Dead Poets Society

Background:

"I think everybody imagines him as this serious, brooding character. But he's very outgoing. He's just a regular guy." Writer/director Andrew Niccol on Ethan Hawke
American actor and novelist Ethan Hawke gained wide appreciation and critical acclaim after portraying the supporting role of rookie policeman Jake Hoyt, opposite Denzel Washington, in Antoine Fuqua's hit Training Day (2001), in which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also won praise after portraying the title character of a troubled young man in Michael Almereyda's modern adaptation of Hamlet (2000). Formerly, the Oscar nominated actor found fame for playing shy student, baby-faced Todd Anderson, opposite Robin Williams, in the high profile film Dead Poets Society (1989). He received even more notice as Wynona Ryder's messy, lazy boyfriend Troy Dyer in the 1994 Reality Bites. In a more recent film, Hawke was praised for his good screenwriting in Before Sunset (2004), for which he nabbed an Oscar nomination.
As a writer, Ethan Hawke is known for penning "The Hottest Slate," a successful novel which was released in 1996. In 2002, he dotted his impressive resume with his best-selling novel titled "Ash Wednesday."
Hawke and his private life became tabloid fodder following his separation with wife Uma Thurman in 2003. The split was reportedly caused by an affair between Thurman and Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino. Other sources said that Hawke was blamed for the divorce due to his romance with Canadian model Jen Perzow. Perzow, however, strongly denied the rumor saying that she didn't wreck his marriage to Uma Thurman because the couple had already separated. He was also once linked to actress Julia Roberts and musician Lisa Loeb.


Nomadic Life

Childhood and Family:

Born on November 6, 1970, in Austin, Texas, Ethan Green Hawke had a unique childhood. He was the son of college student parents who split up when he was only three years old. Being raised by his single mother, Ethan spent most of his early years traveling through the States. The mother and 10-year-old Ethan eventually ended their nomadic life in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, when Ethan’s mother married again.
Young Ethan showed an interest in acting and began acting classes at the McCarter Theatre. From 1984-1986, he was educated at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in New Jersey and he graduated from Hun School of Princeton in 1988. In high school, Ethan participated in several student plays and by the age of 15, he had appeared in his film debut. Ethan studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and at the British Theatre Association in England. However, after only five months of study, he left college. Later on, Ethan attended New York University where he majored in English.
In May 1998, Ethan Hawke married actress Uma Thurman (born on April 29, 1970), with whom he shares two children, daughter Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke (born on July 8, 1998) and son Roan (born on January 15, 2002). After the high publicity of the couple’s separation in 2004, Ethan eventually divorced his wife of six years.


The Hottest State

Career:

