Jean Smart Shares Rare Moment With 17-Year-Old Son After Years of Love, Loss and Motherhood

The Actress’ Family Story Includes a High-Risk Pregnancy, Adoption and the Sudden Loss of Her Husband

At 17, Jean Smart’s youngest son, Forrest Gilliland, is growing into a young man whose striking appearance has attracted attention whenever he steps into the spotlight beside his famous mother.

His raven-black hair was among the features viewers noticed when Forrest accompanied Smart to the 2026 Emmy Awards, but behind the rare family appearance is a story shaped by extraordinary joy, devastating loss and decades of devotion to motherhood. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

For Smart, now one of television’s most celebrated performers, family life has often unfolded alongside major turning points in her career.

Long before Forrest entered her life, Smart faced a frightening warning when she became pregnant with her first child while living with Type 1 diabetes.

Jean Smart Faced Serious Warnings During Her First Pregnancy

Smart was already building a successful television career when she became pregnant with her first son.

At the time, she was starring as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on Designing Women.

Smart later remembered realizing that something felt different on the same night her character was getting married on the show.

She was sitting in her dressing room while still wearing a tight corset-style wedding dress when the possibility suddenly became clear to her.

“Jean, you are pregnant. You know you were pregnant.”

A doctor soon confirmed the pregnancy, but what should have been a purely joyful moment quickly became frightening.

Smart had Type 1 diabetes, and her blood sugar had not been well controlled.

Her doctor warned that continuing the pregnancy could expose both her and the baby to 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.

Smart Says She Was Advised to Consider Ending the Pregnancy

Smart later discussed the experience while testifying before the U.S. Senate.

She explained that she and her husband, actor Richard Gilliland, were even advised to terminate the pregnancy because of the potential risks.

Smart ultimately decided to continue.

She found a specialist at the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara and began following an intensive routine designed to keep both herself and the baby as healthy as possible.

“I had to become like the poster child for pregnant diabetics,” she said.

The regimen required tremendous discipline.

Smart said she checked her blood sugar by pricking her fingers as many as 12 times every day.

She also took insulin and sometimes woke at 4 a.m. for injections, all while continuing her professional work.

Despite the alarming predictions she had received early in the pregnancy, things ultimately went well.

Smart later described the baby simply as “perfect.”

Years Later, Jean Smart Wanted Another Child

Many years after becoming a mother for the first time, Smart began considering expanding the family again.

By then, she was in her early 50s and felt that her personal and professional life had reached an especially happy point.

She began talking to Gilliland about having another child.

He was initially hesitant because of their ages.

“Richard kept saying, ‘Oh, I think we’re too old,’” Smart recalled.

She continued thinking about the possibility and eventually became emotional during one of their conversations.

“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 Couple Turned to Adoption

Smart and Gilliland decided to adopt, beginning a process she remembered as being filled with “mountains of paperwork.”

The couple ultimately traveled to China to bring their new son, Forrest, home.

Any uncertainty they had experienced during the adoption process disappeared once they finally held him.

“But the second this baby was handed to us, we were just so besotted,” Jean said. “It was the best.”

Smart’s older son, Connor, was already 19 by the time the family traveled to China.

Because he was legally an adult, he also had to complete paperwork connected with the adoption.

Watching his younger brother become part of the family left an impression on Connor as well.

“You don’t feel any different,” he told his mother.

For Smart, those words captured something important about becoming a parent through adoption.

“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.”

Tragedy Struck When Forrest Was Still Young

Forrest grew up with both of his parents until the family was shaken by an unexpected loss.

Richard Gilliland died in 2021 at the age of 71 following an unspecified “brief illness.”

His death came while Smart was working on Hacks.

She still had approximately one week of filming left when she received the devastating news.

“I still had a week of ‘Hacks’ left to do,” she said. “That was hard. I had to do a funeral scene.”

Smart later described herself as “a wreck” during that period.

The loss affected far more than her home life.

Gilliland had also played an important role in supporting Smart’s career throughout their marriage.

“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.”

Jean Smart Suddenly Became a Single Working Mother

Gilliland’s death left Smart balancing grief with the responsibilities of raising a teenage son.

She later described becoming a single working mother as “the hardest thing I’ve ever done, not having my husband.”

Continuing to work did not mean she was able to stop thinking about Forrest.

Even while filming, her thoughts could drift toward ordinary parental concerns, including whether he had eaten breakfast or arrived at school.

Those everyday worries became part of her new life without Gilliland.

At the same time, Forrest gave Smart moments of comfort during one of the hardest periods she had experienced.

“My 14-year-old still kisses me and says, ‘I love you.’ That’s as good as it gets,” she said.

