Thursday, January 29, 1998
Hawke has future ‘Great Expectations’
FILM: Actor
discusses career, new movie and parenthood
By Aimee Phan
Daily Bruin Staff
After being labeled the Generation X poster boy in such movies
as "Reality Bites" and "Before Sunrise," Ethan Hawke’s goateed,
slacker presence seemed to have evaporated like most of the grunge
scene did in the mid-’90s.
Except for publishing his first novel, "The Hottest State,"
Hawke stayed away from the public eye.
But in 1997, he catapulted back onto the scene with "Gattaca"
and his publicized relationship with co-star, Uma Thurman. And with
the release of his new movie "Great Expectations" and the news that
he and Thurman are expecting their first child, it looks like Hawke
isn’t going to have much more free time.
Just before Hawke enters the press room at the Four Seasons
Hotel in Beverly Hills to talk about his new movie, a publicist
warns the journalists to keep questions about the baby to a
minimum.
But the actor, looking very un-grungy in a navy blue suit, is
surprisingly frank and relaxed when talking about his impending
fatherhood and the current state of his life.
"It’s not necessarily a good time or bad time, but it’s
certainly a rich time in my life," Hawke says. "It’s certainly a
most exciting time in my life. I’m thrilled. I’m scared. I’m
nervous. I’ll have much more to say about it in a year. Right now,
I just really want to make sure that (Uma’s) healthy and stays
healthy."
Hawke does express annoyance, however, at whoever leaked their
news to the public, which has resulted in the typical tabloid
frenzy over the normally private couple.
"This whole thing came out in the papers and we’re not even 20
weeks yet," Hawke says. "Somebody in the doctor’s office told
somebody at the Daily News. Uma thought that once it came out in
the papers, it would be better to say something, that it was true.
You wouldn’t want to deny it. It’s still such a fragile time."
As for the increased media attention on the couple’s
relationship, Hawke brushes it off, saying there’s much more
important things to worry about.
"Who cares?" Hawke says. "We try not to think about it. We’re
not the only people who have a relationship where you’ve got to
work and travel. You’ve just gotta try your best, that’s all you
can do."
The couple tries to stay out of the limelight by avoiding photo
opportunities together so the tabloids will have a difficult time
writing stories about them without any pictures.
"At the ‘Gattaca’ premiere, Uma insisted that we not go through
the line together," Hawke says. "She doesn’t want anybody to have
any art of the two of us. Fuck ’em. They’ve never been nice to me,
I’m not going to give them any art."
Perhaps Hawke’s aloof attitude toward the press is due to his
slow rise to stardom, which first began in 1990 with his debut in
the critically acclaimed movie, "Dead Poets Society."
But while Hawke had time to get used to getting attention as an
actor, his "Great Expectations" co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow, had no
such luck. Paltrow burst into fame within a year, first as Brad
Pitt’s girlfriend and then as a bankable actress in "Emma."
"Her whole celebrity crash really happened while we were
shooting the movie," Hawke says. "One thing that has been fortunate
with my life is that ‘Dead Poets Society’ happened when I was 18
years old, and everything for me has come in increments.
"(It was) not like Gwyneth where in a period of one year where
no one in the country knew who she was to everybody in the country
knowing who she was."
Paltrow, who had known Hawke through mutual friends when they
were living in New York, credits her co-star for helping to keep
her sane while she was coming to terms with her new celebrity
status.
"Ethan was so good to me," Paltrow says. "It was sort of a hard
couple of weeks. He came into work and got me this big box of books
of his favorite books and it was such a smart thing to do. It sort
of takes you out of your own kind of narcissism, and it’s like, ‘Oh
shut up, it is an adjustment and you’ll get used to it.’"
While Paltrow and Hawke are undeniably high-profile celebrities,
it is interesting to look at their filmographies and note that both
have yet to star in a big-budget box office smash.
Hawke admits he’s not very good at selecting films that America
is clamoring to see.
"I don’t know how long they’ll let me keep doing this without
being in a hit movie," Hawke laughs. "I keep hearing about how if
you’re not in a hit movie every day, it doesn’t work out and I’ve
never been in one since ‘Dead Poets Society.’ It sure doesn’t seem
to make a difference, I seem to be having a good time."
But although Hawke does have a penchant to choose more talky
films that are rich in character and low in special effects and
action, he does hope that moviegoers will recognize the quality in
quieter movies.
"You always secretly hope that an audience will respond to it,"
Hawke says. "I thought ("Gattaca") was one of the most original
(movies) to come out in a year, but people don’t really agree with
me. What are you gonna do? The funny thing is you work on a movie
and you know it’s different and not really commercial, but that’s
what you love about it."
Hawke’s lack of concern with being in a movie that audiences
will like can also applies to his decision to publish his first
novel, "The Hottest State," and endure the expected potshots by
critics for crossing the line from actor to writer. But Hawke takes
the experience in stride and regards his first foray into the
literary world as a success.
"If you’re a young actor and you write a book, people are going
to make fun of you," Hawke says. "To expect any other different
reaction would have been foolish. I did it because I wanted to. I
wanted to keep writing. I thought the only reason not to do it
would be because people would make fun of me and I thought in
general, that’s a bad reason not to do anything."
In the future, Hawke hopes to balance his writing, acting and
nurturing his new family.
"We’re trying to (come up with a name). You can count with Uma
that it’ll be a really strange name."
FILM: Ethan Hawke stars in "Great Expectations" which opens
tomorrow.