An Academy Award nominated actor for his work in “Training Day,” an Academy Award nominated writer for the “Before Sunset” screenplay and a Tony Award nominated actor for his work on stage in “the Coast of Utopia,” Ethan Hawke constantly challenges himself as an artist. He has uniquely established a successful career acting on film and on stage, as a novelist, a screenwriter and a director.
On stage, Hawke performed in the play “The Sea Gull” at the National Actors Theater and Jonathan Marc Sherman’s “Sophistry.” In Chicago, he starred in the Steppenwolf production of Sam Shephard’s “Buried Child” directed by Gary Sinise. He was recently on stage opposite Kevin Kline in Lincoln Center Theatre’s “Henry IV” and headlined The New Group’s revival of David Rabe’s play “Hurlyburly” where he played Eddie, a not terribly functional casting director in the drama about a bunch of Hollywood movers, shakers and wannabes. Hawke earned a 2005 Lucille Lortel Award Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor as well as a 2005 Drama League Outstanding Performer Award Nomination for his performance.
Hawke co-starred in Tom Stoppard’s three-part epic “The Coast of Utopia” at Lincoln Center. He was nominated for a Tony Award, “Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play,” for his performance, as well as, honored with a Drama League Award for best performer.
In film, Hawke was seen in Richard Linklater’s “Fast Food Nation.” He has worked with Linklater before, in the critically acclaimed “Before Sunset” and the sequel “Before Sunrise,” opposite Julie Delpy. Hawke also co-wrote the script with director Richard Linklater and co-star Julie Delpy and the three of them were nominated for a 2004 Oscar for Adapted Screenplay, 2004 IFP Spirit Award for Best Screenplay and a 2004 Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was nominated for a 2004 IFP Gotham Award for Best Feature and received a Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking Award from The National Board of Review.
Hawke made his feature film debut in 1985 at the age of 14 in the science-fiction film “Explorers.” Shortly after Hawke’s performance in “Explorers” he landed his first big role as Todd Anderson in the Academy Award-winning film “Dead Poets Society.” He then went on to star opposite Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson in “Dad,” and in the screen adaptation of Jack London’s classic Alaskan adventure, “White Fang,” directed by Randal Kleiser.
Other film credits include “Rich in Love” with Albert Finney, “Waterland” with Jeremy Irons, “A Midnight Clear,” the true life adventure film “Alive,” “Reality Bites,” “Gattaca,” “Great Expectations,” Michael Almereyda’s wild depiction of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” opposite Bill Murray and Julia Stiles, “Tape,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” “Taking Lives,” and “Lord of War” opposite Nicolas Cage, Jeffrey Wright and Donald Sutherland, among other films. He also played the voice of Jesse in “Waking Life.” Ethan also starred opposite Denzel Washington in the crime drama “Training Day” directed by Antoine Fuqua, for which he was nominated for a SAG and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Hawke wrote his first novel, “The Hottest State” which was published by Little Brown in the fall of 1996. The New York Times Book Review described it as, “A sweet love story...[in which]... Mr. Hawke does a fine job ...[and]...easily evokes the restlessness of being 21 in the mid-1990’s south of 14th Street.” The San Francisco Chronicle called it "Touching and engaging... Authenticity is what carries ‘The Hottest State.’” The novel is in its 19th printing. Hawke’s second novel, “Ash Wednesday,” was published by Knopf in 2002.
In 2001, Hawke made his directorial debut with his drama “Chelsea Walls.” The movie tells of five stories set in a single day at the Chelsea Hotel and stars Uma Thurman, Kris Kristofferson, Rosario Dawson, Natasha Richardson and Steve Zahn. He directed Josh Hamilton in the short film “Straight to One,” a story of a couple, young and in love, living in the Chelsea Hotel. He also directed the music video for the film.
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