Ethan Hawke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ethan Hawke
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Hawke in 2025
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Ethan Green Hawke
November 6, 1970 Austin, Texas, U.S.
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| Years active | 1985–present |
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| Children | 4, including Maya and Levon Hawke |
| Awards | Full list |
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is known for playing a wide variety of roles in movies, television shows, and plays.
Hawke's first movie was Explorers in 1985. He became famous after his role in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. He is also well known for starring in the Before trilogy of films, which came out between 1995 and 2013.
He has been nominated for four Academy Awards. Two of these were for Best Supporting Actor in the movies Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014). The other two were for helping write the screenplays for Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013).
Some of his other famous movies include Reality Bites (1994), Gattaca (1997), The Black Phone (2021), and The Northman (2022). He has also directed movies and written several novels. In 2022, he played the villain Arthur Harrow in the Marvel series Moon Knight.
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Early Life and Education
Ethan Hawke was born in Austin, Texas, on November 6, 1970. His parents, James Hawke and Leslie Green, were students at the University of Texas at Austin. They divorced when he was four years old.
Hawke was raised by his mother. They moved several times before settling in New York City. When he was 10, his mother remarried, and the family moved to New Jersey.
In high school, Hawke wanted to be a writer, but he also became interested in acting. He acted in his first play at age 13. After high school, he studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University but left when he was cast in Dead Poets Society. He later studied English at New York University for two years before leaving to focus on his acting career.
Acting Career
1980s: First Roles and Big Break
At age 14, Hawke got his first movie role in Explorers (1985), where he acted alongside River Phoenix. The movie received good reviews, but it didn't do well at the box office. This experience was difficult for him, and he briefly stopped acting.
His big break came in 1989 with the film Dead Poets Society. He played Todd Anderson, a shy student inspired by his English teacher, played by Robin Williams. The movie was a huge success and won many awards. It remains Hawke's most successful film. The success of the movie convinced him to continue his acting career.
1990s: Growing Fame
In the 1990s, Hawke starred in many films. In 1991, he had his first leading role in White Fang. He played a gold hunter in the Yukon who befriends a wolfdog.
In 1994, he starred in Reality Bites with Winona Ryder. The next year, he appeared in Before Sunrise, a romantic drama directed by Richard Linklater. In the film, he and French actress Julie Delpy play two young people who meet on a train and spend a night exploring Vienna.
Besides acting, Hawke also directed a music video for the song "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb. In 1996, he published his first novel, The Hottest State.
He also starred in the science fiction film Gattaca (1997). Although it wasn't a box office hit, the film received good reviews from critics.
2000s: Major Roles and Directing
In 2000, Hawke played the main character in a modern version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The following year, he starred in Training Day as a rookie police officer alongside Denzel Washington. The film was a big success, and Hawke's performance earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2002, Hawke directed his first film, Chelsea Walls. He also published his second novel, Ash Wednesday, which became a bestseller.
In 2004, he co-wrote and starred in Before Sunset, the sequel to Before Sunrise. He, Linklater, and Delpy were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2006, he directed his second movie, The Hottest State, based on his own novel.
2010s: A Decade of Acclaim
The 2010s were a very successful decade for Hawke. In 2012, he starred in the horror film Sinister, which was a box office hit.
In 2013, he starred in Before Midnight, the third film in the Before series. He, Linklater, and Delpy once again received an Academy Award nomination for their screenplay.
In 2014, the film Boyhood was released. It was filmed over 12 years and follows a boy's life from age 6 to 18. Hawke played the boy's father. The film was named one of the best of the year, and Hawke received nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and other award shows.
He also directed a documentary called Seymour: An Introduction (2014), about the classical pianist Seymour Bernstein. In 2017, he starred in the drama First Reformed as a troubled military chaplain, a role for which he received great praise.
2020s: Recent Work
In 2020, Hawke co-created and starred in the TV miniseries The Good Lord Bird, playing the abolitionist John Brown.
In 2022, Hawke played the main villain, Arthur Harrow, in the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight. That same year, he starred as a child kidnapper in the horror film The Black Phone. He also appeared in the Viking movie The Northman.
He also directed The Last Movie Stars, a documentary series about actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
Stage Career
Hawke has said that theater is his "first love." He made his Broadway debut in 1992 in a play by Anton Chekhov called The Seagull.
In 2007, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in Tom Stoppard's play The Coast of Utopia. He has also directed several plays, including Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind in 2010, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
In 2019, he returned to Broadway in a revival of Sam Shepard's play True West, co-starring Paul Dano. The show received excellent reviews.
Personal Life
Hawke lives in Brooklyn, New York City. He also owns a small island in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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On May 1, 1998, Hawke married actress Uma Thurman. They met on the set of the movie Gattaca. They have two children, Maya (born 1998) and Levon (born 2002), who are also actors. The couple separated in 2003 and their divorce was finalized in 2005.
In 2008, Hawke married Ryan Shawhughes. They have two daughters.
Hawke supports several charities. He is a co-chair of the New York Public Library's Young Lions Committee and helped create an award for young writers. He is also a supporter of the Democratic Party.
Filmography
Discography
| Year | Song | Contribution | Artist | Album |
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| 2023 | "The Pink Seashell" | Spoken Word | Fall Out Boy | So Much (for) Stardust |
Awards and nominations
See also
In Spanish: Ethan Hawke para niños
