Maya Hawke isn’t just Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman’s child, as she’s an actor who’s built up an impressive resume of movies and TV shows across the past decade, most notably through her role on Stranger Things, her voice work in Inside Out 2, and her upcoming part in the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping cast. And as it turns out, she’s even had moments where she’s overshadowed her famous dad in fan encounters.
When Maya Hawke was promoting Stranger Things 5, which ended in the emotional series finale, she shared when the roles were reversed for her with her famous dad. In Maya’s words:
So, I was walking down the street with my dad, and someone went, ‘Whoa, hey!’ And, my dad turned around, and he went ‘Sorry, I’m not doing any pictures or photos today. And then, like, kept walking. And the guy was like ‘I don’t know who you are man, I wanted to talk to Robin. And, I was like ‘Oh, boy! [Stranger Things] is a big show.’
Ethan Hawke was shown the interview moment while on TODAY to talk about his acclaimed film Blue Moon, which earned him his first Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. He smiled at the funny story, before adding this:
Article continues belowShe’s actually being shy. That’s happened like five times.
Can you imagine growing up with your father being a Hollywood star, and then becoming one yourself? So crazy! The 27-year-old gained acclaim for playing Robin in Stranger Things, and her dad explained why he’s so proud that she has achieved her status as an actor and singer, saying this:
It’s one of the most incredible feelings I’ve ever had in my life, particularly, if you know this person, Maya. Because when she was a little girl, this is what she wanted. She always wanted to paint and draw and write poems. I’d take her to see Broadway shows, see Adele or Taylor Swift. I’d take her to the Film Forum to see old French movies, and even as a kid, [you could just tell] she wanted to participate in that collective dialogue that is the arts. She wanted it so bad, and to see her do it, and… at a high level, be a part of her generation, making something people really love, making people really happy. It feels great.
Like father, like daughter! As Hawke joyously shared, he’s seen the interest in his daughter to pursue the arts since she was a kid, and he helped influence her love and appreciation for a number of art forms. Since Maya has become an actor, the pair have worked together on the same movie, Wildcat, and yes, weighed in on the nepo baby debate.
Hawke often shows support for his daughter’s success, and he's said that her role in Stranger Things feels “aligned in the stars” to him. The day the Upside Down opens in the TV show was his real-life 13th birthday, which was the year he started acting and was in the movie Explorers.
While Ethan Hawke is one of Hollywood’s biggest actors with roles in beloved movies like Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise, Training Day, and Boyhood, it’s certainly understandable that Maya might be more recognizable these days since she was in one of the biggest TV shows of the past decade. One can’t help but think about the persistent fans who’ve told her they didn’t know who her dad was.
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