Ethan Hawke Dishes on ‘Blue Moon’ Oscar Buzz & Reveals How ‘Black Phone 2’ Almost Didn’t Happen
It’s no secret that Ethan Hawke is getting tons of attention for his performance in Blue Moon. The four-time Oscar nominee could be getting his fifth nom when the academy announces its list in January. But before that, the actor made a stop at the Miami Film Festival where he received Variety’s Virtuoso Award for his performance in the film, a project he tells Screen’s Genna Mark he was hooked on instantly.
“I thought it was the most brilliant piece of writing I read in a long time,” he admits.
In other words the hype comes as no surprise. “I’m often wrong, but you know I wouldn’t have embarked on that whole journey if I didn’t think people would connect with it. I’d never read anything like it. The whole thing it’s just a staggering piece of writing.”
The movie was 10 years in the making. So then what exactly took so long? “The director didn’t think I was old enough. And he’s a very patient dude that Richard Linklater.”
Hawke knows this firsthand having worked with Linklater on various projects including 2014’s award-winning Boyhood.
“He sent me this script right when we were finishing Boyhood and I wanted to make it right away and he wanted to keep working on the script. We worked on it, we worked on it, I got older and I got more right for the part, so there we go,” Hawke continues.
Blue Moon isn’t Ethan’s only project at the moment. He’s starring in Hulu’s The Lowdown and his thriller Black Phone 2 is currently in theaters. The horror film has made waves at the box office since its October 17 release. But it almost didn’t happen.
“I don’t like sequels. They make me nervous ‘cause you don’t wanna ask for lightning to strike twice.”
So what changed his mind?
“I didn’t want to do a sequel and I was trying to talk him out of it, Scott [Derrickson] called me up he’s like ‘I think I have a really good idea I was pacing in an airport and he told me the whole story and I was like ‘alright that’s incredible, let’s do it’ .”
Given how well it’s done at the box office, we bet he’s glad he did!
Check out the full interview here:
Blue Moon and Black Phone 2 are now playing in theaters nationwide.
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