Ethan Hawke at 50: An Appreciation
Friday, November 6, 2020 at 11:00AM by Lynn Lee
If I had to pick one actor who most perfectly embodies the spirit of Generation X, the choice would be a no-brainer. With all due respect to other 40 and 50something stars (Leo, Brad, Johnny, Keanu) or dead icons (River, Heath) in his peer group, it could never be anyone other than Ethan Hawke. Not because—or not only because—of Reality Bites, which made him the poster child for cynical, disaffected (but secretly vulnerable) Gen X slackers everywhere. Rather because his career exemplifies the quiet independence and under-the-radar achievements of that not-quite-lost, but certainly liminal, generation. He’s been working steadily since his debut, at the age of 14, in Explorers (1985), yet like any good Gen Xer, has successfully eluded easy characterization. He reaches the half century mark today having assembled one of the most intriguing and eclectic bodies of work of any currently living actor...
Truth be told, I wasn’t always an Ethan Hawke fan. I first saw him in Dead Poets Society, where he didn’t make much of an impression on me despite being arguably the main character, surrounded as he was by more colorful and charismatic costars. Even in his brooding heartthrob years, adolescent me didn’t find him at all appealing (“He has a ferrety face and a nasal voice,” I told my friends who thought he was dreamy), and dismissed him as a poser artiste offscreen. I even passed on seeing Before Sunrise when it first came out, because it sounded like the epitome of everything I found annoying about him.
Yet in college I found myself increasingly drawn to his movies and liking the ones I saw. Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca, Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet, even Alfonso Cuarón’s critically panned Great Expectations (which I still have a soft spot for), each piqued my interest with its premise and impressed me with its style and execution. Hawke’s acting, on the other hand, I found merely serviceable. “He’s smart about how he picks projects,” I grudgingly conceded.
My attitude finally shifted with Before Sunset, which I fell head over heels in love with even without having seen Before Sunrise. The experience prompted me to finally see the earlier film, which much to my surprise, I loved even more. Hawke of course had the perfect partner in Julie Delpy, and for that matter Richard Linklater, but none of the Before films would have worked without his full commitment to the character of Jesse—a natural romantic struggling to hold on to his ideals in the face of life’s hardening realities. (In real life, Hawke wasn’t able to hold on to his marriage to Uma Thurman, though it did produce two children, one of whom—Maya—is now a working actress herself who looks exactly like how you’d expect a child of her parents to look.)
Since then, his filmography has been as varied as it is prolific. He’s played cops (surprisingly frequently, due in large part to his collaboration with Antoine Fuqua), musicians of all stripes, a tortured cleric (more on that one in a moment), and most recently, a gonzo John Brown in the Showtime miniseries The Good Lord Bird. For every mainstream multiplex movie he’s made (Training Day, The Purge), he has an indie darling (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Boyhood, First Reformed), a sci-fi oddity or cult favorite (Daybreakers, Predestination), and a teeny-tiny gem that only a handful of moviegoers even know about (Maudie; Seymour: An Introduction, one of my favorites from 2014) but is cherished dearly by those who do.
Ethan Hawke in his Tony nominated role in "The Coast of Utopia"
That’s not even counting his theatrical work, which includes both a Tony nomination (for acting) and a Drama Desk nomination (for directing). He’s had as many misses as hits, both critically and commercially, yet for just about every project he’s been involved with, you can see what drew him to it. It’s clear he rarely, if ever, does any work just for the paycheck.
For all the diversity of his on-screen roles, Hawke isn’t really a chameleon, nor is he a movie star in the usual sense. He often plays an Everyman faced with a deep moral or ethical dilemma, and his gift as an actor is that he focuses the viewer’s attention on the dilemma rather than himself. By the same token, while he’s usually the lead or at least a lead, he just as often has an equal or even dominant co-lead, or happily blends into an ensemble (see, e.g., the recent Catherine Deneuve/Juliette Binoche vehicle The Truth).
The recent shining exception, of course, was his turn in First Reformed, which was probably just out of the running for a Best Actor Oscar nomination in a competitive year. Hawke’s searing performance as a pastor who takes on the spiritual despair of one parishioner, in addition to his own existing doubts, is the heart and soul of that film. Without an ounce of showboating, he powerfully evokes the intense pain of a man of faith driven to the brink by humanity’s cruelty to the planet and to each other. At the same time, he’s once again playing that Everyman who’s simply pondering the tough questions that all of us, at some point, may have to ask ourselves. In that respect, Hawke has long since proven that he’s an actor not just of his generation, but for all generations. May he continue to be smart about how he picks his projects.
Reader Comments (22)
He reminds of Nicole in that he, for the most part, chooses projects that interest him and seeks out collaborators and colleagues with out there ideas and stories. But he still has a certain Hollywood celebrity that he’s maintained. Like Kidman, it doesn’t always work out and sometimes his limitations are apparent but he’s rarely, if ever, just coasting or being lazy. And he’s been doing some of his most interesting work as he’s gotten older. I love Before Sunset specifically, but I had always kind of given Delpy pride of place in my brain when thinking about the movie. Recently revisited it (and Before Sunrise) and he’s absolutely terrific in both and the two of them just work so beautifully off each other. And he is not afraid to take a back seat to costars, Predestination of all things is a perfect example of that, because Snook really does get to walk off with the movie.
