How Well Do Ethan & Maya Hawke Really Know Each Other?

Actor interview
4 followers
3 Video Views·Jun 7, 2026
AI Generated·May contain errors
Video Summary
AI GeneratedEthan Hawke and his daughter Maya participate in a lighthearted trivia game to test how well they know each other. Through a series of questions, they reminisce about Maya's early acting roles and songwriting, Ethan's career milestones and preferences, and their shared family dynamics and habits.
We know each other pretty well.
Pretty well.
Though you have had a very long and storied career, there could be real gaps in my knowledge.
Hopefully there's some gaps.
In the times before Maya.
We have better things to do, yeah.
I'm Maya.
I'm Ethan.
And we're going to see how much we know about each other.
That's true.
We know our last names.
We do know that.
We know more about each other than most people who will play this game.
Yeah, but that doesn't mean we'll score high marks.
Yeah, we think too much.
So, yep.
There we are.
We're not very career-focused in our dinner table conversations, so.
What was Maya's first school play?
Can't believe I remember this.
Oh, there were so many that we're not going to...
Yeah, okay.
Alright.
I'm going to go with...
Okay.
Oh, that is the right one!
Oh my god!
That's what I was thinking of.
No, I saw yours.
Oh, that's cheating.
Okay, that's cheating.
Alright.
I'm going to lose this game, but this was the first time she made a very substantial
impression.
But my actual first performance was as Jenny in Jenny and the School for Cats.
I was one of three Jennys.
But that was my first real performance.
Her performance as the Artful Dodger, people speak of it in hushed tones.
We do have the DVD.
Yeah, we do have the DVD.
We have the DVD for Jenny and the School for Cats, too.
Yeah, so I really should have gotten it.
That doesn't qualify in the level of performance that our family aspires to.
It's true.
It's a very high standard.
Technically, she's right.
Spiritually, I'm right.
He gave me a very harsh review for this performance, and at home I just cried myself to sleep.
Not true.
I worked much harder on my Artful Dodger.
That was at beginning, so that's...
No, it wasn't.
It was at Brearley.
Oh, it was.
That's right.
You're right.
Sorry.
You're doing great.
I'm really glad you messed up, because now it gives me some freedom to mess up.
Would Ethan rather go to a Rihanna or Lady Gaga concert?
Oh, interesting question.
I have a very fast answer, because that information is really available online.
RiRi, baby, by a long shot.
That's what I thought.
But I have been to a Lady Gaga concert, and I haven't been to a RiRi.
Well, that's partly why you would want to go.
All right, all right.
Because I took you to Lady Gaga.
Yeah, you did.
No, you didn't.
Yeah, I did.
Oh, no.
No, you didn't.
No, we went to see...
Madonna, and we were sitting next to Lady Gaga.
Sitting next to Lady Gaga.
I haven't been to a Lady Gaga concert.
Have you not either?
Well, I thought I had.
Well, no, it was Madonna.
Yeah, so I was wrong.
Memory tricks.
Memory does trick.
Lady Gaga was sitting near us, and that made a big impression.
Yes.
We did have an amazing year, where we went to Madonna, Taylor, and Adele.
Yeah.
And it was a highly educational, very motivational year for me.
It was some very good fathering.
Yeah.
That was a good year.
Yeah.
Well, we've got to go see Rihanna next.
Yeah.
We've got to go see Rihanna.
I've been caught by the paparazzi openly flirting with Rihanna.
And that's been a huge...
Openly trying to.
Yeah, trying to flirt.
And so that's been to the family's shame.
So you're really touching a nerve.
No, it's family pride.
Yeah.
What was the name of the first song Maya wrote?
I don't really remember the name, but I remember the opening line.
That's good enough.
That's the name.
All right.
Life's not too easy.
But is that the same one with the motion of the ocean?
I think the motion of the ocean is...
I mean, if it is, I stole it from Hairspray.
Motion of the ocean...
Yeah.
Life's not too easy.
But you know, remember that one that you had about...
You wrote it in Nova Scotia.
Oh, you stopped the river rolling in the wrong direction.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's the same one.
That's the same one?
That's the same one.
All right.
So you got it right.
It's a river rolling, but the motion of the ocean works.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's very original.
Yeah.
Maya was always writing songs, so that's very hard.
That was the first one that got consistent play.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That one made your set list at the dinner table for a couple years.
For a couple years, but I will say it was an entire ripoff of a song
from the Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana soundtrack.
I think she wrote a song that was like,
Life's what you make it, so let's make it rock.
Let's make it rock.
And yours was,
Life's not too easy when you've got it raw.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So not very original, but I think it's a very important step
in the journey of all artists is to initially copy other artists
and take credit for their work.
If it worked for Bob Dylan, it can work for you.
No, but it's your life.
Yeah, okay.
I knew my first school play, too.
I think I might be wrong.
I'm not sure if this was on Broadway, but I'm going to try.
The Seagull?
Yeah!
Which is really fun because I made my Broadway debut with Laura Linney.
Yes, you did.
Who stars in the movie we just made together.
That is very cool.
So that is a very relevant question.
This also has got excellent reviews, right?
Well, this was, mine was all about this
because this was a defining moment in my life where you learn.
What did they say about you?
Ethan Hawke plays Constantine more concerned with his pimples
than his poetry.
Perhaps he should spend less time at the actor's studio
and more at the dermatologist.
How's that for your Broadway debut?
I thought I was going to get Not Since Marlon Brando.
And instead I got ass kicking.
What film made Maya want to become an actor?
We watch a lot of movies in this house
and I've wanted to be an actor of some kind for a long time.
There's a movie that's not really when I wanted to be an actor
but it was when my brain was like, you showed it to me.
