← Back to explore

Ethan Hawke

Acting

Born November 6, 1970 · Austin, Texas, USA

Also known as Ethan Green Hawke

Biography

Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role. He then appeared in such films as White Fang (1991), A Midnight Clear (1992), and Alive (1993) before taking a role in the 1994 Generation X drama Reality Bites, for which he gained critical acclaim. In 1995, he starred in the romantic drama Before Sunrise, and later in its sequel Before Sunset (2004). In 2001, Hawke was cast as a rookie police officer in Training Day, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. Other films have included the science fiction feature Gattaca (1997), the title role in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000), the action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), and the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007). Hawke has appeared in many theater productions including The Seagull, Henry IV, Hurlyburly, The Cherry Orchard, The Winter's Tale and The Coast of Utopia, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. He made his directorial debut with the 2002 independent feature Chelsea Walls. In November 2007 Hawke directed his first play, Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want. Aside from acting, he has written two novels, The Hottest State (1996) and Ash Wednesday (2002). Between 1998 and 2004, Hawke was married to actress Uma Thurman.

Awards & recognition

  • Donostia Award · 2016
  • Film Independent Spirit Awards
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 2015 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 2014 · nominated
  • Tony AwardBest Featured Actor in a Play · 2007 · nominated
Show all 8 awards →
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 2005 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actor · 2002 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actor · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

Welcome Nowhere

2013as Narrator

Vietnam: The War That Changed America

2025as Self - Narrator (voice)

Dead Poets Society

1989as Todd Anderson

Before Sunrise

1995as Jesse

Talking with Chris Hardwick

as Self

Reservation Dogs

2021as Rick Miller

Maudie

2016as Everett Lewis

Before Sunset

2004as Jesse

Moon Knight

2022as Arthur Harrow

Gattaca

1997as Vincent Freeman

The Black Phone

2021as The Grabber

Explained

2018as Narrator (voice)

Boyhood

2014as Dad

Before Midnight

2013as Jesse

Training Day

2001as Jake

Waking Life

2001as Jesse

Predestination

2014as The Bartender

Seymour: An Introduction

2014as Self

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

2012as Pat (voice)

Lord of War

2005as Jack Valentine

Quiz Show

1994as Don Quixote Student (uncredited)

Conan

2010as Self

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self - Guest

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

2007as Hank Hanson

Batwheels

2022as Batman (voice)

Glass Onion

2022as Efficient Man

The Northman

2022as King Aurvandil War-Raven

First Reformed

2017as Pastor Ernst Toller

The Last Movie Stars

2022Director

The Purge

2018as James Sandin

Sinister

2012as Ellison Oswalt

Tape

2001as Vin

White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf

1994as Jack Conroy (uncredited)

Alive

1993as Nando Parrado

Alias

2001as James Lennox

White Fang

1991as Jack Conroy

Blue Moon

2025as Lorenz Hart

Black Phone 2

2025as The Grabber

The Lowdown

2025as Lee Raybon

Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Moon Knight

2022as Self - Arthur Harrow

The Good Lord Bird

2020as John Brown

Adopt a Highway

2019as Russell Millings

Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb

2022as Self

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

2017as Jolly the Pimp

Great Expectations

1998as Finnegan Bell

The Magnificent Seven

2016as Goodnight Robicheaux

Born to Be Blue

2015as Chet Baker

Reality Bites

1994as Troy Dyer

A Midnight Clear

1992as Will Knott

Leave the World Behind

2023as Clay Sandford