I would have given him the oscar for Boyhood. I know he got nominated but I was frustrated about how little the conversation around that movie ever focused on him.
Besides the "Before" trilogy, Ethan's best work is in Maudie, an outstanding, too underseen, and too underappreciated mini-masterpiece. Both he and the equally excellent Sally Hawkins are superb together.
Ethan is a very fun actor ... even in his bad movies.
Thanks for this post. Ethan Hawke is my favorite working actor, and unlike you, I pretty much loved him from the get-go, when I saw him in Dead Poets Society, and I'm happy that, unlike some of his peers, he has aged very well. I agree that he is the quintessential Gen X actor. I think his performance in First Reformed in the best performance of the decade; I still find it impossible to shake certain aspects of it. He is also outstanding in The Good Lord Bird, and the show is a hoot.
Peter, I am glad he is going to work with Nicole in The Northman and hope they share some scenes. He has worked with so many great film actresses (i.e., actresses I adore) including Hawkins, Moore, Binoche, etc.
Ken- I had totally forgotten about Maudie. They are incredible in that movie. I would have nominated Hawkins for that instead of shape of water. It's totally her best performance. Movie is excellent.
LOVE this post. Hawke is pretty underrated. He is oftentime is fantastic in films that are not themselves oscar films at all (e.g. just tremendous in assault on precinct 13, for example). His best performances (in no particular order):
Boyhood
Before Trilogy
Before the devil knows your dead
Assault on Precinct 13
First Reformed
Gattaca
Training Day
I'd have to go back and look at the competition each year but he should have been nominated for at <least> half of these.
That First Reformed performance will still be discussed in years to come/
Peter -
On Awards Daily they have an annual "pretend you're an Oscar voter" ballot. In 2017 I voted for both Hawke and Hawkins as my 1st choices. Of course, although she got a handful of support for Maudie, she made the Top 5 for Shape of Water (I hate that movie otherwise, but she is truly outstanding in it). As for Hawke, he got exactly one vote (clears throat).
kens-I did like Hawkins in Shape of Water a lot (didn't like the movie, although probably a bit better than you) but as someone who liked her without feeling the love (mostly because she hasn't had many opportunities) I couldn't believe how good she was in Maudie.
Not surprised about Hawk, it's not usually the type of role that gets that kind of support and, like Boyhood, his whole approach is so unostentatious. He rarely chooses actively showy roles and I can totally see how the nature of the role and the fact that he's sort of in support to Hawkins lead to being totally ignored, along with the movie admittedly.
My vote would be Micheal j fox.
I would skip a movie if he was in it, usually. I guess his character in Reality Bites made a very negative impression on me. But mostly because his screen persons always seemed so smug and detached to me.
I liked him in the last Sunset movie (the only one I saw), Boyhood and also in First Reformed (and Maudie, too, but next to Hawkins his imperfections showed a bit more).
Even with my appreciation for some of his more recent work, there's still something about him that doesn't interest me. I guess these things are very personal. I would still feel compelled to avoid a movie he is in unless there's critical acclaim for the movie itself (like First Reformed).
Ethan Hawke has become this revered elder statesman as of late as he's someone I grew up watching from The Explorers to now. He was robbed of an Oscar nod for First Reformed as that is a performance for the ages and certainly one that feels like the culmination of everything he had done before. His work with Richard Linklater definitely goes up there with the great actor-director collaborations of Ford-Wayne, Scorsese-De Niro, and Herzog-Kinski.
He was fine in "Boyhood" but I was taken aback by his role in "First Reformed", an excellent movie and a magnificent performance.
This is very honest, just like I imagine the actor to be. But what you say about his tendency to pick movies where he asks those deep questions we ask ourselves a lot in college and then intermittently throughout life is so true. He had me at Gattaca!
Ethan hawke is absolutely amazing as the biological father in boyhood, and the rookie cop in training day and absolute perfect In first reformed
Ethan Hawke is doing some of the best work of his career in "The Good Lord Bird." He's about to win a ton of awards for this performance, culminating in the Emmy next year.
I was impressed by his work in Tesla!
A fascinating interview with Ethan Hawke was recently on the NPR
Radio magazine Fresh Air, also available as a podcast. Well worth your 50 minutes!
jules and wes: I really need to get around to The Good Lord Bird. It's been recording on our DVR, we just need to set aside the time to watch. I've heard it's good and he's amazing in it.
me: I know what you mean about the smugness - it's why I didn't like him either. (And his character in Reality Bites really is kind of a dick.) But I do think that quality has receded as he's gotten older. He's grown into the kind of wisdom and gravitas you can only pretend to have as a 20something.
I must confess I've always found EH off-putting. He exudes seriously pretentious New York hipster actor vibes, so much so that I haven't seen either of the Before movies and (looking at his filmography) I've only watched three of his films in their entirety. Of them, I love Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (mostly due to Lumet, but Hawke is great in it), appreciate Training Day and am lukewarm about Boyhood (not his fault).
I started watching The Good Lord Bird, but I had to stop after the first half hour (because of Hawke actually), but I'll be back to binge. There's too much else about the series that appeals to me.
Plus he wrote a novel [The Hottest State], and directed a popular music video for Lisa Loeb's "Stay."
The snub for First Reformed is horrible. He should’ve taken it easily.