Ethan Hawke

Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author and film director. He has gained critical acclaim for his versatility across a wide range of roles, starring in both blockbusters and independent films. In a career on both stage and screen spanning more than four decades, Hawke has received numerous accolades, including a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a British Academy Film Award and a Tony Award.

Hawke made his film debut at age fourteen in Explorers (1985) and gained wider recognition for his role as a student in Dead Poets Society (1989). During the 1990s, he established himself as a leading man with Ben Stiller's Reality Bites (1994), Andrew Niccol's Gattaca (1997), and Alfonso Cuarón's Great Expectations (1998). He earned a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for portraying a rookie police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). Hawke collaborated with Richard Linklater in the acclaimed Before trilogy (1995–2013). The latter two films garnered him two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations. Hawke starred in Linklater's coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014), earning nominations for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Hawke achieved commercial success in films Sinister (2012), The Purge (2013), The Magnificent Seven (2016), and The Black Phone (2021), and saw critical acclaim for his roles in Maudie (2016) and First Reformed (2017). Hawke has directed the narrative films Chelsea Walls (2001), The Hottest State (2006), and Blaze (2018), as well as the documentary Seymour: An Introduction (2014) and the documentary series The Last Movie Stars (2022). He portrayed abolitionist John Brown in the miniseries The Good Lord Bird (2020), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, and appeared as Arthur Harrow in the Marvel miniseries Moon Knight (2022).

Hawke has appeared in many theater productions. He made his Broadway debut in 1992 in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 2007 for his performance in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia. In 2010, he was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play for directing Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. Divorced from Uma Thurman, he has been married to Ryan Shawhughes since 2008; he has two children from each marriage, including actors Maya Hawke and Levon Hawke.

Early life and education

The front of a school

The Packer Collegiate Institute, which Hawke attended

Ethan Green Hawke was born in Austin, Texas, on November 6, 1970.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n965">Template:Cite web</ref> His father, James Hawke, was an insurance actuary, while his mother, Leslie (née Green), was a charity worker and teacher.<ref name="mission">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="renaissance">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p098">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke's parents were high school sweethearts from Fort Worth, Texas and married when his mother was seventeen.<ref name="NYTimes-HawkeWeissVows-2012">Template:Cite news</ref> Hawke was born a year later, while both of his parents were attending the University of Texas at Austin. His parents separated and later divorced in 1974, when he was four years old.<ref name="mission"/><ref name="actors">Template:Cite episode</ref>

After his parents' separation, Hawke was raised by his mother. They moved several times before settling in Brooklyn, New York City, where he attended the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights.<ref name="m423">Template:Cite</ref><ref name="q566">Template:Cite web</ref> When Hawke was ten or twelve, his mother remarried and the family relocated to West Windsor Township, New Jersey.<ref name="m423"/><ref name="o347">Template:Cite web</ref> There, he attended West Windsor Plainsboro High School<ref name="z593">Template:Cite web</ref> before transferring to the Hun School of Princeton, a boarding school from which he graduated in 1988.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Around this time, Hawke volunteered with his mother's organization, the Alex Fund, a charity that supported educational opportunities for underprivileged children in Romania.<ref name="p098"/>

In high school, Hawke aspired to become a writer but developed a strong interest in acting.<ref name="w448">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="never">Template:Cite web</ref> He made his stage debut at age thirteen in a McCarter Theatre production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan.<ref name="p098"/> He later appeared in his high school's productions of Meet Me in St. Louis and You Can't Take It with You. While attending the Hun School, he took acting classes at the McCarter Theatre on the Princeton University campus.<ref name="keen eye">Template:Cite news</ref> After graduating, Hawke studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh but left after being cast in Dead Poets Society (1989).<ref name="payoff">Template:Cite news</ref> He later enrolled in New York University's English program for two years before leaving to pursue acting full-time.<ref name="never" />

