Ethan Hawke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ethan Hawke
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Hawke at the 2018 Montclair Film Festival
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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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Works
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Full list |
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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, author, and film director. He has starred in many popular movies and TV shows. Ethan Hawke is also known for writing books and directing films and plays.
He first appeared in the movie Explorers (1985). He became well-known for his role in Dead Poets Society (1989). Hawke also starred in the Before trilogy of films with Julie Delpy. He was nominated for four Academy Awards for his work.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ethan Hawke was born in Austin, Texas, in 1970. His mother, Leslie Green, was a charity worker, and his father, James Hawke, worked in insurance. His parents got married young and divorced when Ethan was four years old.
After his parents separated, Ethan was raised by his mother. They moved several times before settling in New York City. Ethan attended the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights. When he was 10, his mother remarried, and they moved to West Windsor Township, New Jersey. He went to West Windsor Plainsboro High School there. He later graduated from the Hun School of Princeton in 1988.
Discovering Acting
In high school, Ethan Hawke wanted to be a writer. However, he soon became interested in acting. He performed on stage for the first time at age 13. This was in a play called Saint Joan at The McCarter Theatre. He also acted in high school plays like Meet Me in St. Louis.
After high school, he studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University. He left college when he got a role in Dead Poets Society. He later studied English at New York University for two years. But he left again to focus on his acting career.
Acting Career Highlights
Starting Out in the 1980s
Ethan Hawke got his first movie role at 14 in Explorers (1985). He played a schoolboy who loved aliens, alongside River Phoenix. The movie was well-liked but did not do well at the box office. This made Hawke stop acting for a short time. He later said this disappointment was hard for him at such a young age.
In 1989, Hawke became famous for his role in Dead Poets Society. He played one of the students taught by Robin Williams, who was a very inspiring English teacher. Critics praised Hawke's performance as the shy Todd. The film was very successful and won a BAFTA Award for Best Film. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. This movie is still Hawke's most successful film in terms of money earned.
1990s Film Successes
After Dead Poets Society, Hawke starred in Dad (1989). In 1991, he got his first main role in White Fang. He played Jack Conroy, a gold hunter who becomes friends with a wolfdog. Critics said Hawke did a good job showing Jack's love for White Fang. He also appeared in the war film A Midnight Clear (1992). In Alive (1993), he played Nando Parrado, a survivor of a plane crash in the Andes mountains.
In 1994, Hawke starred in Reality Bites. He played Troy Dyer, a character who did not care much about his future. Critics praised his performance, saying he captured the character well. The next year, he received great reviews for Before Sunrise (1995). In this film, he played a young American man who meets a French woman (Julie Delpy) on a train. They spend a night exploring Vienna and getting to know each other. People loved how real and natural their performances felt.
Away from acting, Hawke directed the music video for the song "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb in 1994. This song was featured in Reality Bites.
In 1997, Hawke starred in the science fiction film Gattaca. He played a man who pretends to be someone else to join a society of genetically perfect humans. Even though the movie did not make a lot of money, critics liked it. In 1998, he was in Great Expectations with Gwyneth Paltrow. He also worked with director Richard Linklater again on The Newton Boys.
2000s: Training Day and Before Sunset
In 2000, Ethan Hawke played the main character in Hamlet. This film updated the famous William Shakespeare play to modern-day New York City. Hawke felt this made the play easier to understand. In 2001, he appeared in two more Linklater films: Waking Life and Tape. Both films were praised by critics.
Hawke received a lot of praise for his role in Training Day (2001). He played Jake Hoyt, a new police officer, working with Denzel Washington. The film was a big success, earning over $100 million worldwide. Critics said Hawke's performance was very believable. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.
In 2002, Hawke directed his first movie, Chelsea Walls. It was about artists living in the famous Hotel Chelsea in New York City. He also published his second novel, Ash Wednesday, which became a New York Times Best Seller. The book was about a soldier who leaves his post and his pregnant girlfriend.
In 2004, Hawke starred in Taking Lives and Before Sunset. Before Sunset was a sequel to Before Sunrise and was co-written by Hawke, Linklater, and Delpy. This film was very successful and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hawke called it one of his favorite movies.
He also appeared in the action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and the crime thriller Lord of War (2005) with Nicolas Cage. In 2006, he directed his second film, The Hottest State, based on his own novel. In 2007, Hawke starred in the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, which was highly praised.
