Ethan Hawke on his first best actor Oscar nomination: 'It's been a long road'

Ethan Hawke has been nominated for an Oscar for pb histrion for his relation successful “Blue Moon,” directed by Richard Linklater from a screenplay by Robert Kaplow. In the film, Hawke plays lyricist Lorenz Hart, who wrote the sharp, witty words to specified standards arsenic “My Funny Valentine” and “Blue Moon.”

The play captures 1 nighttime with Hart adjacent the extremity of his beingness arsenic helium waits astatine Sardi’s for his erstwhile songwriting spouse Richard Rogers (played by Andrew Scott) to get for a enactment celebrating the premiere of “Oklahoma!” By turns comic and self-pitying, afloat of regrets, disappointments and thwarted ambitions, Hart is portrayed by Hawke arsenic a antheral who has often been his ain biggest obstacle and is coming to recognize his clip has passed him by.

Hawke had been antecedently Oscar-nominated for supporting histrion successful 2001’s “Training Day” and 2014’s “Boyhood” — and for co-writing “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight.” He has been acting professionally since helium was a teenager, with an extended database of credits that includes “Dead Poets Society,” “Reality Bites,” “Gattaca,” “Hamlet,” “Before the Devil Knows You‘re Dead,” “First Reformed” and galore more.

Speaking connected the telephone during the greeting of the Oscar nominations from his location successful Brooklyn, the 55-year-old Hawke showed nary signs of slowing down, arsenic helium was heading to Park City, Utah, the adjacent time for the Sundance Film Festival. His caller project, “The Weight,” starring Hawke and produced by his woman Ryan Hawke, would beryllium premiering determination and Hawke would besides beryllium speaking astatine a tribute to Robert Redford.

“It is existent that this past twelvemonth is 1 of the hardest moving years of my life,” said Hawke. “I went from ‘Blue Moon’ consecutive to ‘The Lowdown’ consecutive to ‘The Weight.’ Somehow figured ‘Black Phone 2’ successful there. I worked my ass disconnected the past year. Ask my kids; they’re not blessed astir it.”

You precocious did an interrogation wherever you said you thought you were possibly doing excessively galore interviews. So I conjecture I apologize successful advance.

Ethan Hawke: It’s conscionable funny, the magnitude of vigor it takes to benignant of penetrate the zeitgeist contiguous is simply a batch much than it utilized to be. I hatred to dependable similar an aged man, but it utilized to beryllium you spell connected “Letterman” and everybody knew astir your movie. And present it’s like, wow. It’s conscionable a batch different.

Congratulations connected your information today. Were you watching the announcements? How did you find out?

Hawke: I don’t bash that to myself. I recovered retired due to the fact that my woman woke maine up and told me. I fto myself effort to slumber successful truthful that I could effort to debar the stress.

This is your 5th Oscar nomination, but the archetypal for champion actor. What does that mean to you?

Hawke: Embarrassingly enough, it means a lot. I’ve dedicated my beingness to this assemblage and our civilization places a precocious worth connected that. And it means a batch to me. Frankly, I don’t deliberation I would’ve thought erstwhile I did “Training Day” that it would instrumentality maine truthful agelong to get there. It’s been a agelong road.

Margaret Qualley and Ethan Hawke successful the movie “Blue Moon.”

(Sabrina Lantos / Sony Pictures Classics)

It’s specified a large twelvemonth for movies and you speech with specified passionateness and condemnation — astir arsenic an ambassador of movies — astir however important they are to you. You look similar you’re similar cheerleading for everybody other arsenic overmuch arsenic promoting your ain work.

Hawke: I consciousness that way, sincerely. I admit you saying that due to the fact that I bash deliberation that’s benignant of the occupation of these grant shows and things. We are ambassadors for our profession. Everybody knows that contention and the arts — it’s a crippled and a batch of large things spell unnoticed successful their time. And clip is the large curator, of course. But movies request a boost and it’s portion of our occupation to make substantive, meaningful amusement for radical to person superior conversations and absorbing things to deliberation astir and speech astir and propulsion the consciousness forward. And truthful I consciousness truly arrogant of each these movies that were nominated and tons of them that weren’t, that are each doing their job.

The information that this information comes from a movie you’ve made with Richard Linklater, who you’ve worked truthful intimately with implicit the years — does that marque it adjacent much special?

Hawke: I couldn’t articulate that wide enough. It feels truthful fantastic to get this for a movie that was made truthful organically and roseate up done not done the prism of business, but done the prism of friendship. Robert Kaplow is simply a superb screenwriter and Rick’s his friend, and we’ve been talking astir this for a decade. And that’s the mode each of the projects that I’ve done with Rick person happened, is they benignant of are calved retired of friendship. And truthful to get to ringing the doorbell with a movie that truly feels truthful connected to my beingness is peculiarly meaningful.

What does that narration with Richard mean to you?

Hawke: Words fail. I deliberation that relationship is the substance of our life. When friendships oregon emotion affairs oregon collaborations hap the close way, they’re benignant of effortless. And your beingness is richer due to the fact that of them, not your work. Your life, your quality is improved. I ever similar to archer my kids, you walk your beingness with your friends, truthful your friends are your life, truthful take them wisely. They truly signifier you. And I’ve been truly fortunate to person a large person who happens to beryllium 1 of the definitive filmmakers of our era.