Career

1985–1993: Early years and breakthrough

With his mother's permission, Hawke attended his first casting call at age fourteen and was cast in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), playing a misfit schoolboy alongside River Phoenix.<ref name="d093">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="n045">Template:Cite web</ref> Although the film received positive reviews,<ref name="w022">Template:Cite web</ref> it performed poorly at the box office, leading Hawke to step away from acting for a time after its release. He later described the experience as difficult to handle at such a young age, remarking, "I would never recommend that a kid act".<ref name="payoff"/> In 1989, Hawke had his breakthrough role as a shy student in Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society.<ref name="k877">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="z585">Template:Cite web</ref> The film was critically and commercially successful and won the BAFTA Award for Best Film.<ref>Template:Multiref</ref> Reflecting on the impact of its success, Hawke later said, "I didn't want to be an actor and I went back to college. But then the film's success was so monumental that I was getting offers to be in such interesting movies and be in such interesting places and it seemed silly to pursue anything else.'"<ref name="n045"/> After filming Dead Poets Society, he auditioned for his next project, the comedy-drama Dad (1989).<ref name="q591">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="n156">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1991, Hawke co-founded Malaparte, a Manhattan-based theater company that operated until 2000.<ref name="m764">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="a490">Template:Cite web</ref> His first leading role came with Randal Kleiser's film White Fang (1991), an adaptation of Jack London's novel of the same name, in which he portrayed a young Klondike gold prospector who befriends a wolfdog.<ref name="y658">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="y882">Template:Cite web</ref> A writer for The Oregonian appreciated how he kept the film from "being ridiculous or overly sentimental",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while Roger Ebert praised how he was "properly callow at the beginning and properly matured at the end";<ref name="v224">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke himself later called it the "single best experience of my acting life".<ref name="w999">Template:Cite web</ref> In A Midnight Clear (1992), his character leads a group of American soldiers during World War II, tasked with capturing a small squad of German troops stationed in the Ardennes forest in France.<ref name="x083">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke made his Broadway debut in 1992, portraying the playwright Konstantin Treplev in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull at the Lyceum Theater in Manhattan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He then played Nando Parrado, one of the survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes, in the survival drama Alive (1993), adapted from Piers Paul Read's 1974 non-fiction book.<ref name="Ebert">Template:Cite news</ref>

1994–2000: Established leading man

Hawke's next role was in the Generation X drama Reality Bites (1994), in which he portrayed a disaffected slacker who mocks the ambitions of his love interest, played by Winona Ryder.<ref name="o195">Template:Cite web</ref> Ebert liked his "convincing and noteworthy" performance, writing that "Hawke captures all the right notes as the boorish Troy".<ref name="o195"/> Caryn James observed that his "subtle and strong performance makes it clear that Troy feels things too deeply to risk failure and admit he's feeling anything at all".<ref name="n815">Template:Cite web</ref> The film did moderately well at the box office, grossing $41Template:Nbspmillion on a budget of $11Template:Nbspmillion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hawke starred in Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995), the first installment of the Before film trilogy.<ref name="d499">Template:Cite web</ref> He portrayed a young American man who meets a young French woman—portrayed by Julie Delpy—and they both disembark in Vienna.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The reception for the film and Hawke's performance was positive, with the former receiving [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|a 100Template:Nbsppercent rating on Rotten Tomatoes]].<ref name="k582">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hawke directed the music video for Lisa Loeb's US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Stay (I Missed You)"; Loeb was then a member of Hawke's theater company.<ref name="u485">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Spin magazine named the video its Video of the Year in 1994.<ref name="Spin199412">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hawke appeared in a 1995 production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, directed by Gary Sinise at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.<ref name="q276">Template:Cite web</ref> He published his first novel, titled The Hottest State, in 1996, which tells the story of a love affair between a young actor and a singer. He described writing the book as both the "scariest Template:Nbsp[... but also] one of the best things I ever did."<ref name="n045">Template:Cite web</ref> Entertainment Weekly said that Hawke "opens himself to rough literary scrutiny in The Hottest State. If Hawke is serious [...] he'd do well to work awhile in less exposed venues."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The New York Times thought Hawke did "a fine job of showing what it's like to be young and full of confusion", concluding that The Hottest State was ultimately "a sweet love story".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke called his script in Andrew Niccol's science fiction film Gattaca (1997) "one of the more interesting" ones he had read in "a number of years".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In it, he played the role of a man who infiltrates a society of genetically perfect humans by assuming another man's identity.<ref name="y822">Template:Cite web</ref> Ebert called him a good choice for the lead role, stating that he "combin[es] the restless dreams of a 'Godchild' with the plausible exterior of a lab baby".<ref name="y822"/> Alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert De Niro, he starred in Great Expectations (1998), a contemporary film adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1861 novel of the same name, directed by Alfonso Cuarón.<ref name="e369">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke criticized the film's time of release, stating that "nobody gave a shit about anything but Titanic for about nine months afterTemplate:Nbsp[...] particularly another romance".<ref name="t847">Template:Cite web</ref> He collaborated with Linklater once again on The Newton Boys (1998), based on the true story of the Newton Gang.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The film saw generally negative reception; Rotten Tomatoes' consensus said that the "sharp" cast made up for "the frustrations of a story puzzlingly short on dramatic tension".<ref name="g481">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1999, he starred as Kilroy in the Tennessee Williams play Camino Real at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That year, Hawke starred in Snow Falling on Cedars, adapted from David Guterson's novel of the same name. Set in the 1950s, he played a young reporter who covers the murder trial of a fisherman.<ref name="s110">Template:Cite web</ref> The film received a tepid response,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with Entertainment Weekly commenting that "Hawke scrunches himself into such a dark knot that we have no idea who [his character] Ishmael is or why he acts as he does".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hawke's next film role was in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000), in which he played the titular character. The adaptation set William Shakespeare's play in contemporary New York City, a choice Hawke said made the story feel more "accessible and vital".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2001–2006: Training Day and further Linklater films