And it's when it all really started to sort of begin
being very, very interested in films.
Okay.
But later, The Outsiders, Nashville.
Oh, that's more accurate.
But that's when you were serious.
That's why I gave that kind of prerequisite.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
You just have Outsiders on the mind because you just read it.
I know, exactly.
But you did love that.
Yeah.
You did love that.
But yeah, Nashville was when you were like,
that's what I want to do with my life.
Not just be an actor,
but make something that feels as original and wild as that.
But I will say that it's not a movie
that was the first time I knew you wanted to be an actor.
That's true.
Should we go again?
Yeah, can we go again?
If it was the first time I knew she wanted to be an actor,
can we change the question?
Or we're changing the rules of the game.
Okay, let's try that.
When did you know Maya wanted to become an actor?
Okay.
All right.
The Bridge Project?
Yes!
The same thing.
Which is, I said the tech rehearsal for Winter's Tale,
which was one of the plays that was part of the Bridge Project,
which is I did Chekhov and Shakespeare in rep,
and we took it all around the world.
And I didn't have a babysitter for Maya,
so I brought her to the tech rehearsal,
which is insanely boring.
We do the whole play stopping and starting
as they adjust the lights, not in costume.
And then we broke for dinner,
and I was going to put her in a taxi home
to go be with your brother,
and we were going to do the whole thing again.
And Maya was like, can I please watch again?
And it's a three-hour play.
It's Shakespeare.
You were 12.
And she wanted to watch the whole play again,
mostly because you thought Rebecca Hall was so good.
Yeah, she was really good.
I really liked Rebecca Hall in that play.
I was like, whatever she's doing, I need to understand.
And Maya just sat out in the audience,
and I'm like, wow, okay, it's on.
If you want to watch a Shakespeare play
dress rehearsal two times in a row when you're 12,
that's what you're going to do.
You have some serious issues.
That's what you're going to do with your life.
Not enough.
Yeah, agreed.
Yeah, right.
Okay, here we go.
One for Best Supporting Actor,
two for Best Screenplay.
Two for Best Supporting Actor,
one for Best Screenplay?
Two for Best Screenplay.
Wow, two both?
Yeah.
Wow, what was the other Best Supporting Actor?
Boyhood.
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that one.
Yeah, right.
I say 4,003, because that's what I should have.
Okay?
Yes, agreed.
And I say three, but it's four.
Okay.
I just, I've forgotten about that one,
because Patricia won, and you didn't.
Yeah, and it's funny that Denzel won,
and I didn't.
Yeah, that's funny.
Interesting.
It's the lesser teammate theme.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That bodes well for you.
That's true.
But, you know, you're also very, you're very,
you make other people around you better.
You heard it here.
I'm supporting, and they win.
Yeah, but you.
It's like an assist.
What's the good, yeah, but I was going to say that
the team is, never mind.
It's like an assist.
Yeah, you're thinking, you know, Scottie too.
That is exactly what I was thinking.
Does Maya prefer FaceTime or texting?
Oh.
This could go either way, I have to say,
but I'm going to go with this.
I said both.
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
It really could go either way.
When, if I had the lean, I'd go FaceTime because.
It's true.
I don't really FaceTime with anyone else
but you and your brother.
We love to FaceTime.
Yeah, so, but you also.
We text a lot too.
Enjoy good text, yeah.
But you know what, actually?
You're 100%, I'm wrong.
I hate texting.
I never text people back.
I don't enjoy it.
I can't spell.
I find it really hard.
I do it so much that I said both,
but I enjoy FaceTime.
Yeah.
I'll get on a FaceTime,
fold my laundry,
walk around the house.
You and your brother are the only ones
that FaceTime me.
Yeah.
FaceTime all the time.
I always think like,
can I do this?
And then you pick up the phone
and you're like,
hey guys.
Hey.
So I can't believe you can hear me
from all the way in New York.
That's true.
It's so annoying and I can't get used,
that's really where I show my age,
I think, the most.
But you don't do it on the phone.
You don't do it on the phone.
You're like,
I understand this machine.
And then you just take the phone
a little far away from your face
and you're like,
ah!
Which filmmaker had the biggest
influence on Ethan as a director?
Oh.
Well,
there's an obvious answer,
but there might be more,
a more interesting one.
That's hard for me to answer.
Well,
I'm not answering this movie specific.
What do you mean?
Like,
oh,
influence on Wildcat?
I'm not answering that question.
I'm just talking in general.
I'm talking to you as a director.
I feel like these things,
people are supposed to be really fun.
I know.
We're really serious people.
All right, ready?
Go.
Rick.
Yeah.
Link ladder.
Nicely done.
Thank you.
All right.
Crushing it.
Oh,
there went my eraser.
I made a joke that we were
the boring,
like our family,
so many of us are working now,
that we're like the boring
indie Kardashians.
Yeah, yeah.
The boring,
ugly indie Kardashians.
Movie theater snack?
There's so many winners there.
Okay.
I think we should
write down each other's.
I think I know yours.
Okay.
Sorry,
we really like to change
the rules of the game.
In our family,
we have some members of the family
who read the instructions
and some who don't.
And you've got two that don't
on your hands.
Yeah, exactly.
I'm gonna try the one
we talked about this morning.
All right.
I think your favorite
movie theater snack
is Milk Duds.
Definitely.
And mine is
a bottle of water
and Sour Patch Kids.
A bottle of water
and Sour Patch Kids.
Oh, yeah.
That's what we'll go out on.
She's 100% right on Milk Duds.
I made one mistake.
Which was?
Getting your Oscar noms wrong.
Boring.
Yeah.
That's a good mistake to make.
Yeah.
I'm glad that's not, like,
heavily talked about in our family.