2010s: Boyhood and First Reformed
In 2010, Hawke played a vampire doctor in the science fiction horror film Daybreakers. He also starred in Brooklyn's Finest, where his performance was well-received. In 2011, he played Starbuck in a TV show based on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.
In 2012, Hawke starred in his first horror movie, Sinister. The film made a lot of money, earning $87 million worldwide. Hawke explained that he usually avoided horror films, but the character and director for Sinister convinced him.
In 2013, Hawke starred in Before Midnight, the third film in the Before series. This film, like the others, received great reviews. Hawke, Linklater, and Delpy were nominated for another Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also starred in the horror-thriller The Purge, which was a big box office success.
In 2014, Linklater's film Boyhood was released. This movie was filmed over 12 years, showing a boy's life from age 6 to 18. Hawke played the boy's father. The film was highly praised and won many awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Hawke also received nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.
He continued to work on various films, including the science fiction thriller Predestination (2014) and Good Kill (2014). In September 2014, Hawke's first documentary, Seymour: An Introduction, premiered. It was about classical musician Seymour Bernstein.
In 2015, Hawke starred in Born to Be Blue, playing jazz musician Chet Baker. He also appeared in the romantic comedy Maggie's Plan. In November 2015, he published his third novel, Rules for a Knight. In 2016, he starred in the western film In a Valley of Violence and reunited with Denzel Washington for The Magnificent Seven. He also released a graphic novel called Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars.
In 2017, Hawke starred in First Reformed, which received positive reviews. In 2018, he directed his third film, Blaze, about musician Blaze Foley. He also starred in the crime thriller Stockholm.
Recent Work in the 2020s
In 2019, Hawke and Jason Blum turned the book The Good Lord Bird into a TV miniseries. It premiered in 2020 on Showtime. Hawke starred as John Brown, a famous abolitionist. In the 2020 film Tesla, he played the inventor Nikola Tesla.
His third novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness, was published in 2021. He also appeared in the horror film The Black Phone (2021) and the Viking epic The Northman (2022).
In 2022, Hawke directed a six-part documentary series called The Last Movie Stars about actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. He also voiced Bruce Wayne/Batman in the animated children's TV series Batwheels.
Stage Career
Ethan Hawke has often said that theater is his "first love." He feels he can be more creative on stage. He made his Broadway debut in 1992 in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. The next year, he helped start a theater company called Malaparte in Manhattan.
Hawke returned to Broadway in 2003 in Henry IV. Critics praised his performance. In 2005, he starred in the play Hurlyburly and was nominated for an award. From 2006 to 2007, he starred in The Coast of Utopia, an eight-hour play. This role earned him his first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2007, he directed a play called Things We Want.
In 2009, Hawke appeared in two plays directed by Sam Mendes: The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale. These plays toured in six countries. In 2010, Hawke directed his second play, A Lie of the Mind. Critics praised his direction and the acting in the play. He won an Obie Award for his role in the play Blood from a Stone (2010-2011).
In 2019, Hawke returned to Broadway in a new production of Sam Shepard's True West. The show received excellent reviews. Ethan Hawke is also a member of the LAByrinth theatre company.
Personal Life
Ethan Hawke lives in Boerum Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. He also owns a small island in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he sometimes spends summers. He is related to the famous playwright Tennessee Williams.
Family Life
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On May 1, 1998, Ethan Hawke married actress Uma Thurman. They met while filming Gattaca. They have two children together: Maya (born 1998) and Levon (born 2002). They divorced in 2005.
In 2008, Ethan Hawke married Ryan Shawhughes. She had worked as a nanny for his children before. They have two daughters, Clementine and Indiana.
Beliefs and Views
Ethan Hawke believes in feminism and has spoken about how the movie business can be unfair to women. He has also supported individual rights.
Hawke identifies as an Episcopalian. He has joked about his religious background, saying his mother called them "wannabe Catholics." He directed a movie called Wildcat about a Catholic writer, which starred his daughter, Maya.
Helping Others
Ethan Hawke has been involved with the New York Public Library. He has served as a co-chair for their Young Lions Committee. In 2001, he helped create the Young Lions Fiction Award. This award recognizes young writers under 35. In 2010, he was honored by the New York Public Library. In 2016, he joined the library's board of trustees.
Political Views
Ethan Hawke supports the Democratic Party. He has supported various Democratic candidates for President. He also supports gay rights. In 2011, he and his wife made a video supporting same-sex marriage in New York.
Hawke has said he cares more about great art than politics. He finds it exciting to see people of his generation create amazing art. He has also been critical of Donald Trump.
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