In 2001, Hawke appeared in two more Linklater films: Waking Life and Tape, both critically acclaimed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the animated Waking Life, he shared a single scene with former co-star Delpy continuing conversations begun in Before Sunrise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The real-time drama Tape, based on a play by Stephen Belber, took place entirely in a single motel room with three characters played by Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Uma Thurman.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hawke then portrayed rookie cop Jake Hoyt alongside Denzel Washington, as part of a pair of narcotics detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department spending a day in the gang-infested neighborhoods of South Los Angeles, in Training Day (2001).<ref name="g362">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="c970">Template:Cite web</ref> The film saw favorable critical reception;<ref name="o339">Template:Cite web</ref> Paul Clinton of CNN described Hawke's performance as "totally believable as a doe-eyed rookie going toe-to-toe with a legend [Washington]".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hawke later called Training Day his "best experience in Hollywood".<ref name="n045"/> His performance earned him nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke explored several projects outside of acting in the early 2000s. He made his directorial debut with Chelsea Walls (2002), an independent drama about five struggling artists living in New York City's Hotel Chelsea.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> That same year, he published his second novel, Ash Wednesday (2002), which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Centered on an AWOL soldier and his pregnant girlfriend,<ref name="n045"/> the novel earned praise from critics. The Guardian described it as "sharply and poignantly writtenTemplate:Nbsp[...] an intense one-sitting read",<ref name="d233">Template:Cite web</ref> while James noted that Hawke showed "a novelist's innate giftsTemplate:Nbsp[...] a sharp eye, a fluid storytelling voice and the imagination to create complicated individuals", though it found him "weaker at narrative tricks that can be taught".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Returning to Broadway, he played Henry Percy (Hotspur) in Jack O'Brien's 2003 production of Henry IV.<ref name="four">Template:Cite news</ref> Ben Brantley, writing in The New York Times, opined that Hawke's interpretation of Hotspur might be "too contemporary for some tastes", but allowed "great fun to watch as he fumes and fulminates".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke returned to film in 2004 with two releases: the psychological thriller Taking Lives and the romantic drama Before Sunset. Upon release, Taking Lives received broadly negative reviews,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though Hawke's performance as a serial killer who takes on the identities of his victims was favored by a critic from the Star Tribune, who said that he played the "complex character persuasively".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He then reunited with Linklater for Before Sunset (2004), the second installment of the Before trilogy.<ref name="a561">Template:Cite web</ref> Co-written by Hawke, Linklater and Delpy, the film follows a young man and woman who reunite in Paris nine years after meeting in Vienna.<ref name="i864">Template:Cite web</ref> A Hartford Courant writer remarked that the screenwriting collaboration between the three "[kept] Jesse and Celine iridescent and fresh, one of the most delightful and moving of all romantic movie couples".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hawke called it one of his favorite films, a "romance for realists".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Before Sunset was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke starred in the 2005 action thriller Assault on Precinct 13, a loose remake of John Carpenter's 1976 film of the same name with an updated storyline.<ref name="m303">Template:Cite web</ref> He played a police sergeant who must band together with criminals to defend a police precinct from a siege by corrupt cops.<ref name="w803">Template:Cite web</ref> While numerous critics found it inferior to the original,<ref name="e571">Template:Cite web</ref> they enjoyed Hawke's performance,<ref name="h868">Template:Cite web</ref> with Jami Bernard from New York Daily News stating that Hawke and co-star Laurence Fishburne made the film work, "supported by a mostly strong cast".<ref name="s343">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, he directed his second feature film, The Hottest State, based on his 1996 novel of the same name.<ref name="w270">Template:Cite web</ref> It saw poor reception from critics, largely for being too self-conscious and overly pretentious.<ref name="j161">Template:Cite web</ref> From November 2006 to May 2007, Hawke starred as Mikhail Bakunin in Tom Stoppard's trilogy play The Coast of Utopia, an eight-hour-long production at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The performance earned Hawke a Tony Award nomination for the Best Featured Actor in a Play.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2007–2012: Continued acclaim