For Smart, seeing her children continue growing and finding happiness eventually helped her begin moving forward.

“I guess watching my kids overcome all that and be happy and thriving,” she said, “that’s probably what helps the most.”

Smart Eventually Entered Another Unexpected Chapter

After spending more than three decades away from the dating world, Smart eventually found herself starting over romantically.

She met Joe Pacheco at a party hosted by comedian Caroline Rhea.

The two encountered each other on the dance floor, beginning a relationship Smart initially did not expect to develop.

She later admitted that she left their first date convinced she had made a terrible impression.

“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.

Smart went home believing Pacheco would never contact her again.

“I went home thinking, I will never hear from this man again!”

She was wrong.

“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.

Who Is Jean Smart’s Boyfriend Joe Pacheco?

Smart later revealed that Pacheco was 67.

By September 2024, he was publicly sharing glimpses of their relationship.

While attending the Emmys with Smart, he posted a photo and wrote:

“Heading to the Emmys with my date, the incredible Jean Smart! She’s AMAZING! @realjeansmart.”

The relationship continued to appear occasionally through moments from their life away from awards ceremonies.

In February 2026, Pacheco shared photos from Paris while Smart was working there 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 later described the occasion as “the best birthday ever! ❤️🍾”

Forrest Joined His Mother for a Rare 2026 Emmys Appearance

At the 2026 Emmy Awards, Smart appeared alongside Forrest, then 17.

The rare mother-and-son appearance quickly drew attention.

Forrest had grown considerably since the years when Smart spoke about receiving kisses and expressions of affection from her young teenage son.

Now he was standing beside her as she experienced another milestone in a remarkable career.

The evening was significant professionally as well.

Smart earned her fifth consecutive Emmy for portraying Deborah Vance on Hacks.

The achievement gave her what was described as a record-breaking “perfect run,” with Smart winning the award for every season of the series that had aired.

Jean Smart’s Emmy Achievement Made Television History

Three performers had previously collected at least five Emmys for the same television program.

They were Candice Bergen for Murphy Brown, Don Knotts for The Andy Griffith Show, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep.

However, none had won for every season of the show in which they appeared.

Smart’s run with Hacks therefore represented a particularly unusual accomplishment.

Yet the professional record was only one part of what made the night meaningful.

The Night Carried Deep Personal Meaning

Standing at the awards ceremony with Forrest brought Smart’s family journey into focus.

She had built a family with Gilliland, welcomed Connor and Forrest through very different paths, endured the sudden loss of her husband and continued raising her younger son while maintaining a demanding career.

Gilliland was no longer there to witness the moment.

The family they had created, however, remained.

Smart has described her children as her “anchor,” a word that reflected the role Connor and Forrest played as she endured grief and continued moving through life.

The 2026 Emmys therefore represented more than another industry honor.

It became an opportunity for Smart to share an extraordinary career moment with her teenage son.

Fans Reacted to Forrest Gilliland’s Appearance

The interaction between Smart and Forrest attracted attention from viewers online.

Some focused on how grown-up Forrest looked beside his mother.

“Handsome young man,” one person wrote.

Another viewer admitted initially misunderstanding an affectionate moment between Smart and her son.

“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 offered similarly warm reactions.

“What a handsome son!” another person wrote.

Fans Also Celebrated Jean Smart’s Career Longevity

The family appearance also reminded viewers of how much Smart’s professional life has evolved over the decades.

She has continued earning major roles and recognition well into her 70s.

One viewer described Smart’s career as evidence that professional success does not have to follow a fixed timeline.

“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.”

Smart’s journey has included periods of extraordinary professional success alongside deeply personal challenges.

She faced severe warnings when becoming a mother for the first time, later went through a demanding international adoption process and eventually lost the husband who had been beside her for decades.

A Family Story Defined by Resilience and Love

Forrest’s appearance alongside his mother offered a rare public glimpse into a family that has experienced enormous change.

The young boy Smart and Gilliland traveled to China to bring home is now 17.

He has grown up through the loss of his father while watching his mother continue one of the strongest periods of her career.

Smart, meanwhile, has repeatedly described how important her children became as she attempted to rebuild her life after Gilliland’s death.

Watching them remain happy and continue thriving helped her navigate the grief that followed the loss of her husband.

That history gave the mother-and-son appearance at the 2026 Emmys significance beyond the photographs taken on the red carpet.

For Smart, it represented another moment in a family journey that had included fear, determination, adoption, grief and recovery.

After everything the family had endured, Smart was able to celebrate one of the most significant nights of her career with Forrest standing beside her.

And behind that rare public moment was the story of a mother who had repeatedly described her children not simply as part of her life, but as the people who helped anchor her through its most difficult chapters.