Ethan Hawke began taking drama at an early age before showcasing his potential talent in a junior high school production of "Meet Me in St. Louis." He went on to act in a number of school productions and made his professional stage debut in George Bernard Shaw’s "Saint Joan" at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. At age 15, Hawke got his first taste in front of the camera when he landed a starring role opposite River Phoenix in Joe Dante's Sci-fi film Explorers (1985).
After returning to school and vanishing from the screen for almost three years, Hawke returned in 1988 when he appeared in his second big screen film, Lion's Den. It was the 1989 Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, however, that put the young actor in the spotlight. The film was a huge hit and Hawke was well received for portraying the supporting role of timid student, baby-faced Todd Anderson, opposite Robin Williams.
Roles began to roll in and Hawke appeared in such films as Dad (1989, opposite Ted Danson), White Fang (1991), Mystery Date (1991), the WWII drama A Midnight Clear (1992), the little seen Waterland (1992, with Jeremy Irons), Alive (1993), Rich in Love (1993) and Floundering (1994). His next breakthrough arrived in 1994 when he was cast as Wynona Ryder's messy, lazy boyfriend Troy Dyer in Ben Stiller's feature directorial debut, Reality Bites.
In addition to his hectic schedule, Hawke appeared on stage, making his Off-Broadway debut with the New York Shakespeare Festival in the production of "Casanova" (1991) and his Broadway debut came a year later with the National Actors Theater’s production of Chekhov's "The Seagull." He also appeared in Jonathan Marc Sherman's "Sophistry" (1993) at NYC's Playwrights Horizon. Hawke’s involvement in theater inspired him to form a nonprofit theater group called Malaparte in 1993. The same year, he tried his hand in directing by sitting on the director’s chair for the Sundance short film Straight to One (1993, also wrote and edited) and made his theatrical directorial debut in "Wild Dogs!" in the following year.
In 1995, Hawke portrayed sensitive student Jesse, opposite Julie Delpy, in Richard Linklater's romantic Before Sunrise (1995) and appeared in Search and Destroy (1995), before returning to theatre to play a role in the production of Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" (1995) with the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.
After a two-year hiatus, Hawke costarred with his future wife Uma Thurman in the sci-fi thriller Gattaca (1997), for writer/director Andrew Niccol. The film, however, was a disappointment. He then starred as the Pip-like Finn in the modern adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1998, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow). Unfortunately, the film was also panned by critics and received negative reviews. Commenting about his lousy experience in the film, he said, "For the first time I felt like I'd been talked into something. I realized about a month before shooting, but it's hard to pull out without getting sued."
Hawke teamed up with Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich and Vincent D'Onofrio for Richard Linklater's neglected 1998 Western The Newton Boys (1998). At the end of decade, the actor took on a completely different role by playing the small role of troubled guidance counselor Len Coles in Frank Whaley's directorial debut Joe the King (1999) and starred as one-armed journalist Ishmael Chambers, who falls in love with the Japanese wife of a man accused of murder, in the film version of the prize-winning novel Snow Falling on Cedars (1999).
In the new millennium, Hawke earned rave reviews when director Michael Almereyda cast him in the title character of a bothered young man in his contemporary adaptation of Hamlet (2000). The drama also starred Sam Shepard, Kyle McLachlan, Julia Stiles, and Steve Zahn. He rejoined Linklater and Julie Delpy for the innovative Waking Life (2001), a digitally animated film that was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. He next shared the screen with his wife and Robert Sean Leonard in the 2001 Tape, costarred with Frank Whaley in The Jimmy Show (2001) and directed the multi-character drama Chelsea Walls (2001). Chelsea Walls starred wife Uma Thurman and old Malaparte pals Leonard, Whaley and Zahn.
"Denzel is one of my favorite actors, which is why I persisted even when I met a great deal of opposition. It was disheartening to audition knowing the studio didn't want me. Denzel said he wanted me and suddenly that was the end of the debate. The irony is that Denzel is the reason I wanted the job and he got me the job." Ethan Hawke on Training Day star Denzel Washington
His biggest film arrived when he portrayed a rookie cop teamed with a vile partner (played by Denzel Washington) in the fast-paced action-drama hit Training Day (2001). With Antoine Fuqua directing, Hawke received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, 2001 marked his return to the NYC stage, starring in the Manhattan premiere of Sam Shepard's play "The Late Henry Moss."
Coming back from another hiatus, Hawke reprised his Before Sunrise role, opposite Julie Delpy, for the sequel Before Sunset (2004). Together with his co-writers, Hawke’s behind the screen effort earned an Academy Award nomination for best screenwriting. He then found himself acting with Angelina Jolie in director D.J. Caruso's Taking Lives (2004), appeared in Jean-Francois Richet's thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and was featured in the action film Lord of War (2005, starring Nicholas Cage). Recently, Hawke also appeared on stage playing the lead, opposite Bobby Cannavalle, Parker Posey, Elizabeth Berkley, Wallace Shawn and Josh Hamilton, in the acclaimed Off-Broadway revival of David Rabe's "Hurlyburly." The actor will also play the title character in the drama Billy Dead (2005).
In addition to film projects, Hawke is an accomplished novelist. In 1996, he launched his first novel titled The Hottest State, which garnered positive reviews. His second book, Ash Wednesday, was released in 2002. Ethan’s reputation has often made him the object of ridicule by the media. Even Reality Bites costar Winona Ryder critically said, "I know a lot of young actors who live in these dumps. They have their books scattered and their mattress on the floor - and they're millionaires. That's fine. That's their way of living. But the reason they're doing it is they're ashamed. You just want to say, 'Don't live this way to show people that you're real and you're deep."


Awards:

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