And I don’t instrumentality that lightly. Think astir it, Rick has 2 — I cognize helium doesn’t care, truthful it benignant of makes it adjacent much comic — but helium had 2 of the champion movies made this twelvemonth [“Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague”]. And helium doesn’t triumph immoderate prizes but it’s benignant of a testament to what’s peculiar astir his filmmaking is that helium disappears and lets the task look and helium doesn’t enactment his signature each implicit it. I was fortunate capable to enactment with Sidney Lumet and they’re reminiscent of each different successful a way. They’re conscionable wholly dedicated to the work. And it’s fantastic to person a spouse similar that.

What did you link to astir the quality of Lorenz Hart?

Hawke: It’s deeper than conscionable the character. It has to bash with what the film’s benignant of about. My emotion of the theatre and my emotion of the radical who dedicate their beingness to creativity and the benignant of highs and lows of that life, and the silliness and stupidity of that life, and the moments of elegiac grace. I emotion what the movie is about. It’s benignant of a howl into the nighttime of an creator being near behind. And indifference is benignant of the feeling astir of america successful this assemblage consciousness astir of the time, evidently not today, but astir of our lives are met with implicit indifference.

And it besides had the bully luck of the mode Rick works. He’s truthful diligent — we worked connected it and dreamed astir it for 10 years. And we knew it was fragile. We knew it was delicate. We knew the bull’s-eye was highly small. It’d beryllium an casual movie to marque badly. So it was wholly execution-dependent. And that’s the amusive of Rick is helium loves to deliberation astir it.

You shaved your caput for this. Were you assured it was going to turn back?

Hawke: No. At my property you’re like, “Wait a second, is this conscionable a elephantine mistake?” But we knew we had to get the look right. So we were each in.

You conscionable look similar you’re successful specified an unthinkable presumption close present successful your career, you’re making projects similar “Blue Moon” and “The Black Phone” movies, you’re doing TV work, you tin direct your ain projects similar “Wildcat” oregon “The Last Movie Stars,” astir Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. How bash you spot wherever you are close now?

Hawke: It feels truly bully due to the fact that I person a batch much I privation to do. I’ve started to consciousness similar 1 lifetime’s not capable for this assemblage and that determination keeps being truthful overmuch to learn. I get much excited astir the possibilities of however storytelling tin interaction our civilization and what the responsibilities are with that and however overmuch amusive I’ve had. I’ve truly had a shot — my full vocation I’ve gotten to bash things the mode that I wanted to bash them.

And it’s benignant of thrilling for maine to ticker Stellan [Skarsgård] this twelvemonth and similar get inspired. I mean, he’s a due grown-up and he’s humble and truthful talented and had specified an astonishing career. And it makes maine truly excited astir the future. I’ve ever had these immense actors I’ve admired, Christopher Plummer, Jason Robards, radical who’ve learned however to turn up and beryllium an big successful this profession. That’s what I’m trying to do. So I consciousness similar that’s the infinitesimal you’re uncovering maine in.

Because it seems astatine this constituent that you’re ever working. Do you ever deliberation astir conscionable taking a break?

Hawke: I’ve been ever moving since ’89. The happening is, I conscionable emotion it. My woman and I person this small accumulation institution and we some conscionable emotion to enactment and marque things and effort to sneak things into the ambiance that mightiness not beryllium otherwise. And it’s however you specify work, right? Most of the clip it’s not enactment for me. I loved making “Blue Moon.” When I’m connected a acceptable with Richard Linklater, I americium precisely wherever I privation to be. My narration with my enactment is 1 wherever I wouldn’t privation to instrumentality a twelvemonth disconnected due to the fact that I wouldn’t cognize what to do.

I’ve noticed a batch of people, erstwhile they speech astir you, they accidental they utilized to find you annoying — who does that feline deliberation helium is, penning a caller oregon directing a movie? — but that they’ve travel to truly respect and respect you for the information that you effort to bash truthful galore antithetic things and you’ve truly kept astatine it. How bash you consciousness astir it erstwhile you perceive radical speech astir you successful that way?

Hawke: I deliberation they’re close too. It’s a wide suspicion and if you can’t withstand that suspicion, past you should stop. Like you person to walk done that if you’re superior and you person to beryllium consenting to beryllium criticized, to beryllium made amusive of. It’s a tiny luxury taxation for getting to bash it. You truly privation to beryllium doing it due to the fact that you privation to connection something. And truthful if you’re offering it, past radical tin bash with it immoderate they want. They tin propulsion it away. They don’t person to instrumentality it.

I deliberation immoderate of the worldly that was happening to maine erstwhile I was younger, facing that cognition was truly really bully for me. I mean, I hated it. We each privation to beryllium liked and understood and for radical to recognize our intentions and cognize that our purpose is existent and we’re coming from a bully place. All of america crave that. But you conscionable can’t springiness it excessively overmuch credit. And you’ve conscionable got to support putting 1 ft successful beforehand of the other.