Award-winning actor Ethan Hawke’s first trip to Miami wasn’t like any tourist’s. Instead of putting on his sunglasses and heading to the beach — though that is on his to-do list — Hawke made his entrance to Miami in an espresso brown suit adorned with crimson glasses on a red carpet.
This year at Miami Film Festival GEMS, hosted at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, Hawke received the Virtuoso Award and had a conversation with Ramin Setoodeh, presented by Variety.
Hawke was chosen for this award to honor his achievements in his three-decade-long career in the film industry. Although this award is an immense honor, it can be seen as just another trophy to add to his hundreds. But he doesn’t see it that way.
“It’s so much fun to do this. You just want another chance to keep playing. I’m most interested in what I’m going to do tomorrow,” Hawke said..
Ben Crandall in “Explorers” was his first role.
At 14, Hawke expressed that he already felt like a failure after the reception of “Explorers,” so much so that he did not believe people when they praised him for his role in “Dead Poets Society.” But now, he looks back on his career with a much more positive perspective.
It’s not every day that someone truly appreciates and is still passionate about their career decades into doing it, but it’s evident he really values the art of what he does and is always finding inspiration in everyone and everything around him.
The world knows him for his appearances in throwback movies like “Dead Poets Society” and “Training Day,” but more recently, Hawke returned to the big screen in the films “The Black Phone 2” and “Blue Moon.”
Although making their theatrical debuts just days apart, the two movies couldn’t be more different.
“It’s hard to promote them both at the same time,” Hawke said. “Doing them is different because I wasn’t actually doing them at the same time, and I also feel like that’s an actor’s job. Got a bunch of costumes in your trunk. You pull one out, and one time you play the bad guy. Another time you play the good guy. That’s the fun of getting to be an actor.”
Dozens of fans filled the auditorium at the college’s auditorium, following his red carpet walk, eager to hear the icon’s charming stories from his career.
Throughout the hour, Hawke didn’t just hone in on his current projects; he also reflected on how it all started: with an audition for “Dead Poets Society” that he was less than proud of, submitted as a teenager.
“My screen test was so bad. I had this incredibly long hair, I was smoking.”
His jokes about his less-than-perfect start are a testament to his profound success now – starting from the ground and steadily making his way up.
A highlight of the discussion with Setoodeh was Hawke’s relationship with Richard Linklater. Their partnership spans nine films, including “Boyhood” and the “Before” trilogy, and over 20 years, so Hawke had plenty of praise to offer Linklater.
“I’ll remember it as long as I have a memory,” Hawke said. “Making a film is a collective imagination. We gain strength through collaboration and multiple points of view.”
He described the 12-year journey of creating “Boyhood” with admiration, but given how close he and Linklater are, he could not help but crack a joke.
“It’s like he’s allergic to plot,” Hawke said about Linklater. Hawke said that once Linklater could tell he was not actually moved, but that he was acting in “Before Sunrise,” that “the audience is going to want a plot, and we don’t have that.”
Hawke also touched on deeper subjects of film, including nostalgia’s influence. He wisely reflected on his experience working on movies in the ‘90s during the Sundance Film Festival’s peak and the rise of Indie films.
“Hindsight is so powerful,” Hawke said. “You can see those moments for what they became, but we weren’t aware that anything special was happening.”
This can be found true not only to other actors or workers in the industry, but to anyone living their life, seeking a new perspective.
On a more playful note, Hawke shared his admiration for Taylor Swift. He appeared in a cameo in her “Fortnight” music video. He said the collaboration was orchestrated by his daughter, Maya Hawke, who is also in the music industry.
“[Taylor Swift] is incredible,” Hawke said. “You meet her and you’re like, ‘I know why you’re famous.’”
Towards the end of the event, the floor was opened for the audience to ask Hawke their own questions — fans immediately fleeing to the microphone. Hawke’s answers were quick, smart and further proof of his deserving place in the industry.
In the introspective conversation, Hawke revealed he has never wanted “to be famous for something [he’s] not proud of.”
Putting on a voice, he joked that his mom always told him that whenever he “sold out” by doing a film he wasn’t proud of, the films always “bombed.”
100 IMDb credits of meaningful, heartfelt, artistically-driven movies and a Virtuoso Award later, he still finds himself abiding by the advice of his mom: to always follow his heart.