Hawke wearing a red jacket

Hawke at the premiere of The Hottest State in 2007

Hawke starred alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney in the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), the final direction of Sidney Lumet. Hawke prepared for his role by working closely with Lumet during a two-week rehearsal period, which allowed the cast to make creative decisions before filming began. On-set, Lumet intentionally pitted Hawke and Hoffman against each other to heighten the tension.<ref name="i372">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="n393">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="b128">Template:Cite web</ref> In Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Hawke played the younger brother of a debt-ridden broker who entices him into a plan to rob their parents' bank, but the scheme goes awry.<ref name="t879">Template:Cite web</ref> USA TodayTemplate:'s Claudia Puig deemed the film "highly entertaining", describing Hawke and Hoffman's performances as excellent,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, stated that Hawke "[dug] deep to create a haunting portrayal of loss".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In November 2007, Hawke directed Things We Want, a two-act play by Jonathan Marc Sherman, for the artist-driven off-Broadway company The New Group.<ref name="things">Template:Cite news</ref> New York praised Hawke's "understated direction", particularly his ability to "steer a gifted cast away from the histrionics".<ref name="things" /> In Brian Goodman's crime drama What Doesn't Kill You (2008), Hawke played the childhood friend of Mark Ruffalo's character, who both become involved in crime in their South Boston neighborhood and scheme a heist to escape poverty.<ref name="v970">Template:Cite web</ref> Peter Brunette—in The Hollywood Reporter—named Hawke's performance a "personal best",<ref name="c731">Template:Cite web</ref> and the New York Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote that he "holds [the viewer] with a physically expressive performance that telegraphs each byroad of his character's inner world".<ref name="v970">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke appeared in two features in 2009: New York, I Love You, a romance film comprising twelve short films;<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Staten Island, a crime drama in which he co-starred alongside Vincent D'Onofrio and Seymour Cassel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke wearing a suit and tie, slightly smiling

