Ethan hawke

Born on November 6, 1970 in Austin (Texas), Ethan Green Hawke is the son of James and Leslie Hawke, who had him when they were teenagers. After his premature divorce, little Ethan stayed with his mother, who moved to New Jersey. Since he was very young, his mother realized his talent, took him to acting classes at the McCarter Theater, and presented him to various auditions, so he was soon on stage. During his childhood he became close friends with Bryan Singer , later director of titles like The Usual Suspects and X-Men .

Thus, Ethan Hawke made his film debut at the age of 15 as the protagonist of Explorers , by Joe Dante , along with the also very young River Phoenix . It told the story of three children who wanted to build a ship to undertake a space trip.

Ethan Hawke’s career took a big leap when he was cast as the insecure Todd Anderson , the new student in Peter Weir ‘s Dead Poets Club . The charismatic professor John Keating – played by Robin Williams – helped him cope with his shyness. The film was a great success, but it had a bad part, because stopping being “the boy from Dead Poets Club ” was not easy.

He played the grandson of Jack Lemmon , in My Father . After starring in White Fang , a correct adaptation of Jack London ‘s novel , he returned to give the bell with the main role of They live! , which tells with great elegance the terrible drama of the South American athletes injured in the Andes, who had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Hawke was assigned to play Nando Parrado, who worked as a consultant on the film.

In Reality Bites , directed by Ben Stiller , Ethan Hawke played the best friend of Lelaina ( Winona Ryder ), the protagonist. The disheveled appearance of his character, and his struggle to make his way in life, perfectly reflected the youth of the 90s, which is why the film is considered representative of the so-called “Generation X” at that time.

Hawke befriended Richard Linklater , a young director preparing an independent production, Before Sunrise , where he offered to play the title role. This is how he ended up playing Jesse, an American who meets a French woman ( Julie Delpy ) during a train trip. An attraction arises between the two that makes them extend their conversation. With only two characters, and thanks to the freshness of the dialogues, the film became a success, and led to Linklater reuniting the two actors almost a decade later in Before Sunset , a very interesting sequel.

Linklater’s film begins a stage in which Hawke carefully chooses his roles, in films like Gattaca (1997), a science fiction film about genetic manipulation, which did not need a large budget to warn of the danger of lack of ethics. in scientific advances. He directed Andrew Niccol , who recruited him again years later for The Lord of War , about arms trafficking.

In Gattaca he had met Uma Thurman , who in real life was asked by Hawke three times to marry him, until he said yes. They had two daughters together before their divorce in 2004.

Hawke has interpreted adaptations of great writers, such as Charles Dickens – Great Expectations (1998) – and William Shakespeare – Hamlet (2000) -, an excellent thriller by Sidney Lumet titled Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead and even a film that mixes vampires. with science fiction – Daybreakers –. He played cops in Antoine Fuqua ‘s Assault on the 13th Precinct , Lives of Others , and Training Day ., who prepared the project always thinking of him. For his role as a rookie sent to patrol with a corrupt veteran, he was nominated for an Oscar, although the one who won the statuette was Denzel Washington , his co-star. Hawke has another later nomination, for best adapted screenplay, for his dialogues, many of them improvised according to a previously set story, in the aforementioned Before Sunset .

After divorcing Thurman, she has joined Ryan Shawhughes, with whom she has had another baby.