Biography

Ethan Hawke

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Overview

Born
November 6, 1970 · Austin, Texas, USA
Birth name
Ethan Green Hawke
Height
5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)

Mini bio

Ethan Green Hawke was born on November 6, 1970 in Austin, Texas, to Leslie Carole (Green), a charity worker, and James Steven Hawke, an insurance actuary. His parents were students at the University of Texas at the time but divorced when Ethan was 5 years old. His mother raised him alone for the next five years, moving around the country, until she remarried in 1981 and the family settled in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.

He attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School and then transferred to the Hun School of Princeton and it was while he was there that he began taking acting classes at the McCarter Theatre on the Princeton campus. His early ambition had been to be a writer, but as a result of the acting lessons and appearances in student productions he persuaded his mother to allow him to attend an audition for a role in a sci-fi adolescent adventure, Explorers (1985). He got the role (along with River Phoenix) but although the movie was favourably reviewed, it met with little commercial success which discouraged Hawke from pursuing further movie roles for several years.

He was admitted to the prestigious Carnegie-Mellon University to study theatre but his studies were interrupted when he won his break-through role opposite Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (1989) and he did not complete his degree. He then appeared in numerous films before taking a role in the Generation X drama Reality Bites (1994) for which he received critical praise. He starred in the romantic drama Before Sunrise (1995), and its later sequels Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013).

His subsequent acting career was a mix of theatre work (earning a number of awards and nominations, including a Tony Award nomination for his role in "The Coast of Utopia" at the Lincoln Center in New York), and a mix of serious and more commercial movies, notably Gattaca (1997) (where he met his first wife, Uma Thurman) and Training Day (2001). His role as the father in the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014) earned him multiple award nominations, including the Academy, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Meanwhile, he also wrote two novels: "The Hottest State" (1996) and "Ash Wednesday" (2002).
- IMDb mini biography by: Pedro Borges

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents

Trademarks

In later roles, meek and mild-manner demeanor
In 1990s roles, a prototypical Gen X rebel/outsider
Often sports a goatee in his films
Frequently works with director Richard Linklater
Frequent works with Laura Linney

Trivia

Says that he is constantly mistaken for Mark McGrath from the band Sugar Ray so often that he signs autographs as "Mark McGrath" and, apparently, the same thing happens to Mark McGrath who, in turn, signs autographs as "Ethan Hawke" to fans.
Became a father for the first time at age 27 when his wife Uma Thurman gave birth to their daughter Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke, aka Maya Hawke, on July 8, 1998.
His cat appeared in Lisa Loeb's music video "Stay (I Missed You)", which he directed.
First cousin twice removed of Tennessee Williams. Hawke's great grandfather and Williams' father were brothers.
Was accepted by Carnegie-Mellon University, School of Drama in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but dropped out after only 5 months.

Quotes

I think most people are good at more things than the world gives them the opportunity to do.
The kindest compliments I have ever heard are when cops tell me Training Day (2001) and Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) inspired them to become cops. The funniest compliments I have ever heard are when people tell me that "I love your band Sugar Ray".
But the truth is, I've never wanted to be a movie star - and I've been pretty clear about that.
People look at your life and see things as a big deal that aren't a big deal to you. What I mean is, the chapter breaks are different for me. I'll read about my divorce, and what people think about it, and, well, it's so inaccurate, usually, but the fact is, I wouldn't want it to be accurate. Because it's my truth. When I was younger, it was more important to me to come off well. Now, I just want to try to be good at what I do.
The devil is seductive, and so guns are glorious in the culture. I understand there's a case to be made. For instance, Spike Lee said something like this, that you can't have a scene with drugs in a film that doesn't secretly make you want to do drugs. In the same vein, it's hard to make a movie that's anti-violence because the very nature of photographing violence eroticises it. But I'm not so sold that that's true.