Hawke at the 66th Venice International Film Festival in 2009

To prepare for his role as a vampire hematologist in the science fiction horror film Daybreakers (2009), Hawke studied "the greats" of past cinematic vampire performances, including Willem Dafoe's portrayal in the Shadow of the Vampire (2000).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="d182">Template:Cite web</ref> He traveled to Australia to film Daybreakers, which was directed by the Spierig brothers.<ref name="t713">Template:Cite web</ref> The film fared well both critically and commercially, grossing $51Template:Nbspmillion on a $20Template:Nbspmillion budget.<ref name="v697">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="z386">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke's next role was in Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest, in which he portrayed a corrupt narcotics officer.<ref name="finest">Template:Cite news</ref> Although the film—released in the US in 2010—opened to mediocre reception,<ref name="m604">Template:Cite web</ref> his performance garnered praise from critics, including a New York Daily News reviewer who remarked, "Hawke—continuing an evolution toward stronger, more intense acting than anyone might've predicted from him 20 years ago—drives the movie."<ref name="k229">Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2010, Hawke directed his second play, Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, on the New York stage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It marked the first major off-Broadway revival of the play since its 1985 debut.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite news</ref> Hawke was attracted to the play's exploration of "the nature of reality" and its "weird juxtaposition of humor and mysticism".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt"/> In his review for The New York Times, Ben Brantley lauded the production's "scary, splendid clarity" and praised Hawke for eliciting a performance that "connoisseurs of precision acting will be savoring for years to come".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Entertainment Weekly commented that although A Lie of the Mind "wobbles a bit in its late stages", Hawke's "hearty" revival managed to "resurrect the spellbinding uneasiness of the original".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The production garnered five Lucille Lortel Award nominations, including one for Outstanding Revival,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and earned Hawke a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Play.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 2011 television adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, Hawke played the role of Starbuck, the first officer to William Hurt's Captain Ahab.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He then starred opposite Kristin Scott Thomas in Paweł Pawlikowski's The Woman in the Fifth, a "lush puzzler" about an American novelist struggling to rebuild his life in Paris.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, Hawke appeared in the horror genre for the first time, playing a true crime writer in Scott Derrickson's Sinister. Before the US release of Sinister, Hawke said that he had previously been hesitant about horror films because they often do not require strong acting performances. However, he mentioned that the producer of Sinister, Jason Blum, with whom Hawke had a background in theater, approached him with an offer involving a script that featured both a "great character and a real filmmaker".<ref name="x029">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="b005">Template:Cite web</ref>

2013–2018: Career expansion

Hawke with bleached hair, wearing a black overcoat. The collar of a gray suit is visible in the photo, with a white shirt and dark gray tie.

Hawke at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013

Hawke reunited with director Linklater and co-star Delpy for the third installment of the Before trilogy, titled Before Midnight (2013).<ref name="t010">Template:Cite web</ref> The film follows a couple, he and Delpy's character, who spend a summer vacation in Greece with their children.<ref name="y493">Template:Cite web</ref> Before Midnight received critical acclaim,<ref name="h629">Template:Cite web</ref> with one from Variety naming the scene in the hotel room "one for the actors' handbook".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The film earned Hawke, Linklater and Delpy another Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.<ref name="p979">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke next starred in the horror-thriller The Purge (2013), set in a future America where all crime is legal for one night each year.<ref name="h458">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="a833">Template:Cite web</ref> Despite mixed reviews, the film opened atop the box office on its opening weekend with a $34Template:Nbspmillion debut.<ref name="w489">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="i293">Template:Cite web</ref> In early 2013, Hawke starred in and directed the play Clive, written by Jonathan Marc Sherman and inspired by Bertolt Brecht's Baal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke prepared for his role as a former racecar driver in Getaway (2013) by attending a one-day driving school at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where he learned high-performance driving techniques such as 180-degree spins and e-brake maneuvers.<ref name="s592">Template:Cite web</ref> The film was critically panned.<ref name="h493">Template:Cite web</ref> He played the title role in a Broadway production of Macbeth at the Lincoln Center Theater in late 2013. The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney criticized the "disharmonious acting styles led by Hawke's underpowered take on [his] role".<ref name="g427">Template:Cite web</ref> Released in mid-2014, Linklater's Boyhood follows the life of an American boy from age six to eighteen, with Hawke portraying his father.<ref name="b578">Template:Cite web</ref> The film became the best-reviewed release of 2014 and was named best film of the year by numerous critics' associations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=scorecard>Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke later admitted that the film's widespread acclaim came as a surprise, recalling that when he first joined the project, it felt less like a "proper movie" and more like "a radical '60s film experiment or something".<ref name="u488">Template:Cite web</ref> He earned several nominations for his performance, including the Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.<ref name="p194">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="v563">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="o910">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hawke reunited with the Spierig brothers for the science fiction thriller Predestination (2014), in which he played a time-traveling agent on his final assignment.<ref name="e281">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="h959">Template:Cite web</ref> Writing for Vulture, David Edelstein wrote how he enjoyed Hawke's "low-key, solemn, enigmatic" performance.<ref name="z351">Template:Cite web</ref> He next reunited with his Gattaca director Andrew Niccol for Good Kill (2014), a contemporary war drama. In his "best screen role in years" according to The Hollywood Reporter, Hawke portrayed a drone pilot grappling with a troubled conscience.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He made his documentary debut with Seymour: An Introduction, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.<ref name="d728">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="j496">Template:Cite web</ref> Conceived after a dinner party attended by both Hawke and its subject, classical pianist Seymour Bernstein, the film is a profile of Bernstein, who later said that, although he was normally a private person, he was unable to decline Hawke's request to make the film because the actor was "so endearing".<ref name=reuters>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke looking straight at the camera

