by Paul Fischer
by
Paul Fischer
There was a time when Ethan Hawke,
shunned the media. "Yeah, I've often said I didn't like 
doing
this, but if I really hadn't liked it, I could have stopped, right? I could have
gone off and been a shopkeeper. They don't do any press junkets." Once ferociously
shy, Hawke seems happy enough touring to talk about his new film, the darkly violent
Training Day. Hawke is the idealistic cop at odds with Denzel Washington's
almost evil-to-the-core mentor, in this amoral look at police corruption in inner
Los Angeles. Hawke, best known for playing introspective and poetic types in smaller
cinematic fare, had never played a cop on screen until this project came his way.
No wonder, he says, he was anxious to give it a shot, no pun intended. "I
always wanted to do something that people might actually see", the thoughtful
31-year old muses, half-smilingly. "I wanted to do it in a way that wasn't
offensive to me, you know what I mean? Denzel Washington is one of the best actors
in the world, plus this script was an intelligent, fun cop movie, in keeping with
some of the cop movies I grew up on. In comparison with many of today's movies,
this has very little action it. It's a high intensity movie and I like it a lot."
Hawke, who made his screen debut at age 15 in Explorers, went on to play
many thoughtful characters in the likes of Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites,
Before Sunrise, Snow Falling on Cedars and even the latest screen version
of Hamlet.
Hawke is an unassuming presence, one who takes fame in his casual stride. He is well aware of his good fortune in having found something he likes to do and having found it so young. "It is luck, knowing what you want to do in life. The older I get, the more grateful I am that I had something I loved." That professional life brought with it personal happiness as well. It was during the filming of Gattaca that Hawke and co-star Uma Thurman met and fell in love. They were married in 1998 and have a daughter, Maya, and are expecting a second child in January.
In Training Day, as often thoughtful and idealistic as his character is, he is a cop. "My wife calls it my first boy movie", Hawke adds laughingly. "Everyone plays cops except me - I never have", which has its drawbacks, the actor adds. "I had to do all this research for it, unlike Denzel, who's played like seventeen cops." Maybe this won't be Ethan's last cop movie. "Who knows? I go where the most challenging and interesting material is. In this case, I wanted to do this particular movie. I just hope it doesn't confirm my worst fears, which is that all you need to do to be a successful male actor is carry a gun." Hawke adds that Training Day has led to numerous offers to play cops. "I've never been asked to play a cop in my life and here they are coming out of the woodwork."
Hawke is more than just a talented actor. Following in the footsteps of many
of his contemporaries, Hawke can now add 'director' to his extensive resume, though
the film which he directed is as far removed from Training Day as you can
get. Chelsea Walls stars his real-life wife, Uma Thurman, plus Kris
Kristofferson, Natasha Richardson, Steve Zahn and Vincent D'Onofrio
and was shown at Cannes this year. "We shot it digitally, which is so fun.
It's like water coloring alone in your room. It really opens doors for people.
I can't wait for people to see it." He is excited about his directing debut
but 
scoffs
at the idea of directing a big studio movie such as Training Day. "Are
you kidding? I wouldn't know where to start? Let the big boys do those kinds of
movies; Chelsea Walls is a small, intimate film that I did for myself, not the
studios. My interest would never carry me through a movie like this; I know nothing
about this world. The movie I directed is about Bohemian artists living in a Chelsea
hotel, you know what I mean?"
While most of his A-list pals like Leonardo Di Caprio are off making A-list piles of money, Hawke continues to fuel his passions for acting by returning to the stage, this time in New York in Sam Shephard's new play The Late Henry Moss. "If I could survive on theater alone, plus do the odd small movie, I'd be happy." Hawke is not only an accomplished actor and director, but author as well. Ethan has already completed his second book, which will be published in about six months. "I love to write, it's an affirming experience." His first book, The Hottest State, was published in 1996.
Ethan has grown up a lot, he says. His once dismissive attitude towards publicity he now describes as "a young man's attitude; it's a ridiculous one to have had." Now as a filmmaker, actor\, author and father, young Ethan is willing to do what he can to get people to see his work - big or small. "The truth is, I'm a fan of movies and I like reading about them; I know other people like reading about them, it's part of our culture. Oh, and I find it helps me get other jobs," he laughs. Those jobs are certain to keep coming for the talented Mr. Hawke.