working, and referred to her as his “gal.”
“Spent the other day roaming the streets while Jean was working with my new pal Chris, who took the most amazing photos.”
He finished with a message of gratitude:
“the best birthday ever! ❤️🍾”
At the 2026 Emmys, Jean Smart was all smiles again as she posed for a rare photo with her teenage son, Forrest, 17.
It was also a historic night for Smart in another way.
The Emmy marked her fifth consecutive win for playing Deborah Vance on Hacks, giving her a record-breaking “perfect run” — winning the award for every season the show has aired.
A heartfelt shout-out
Three actors had previously won at least five Emmys for the same show: Candice Bergen for Murphy Brown, Don Knotts for The Andy Griffith Show and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep. But none had ever won for every season their show aired.
Yet perhaps the most meaningful part of the night was not the record at all.
Standing there with her 17-year-old son Forrest and thinking of Connor, the family she built with Richard, and the years they had weathered together, the moment carried a weight that went far beyond another trophy.
Richard was no longer there to see it. But the family they created was.
And when Jean called her children her “anchor,” those words seemed to capture everything that had carried her through the hardest chapters of her life — love, loss, motherhood and the people who remained by her side.
After everything she had endured, this was more than a historic Emmy night.
It was a moment she got to share with her son — and a reminder of just how far she and her family had come.
The sweet moment between Jean Smart and her son also caught the attention of viewers online, with many taking to social media to share their reactions.
“Handsome young man,” one person wrote.
Another admitted they initially misunderstood the moment, writing: “I saw her win this and give a nice smooch to this young man, I thought Oh My…now I see that he is her son, makes it a sweet gesture.”
Others were quick to compliment Forrest, with one simply writing, “What a handsome son!”
And for many fans, the moment was also a reminder of just how remarkable Smart’s career has been.
“She is proof that life doesn’t end at 30, 40, or 50. Her career is hot right now in her 70’s. She’s only gotten better, funnier, and much more sharp with age.”
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