Hawke at the Montclair Film Festival in 2018

Hawke had two films premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, both of which were well-received.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Robert Budreau's drama Born to Be Blue, he portrayed jazz musician Chet Baker, focusing on the artist's turbulent late-1960s comeback and struggle with heroin addiction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also starred in Rebecca Miller's romantic comedy Maggie's Plan as an anthropologist and aspiring novelist, alongside Greta Gerwig and Julianne Moore.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That same year, he appeared in the coming-of-age drama Ten Thousand Saints and the psychological thriller Regression opposite Emma Watson.<ref name="c419">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="m964">Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2015, Hawke published his third book, Rules for a Knight, written as a letter from a father to his four children reflecting on moral values and personal integrity.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In Ti West's western In a Valley of Violence, he played a drifter who seeks revenge in a small frontier town ruled by a ruthless marshal—a performance that critics praised.<ref name="Variety">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2016, Hawke took on two unpleasant roles in succession, first playing the abusive father of a promising young baseball player in The Phenom,<ref name="g317">Template:Cite web</ref> and then the stern husband of Maud Lewis—portrayed by Sally Hawkins—in Maudie. While some critics commended his surprising range, others argued that Hawke was "miscast" as a harsh figure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He reunited with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua and actor Denzel Washington for The Magnificent Seven (2016), a remake of the 1960 western film of the same name.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the film, Hawke played a former Confederate sharpshooter struggling with PTSD from the American Civil War.<ref name="o395">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="z575">Template:Cite web</ref> In the US, the film grossed $34.7 million in its opening weekend, topping the box office.<ref name="o988">Template:Cite web</ref> Also in 2016, Hawke narrated the interactive short film Invasion!, which earned him and his co-creators a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive – Original Daytime Content,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="x771">Template:Cite web</ref> and released his fourth book, Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars, which chronicles the conflicts between the Apache and the US.<ref name="o876">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hawke starred in Paul Schrader's drama First Reformed (2017) as a former military chaplain tormented by the death of his son, whom he had encouraged to join the armed forces, while grappling with the looming threat of climate change.<ref name="j948">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="d167">Template:Cite web</ref> Critics, including SlateTemplate:'s K. Austin Collins, praised his performance, calling it "extraordinarily well-tuned" and stating that "every ounce of likability, vulnerability, angry cynicism and ineptitude [in his career] seems to be summed up here".<ref name="p088">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke had two films premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.<ref name="k584">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="f585">Template:Cite web</ref> In Juliet, Naked, a romantic comedy adapted from Nick Hornby's 2009 novel of the same name, he played an obscure rock musician whose eponymous album drives the plot.<ref name="t746">Template:Cite web</ref> Blaze, his third direction, is a biographical film about the little-known country musician Blaze Foley and was selected for the festival's main competition.<ref name="b831">Template:Cite web</ref>

2019–present: Renewed box-office success

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Hawke at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in 2025

