‘ RENAISSANCE’ MAN
Ethan Hawke reflects on a lifetime of ‘ following my gut’ before receiving Chicago award
We’ve watched him grow up before our eyes on the big screen. From his earliest screen moments, there was something about Ethan Hawke that connected with filmgoers, directors and movie critics. It wasn’t always smooth sailing — hello, “Regression” and “Getaway” — but there was so much other film work — from “Dead Poets Society” and “Reality Bites” to “Training Day,” “Boyhood” and the critically acclaimed Richard Linklater trilogy “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight” opposite Julie Delpy — that gave Hawke indisputable screen cred.
Hawke’s no stranger to the boards, either. His Broadway credits include “Henry IV” and “MacBeth,” and his Tony Awardnominated turn in “The Coast of Utopia.” He returns to Broadway later this year in Sam Shepard’s “True West.”
The Academy Award- nominated actor will be feted with the 2018 Renaissance Award at this year’s Gene Siskel Film Center gala on Thursday, in recognition of his vast body of work and his accomplishments as a director, screenwriter and producer. His longtime friend and co- star Vincent D’Onofrio will host the event and conduct an onstage conversation with Hawke as part of the evening’s festivities.
Hawke, whose most recent film work includes “Born to Be Blue,” “First Reformed” and the upcoming biopic “Blaze” ( which he co- wrote and directs), recently spoke to the Sun- Times about his career and life.
Q. You were barely out of high school when “Dead Poets Society” came along. People forget just how young you were, and how new to filmmaking. How did the film affect you and the trajectory of your life?
A. It’s been 29 years. It’s amazing how much it did change my life. People were telling me at the time that it would, but I didn’t really clock it. I now see how deeply the philosophy of that movie impacted life. It opened doors for me in this profession that changed the movement of my life. I dropped out of college and became a professional movie actor. I had this powerful experience with Robin Williams and Peter Weir and all these other young actors — Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Charles — and it formed a kind of ethos of how I look at the job of making movies.
Q. Let’s talk about THE trilogy (“Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” “Before Midnight”). That was a unique and rare filmmaking opportunity.
A. [ There really was] something about making the films, the collaboration with Linklater and Julie, the opportunity to revisit a character over time and use time as clay. Both in “Boyhood” and the “Before” trilogy the main character is time. Those movies are appendages to me.
Q. What has to speak to you about a film before you sign on to a project?
A. My whole life I’ve been following my gut. I feel like a cat sometimes, just trying to take adventures. ... I tried to find things that spoke to me personally. If writing is exciting to me I have a hope that it will be exciting to you. My job is to transfer that passion.
Q. If you take a project, do you care if it doesn’t go over well with audiences? Is it a case of, “I don’t care because it felt right to me”?
A. I have never been one of those people who have expended lot of energy trying to understand the Zeitgeist. ... I love “Gattaca” and I knew the writing was just brilliant, and I knew the people I was working with were gifted on the highest level. And nobody cared about that movie when it came out. But over time, people have found it. A few years back I made “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” and nobody cared about that movie when it came out. Now people are having 10- year anniversary screenings and I’m fascinated by that. The wonderful thing about movies is that time can be your ally.
Q. Talk about Vincent D’Onofrio, who has often referred to you as “my brother.”
A. It’s an unbelievable honor to have him host this event. He’s really been the greatest acting teacher that I’ve known. The way that he thinks about acting elevates the form. He’s elevated the way I think about what’s possible. He makes it an exciting profession to be a part of. We all need friends to inspire us to be our best self.
Q. You’re going to return to Broadway at year’s end in Sam Shepard’s “True West.” What’s it like to work on a Shepard play?
A. I met Sam Shepard in Chicago doing “Buried Child” at Steppenwolf [ in 1995]. Our first day of rehearsal [ LAUGHS] I was calling Linklater from Chicago and I remember Linklater on the phone saying, “Man, you’re pissing in the tall grass with the big dogs!” [ Laughs] That was a really defining experience for me. Gary Sinise is still one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with. ... That whole influence of Chicago theater has been something I want to transfuse into my blood.