It’s been almost four decades, Ethan Hawke has given a spectacular number of films. Debuting with ‘Explorers’ (1985), the star made his breakthrough appearance in ‘Dead Poet Society’ (1989). The film received much acclaim which helped it win an Oscar for Best Picture and BAFTA Award for Best Films. With a collection of $235 million worldwide, it remains Hawke’s most commercially successful film, till date.
Since then, whether it’s action-adventure, or horror, or even suspense drama, Hawke has explored all kinds of genres and given amazing films from each one of them. The 52-year-old star was last seen in ‘The Northman’ (2022), one of his finest works, but unfortunately it was a major flop at the box office, grossing $69.6 million worldwide.
However, after making a huge mark in the industry, now Ethan is all set to show us a variety of his daughter, Maya Hawke. But it’s quite interesting to know that the star chose a biographical drama for his daughter to work together for the first time. ‘Wildcat’ is a story about American novelist Flannery O’Connor’s journey of struggles to publish her first novel. The film is directed by Ethan and Maya played the titular role of Flannery.
Recently in a close conversation with Variety, the father-daughter duo has taken a seat to talk about their collaboration, nepotism and more. The 25-year-old actress made her debut with ‘Little Woman’ (2017) and later got recognition for ‘Stranger Things’ (2016), where she played the role of Robin in the third season, which premiered in 2019.
This is the first time Ethan and Maya Hawke collaborated in ‘Wildcat’ and they had a unique experience. “I started using his name ‘Ethan’ to be like, ‘I’m a professional”, Maya shared, “And then I realised it was actually more distracting to people. They’d be like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ So I mostly called him ‘Dad’.”
Maya, who has been a model for Calvin Klein, made her appearance very lowkey in the interview. While she is seen wearing a baggy style brown cardigan, paired with baggy trouser, Ethan is seen in a black pullover with a brown jacket.
“We’re like the boring, Indie Kardashians”, Maya said jokingly. As the catch up was in a restaurant on a rainy day, the duo is seen having Arnold Palmer and a green juice, medium-rare burger and fries very casually like any other normal people, without acting like some entitled Hollywood stars.
While talking about her father, Maya shared that she was very influenced with her father’s work as a director and producer in ‘Blaze’ (2018) and ‘The Good Lord Bird’ (2020), other than an actor, which she found offbeat. She admitted, “I don’t know anyone else that interested in art, faith and America.”
‘Wildcat’ is all set make its grand premiere at Toronto Film Festival on September 11, 2023.