Hawke starred in Vincent D'Onofrio's 2019 western drama The Kid.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the film, he portrayed the sheriff hunting the outlaw Billy the Kid.<ref name="y242">Template:Cite web</ref> The Hollywood Reporter appreciated how his "gracious performance" gave his younger co-star Dane DeHaan "room to stretch out",<ref name="c142">Template:Cite web</ref> while Bilge Ebiri stated in a Vulture article that his "melancholy stoicism"Template:Nbsp[...] might work on paper, but fails to convey much of an inner life".<ref name="j450">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke and producer Jason Blum adapted the novel The Good Lord Bird into a miniseries of the same name, which premiered on Showtime in October 2020.<ref name="t814">Template:Cite news</ref> His role as abolitionist John Brown in the miniseries earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.<ref name="a263">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="p327">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2019, Hawke returned to Broadway in the revival of Sam Shepard's True West, co-starring Paul Dano. The production began previews in December 27, 2018, opened in January 2019 and closed two months later. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was named a Critic's Pick by The New York Times.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, Hawke portrayed Nikola Tesla, the titular inventor and engineer, in the biographical drama film Tesla.<ref name="r503">Template:Cite web</ref> For the role, Hawke drew inspiration from both Tesla's own writings and singer and actor David Bowie, taking cues from Bowie's portrayal of Tesla in The Prestige (2006).<ref name="h308">Template:Cite web</ref> A Slate writer said that his performance was "brilliant but psychologically tortured", suffering from a combination of both "germaphobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder".<ref name="r503"/> Hawke published his third novel and fifth book, titled A Bright Ray of Darkness, in February 2021.<ref name="u048">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, Hawke starred as the primary antagonist Arthur Harrow in the Disney+ streaming series Moon Knight, produced by Marvel Studios.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Devan Coggan, writing for Entertainment Weekly, called him "unsettlingly charismatic" in the role,<ref name="f334">Template:Cite web</ref> while a critic for the Roger Ebert website called "his range, mix of intensity and subtlety in drama and his comedic skillsTemplate:Nbsp[...] impressive".<ref name="b864">Template:Cite web</ref> In The Black Phone (2021), Hawke played the role of a serial killer of children.<ref name="k719">Template:Cite web</ref> An Empire writer praised him for a "frightening and fascinating physical performance",<ref name="t657">Template:Cite web</ref> while Wendy Ide, writing in The Guardian, said that his performance contributed to the film's "rewarding depth of dramatic detail".<ref name="e565">Template:Cite web</ref> The Black Phone was a significant commercial success, grossing $161.4 million.<ref name="q027">Template:Cite web</ref> He then traveled to Ireland to film Robert Eggers' The Northman, a 10th-century Viking epic in which he appeared alongside Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe.<ref name="g190">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="a290">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, Hawke's six-part biographical documentary on Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, The Last Movie Stars, was broadcast on HBO Max.<ref name="newman bio">Template:Cite web</ref> In Linklater's biopic Blue Moon (2025), he led as songwriter Lorenz Hart reflecting on himself on the opening night of the musical Oklahoma!.<ref name="h321">Template:Cite web</ref> A critic for the Houston Chronicle praised his performance as one of the year's best,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while NBC News described it as a career highlight.<ref name="w747">Template:Cite web</ref> Later that year, he reprised his role as the serial killer of children in Black Phone 2, the sequel to The Black Phone.<ref name="k757">Template:Cite web</ref> Collider said that Hawke played "at his best as the Grabber",<ref name="d927">Template:Cite web</ref> while The New York Times said that his performance "create[d] a more cohesive picture than the original".<ref name="k719"/>

Artistry and screen technique

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Hawke has described Robert De Niro as an influence on his acting.

Known for his versatility in a wide range of roles, Hawke was named by Esquire as the greatest actor of his generation in 2022.<ref name="e892">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="t545">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="c436">Template:Cite web</ref> He is also known for starring in both independent films and Hollywood blockbusters.<ref name="p098"/> He describes acting as a "shamanistic process", where "you give over to it, much like singing a song",<ref name="a861">Template:Cite web</ref> and compares portraying characters to music, stating that "you have to get inside your character's song".<ref name="p098"/> Hawke is known for preferring the artistic aspects of being an actor rather than seeking commercial success or fame as a film star.<ref name="x448">Template:Cite web</ref> He is a critic of the industry's increasing emphasis on social-media metrics over talent, calling some casting decisions "crazy".<ref name="b683">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hawke explained that the eclecticism and diversity in his roles stems from his early life; for his mother, he would portray figures like an "artistic, literary, conscientious political thinker". According to The New Yorker theater critic John Lahr, the skills that acting demands—"empathy, imagination, charm, [and] surrender"—are features he developed through his experiences with his mother.<ref name="p098"/> Hawke often tries to tell stories when writing, directing, acting and producing, a practice Lahr said set him apart from his contemporaries.<ref name="p098"/> He has described method acting as "crazy", though he acknowledges that it works for some performers. Hawke instead prefers what he calls "third-person acting", a technique that allows him "to truly become the characters he's playing".<ref name="u357">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="c436">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hawke has cited both Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington as major influences, particularly from a collaboration with the former on Great Expectations (1998), during which he admired De Niro's work ethic: "He's not waiting for someone to give him permission to do the kind of work he wants [...] he's just coming in and doing that kind of work". He observed the same during the filming of Training Day (2001) with Washington,<ref name="a861"/> who Hawke later referred to as the "greatest actor of our generation".<ref name="s593">Template:Cite web</ref> He described Austin Pendleton as the "only acting teacher [he's] ever had".<ref name="x448">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke has credited several directors as key influences, including Peter Weir, who showed him "what filmmaking could be", and Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese, whom he credits with shaping his "adult relationship with film" and motivating him to continue acting.<ref name="l432">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke has received widespread critical acclaim for his enduring creative partnership with director Richard Linklater, with whom he has collaborated on nine films.<ref name="q691">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life and other ventures

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Hawke with wife Ryan at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival

On May 1, 1998, Hawke married actress Uma Thurman, whom he met on the set of Gattaca in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> They have two children, Maya (born 1998) and Levon (born 2002), both of whom became actors.<ref name="s150">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="a817">Template:Cite web</ref> The couple separated in 2003 amidst allegations of infidelity and filed for divorce the following year,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="sunrise">Template:Cite news</ref> which was finalized in August 2005.<ref name="people2005">Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2008, Hawke married Ryan Shawhughes, who had briefly worked as a nanny for his and Thurman's children before graduating from Columbia University.<ref name="p730">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="telegraph">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=barton>Template:Cite news</ref> Addressing speculation about their relationship, Hawke stated that his first marriage had ended "due to many pressures, none of which were remotely connected to Ryan".<ref name=barton/> The couple has two daughters.<ref name="s150"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Hawke identifies as a feminist and has criticized the film industry for being "such a boys' club".<ref name="z352">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He has served as co-chair of the New York Public Library's Young Lions Committee, one of the institution's major philanthropic boards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2001, he co-founded the Young Lions Fiction Award, an annual prize recognizing outstanding fiction by writers under 35.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was named a Library Lion by the New York Public Library in November 2010 and joined the library's board of trustees in May 2016.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> In November 2016, Hawke and Ryan ran the New York City Marathon to support the Doe Fund, a non-profit that works to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction and criminal recidivism.<ref name="z283">Template:Cite web</ref> An Episcopalian, he has said that faith played a larger role in his youth but that he failed to develop it further in adulthood.<ref name="y928">Template:Cite web</ref>

For president of the United States, he supported Bill Bradley in 2000;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Barack Obama in 2008;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hillary Clinton in 2016;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Kamala Harris in 2024.<ref name="j726">Template:Cite web</ref> Hawke has voiced criticism for Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, criticizing him for his Make America Great Again slogan and for threatening to put Hillary Clinton in jail.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is a supporter of gay rights; in March 2011, he and his wife released a video supporting same-sex marriage in New York.<ref name="HRC">Template:Cite web</ref>

Discography

Year	Song	Contribution	Artist	Album
2023	"The Pink Seashell"<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	Spoken Word	Fall Out Boy	So Much (for) Stardust

Publications

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External links

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• Ethan Hawke at The Filmaholic
• Ethan Hawke Interview on Texas Monthly Talks (November 2007)