Ethan Hawke Defends Maya’s Comments About Social Media and Casting

Ethan Hawke agrees with his daughter Maya Hawke when it comes to social media affecting the film and TV industry.

In an interview at the Berlin Film Festival this week, Ethan, 54, reacted to his daughter Maya’s comments on how casting directors are seemingly more focused on an actor’s social media following than talent these days.

“I really feel for these people. It’s really hard,” Ethan said. “Sometimes I’ll be setting a movie up and someone will say, ‘Oh, you should cast Suzie.’ I’m like, ‘Who is she?’ ‘She has 10 million followers.’ I’m like, ‘OK cool, has she acted before?’ ‘No, but…’ And you’re like, ‘Wow, so this is going to help me get the movie made? This is crazy.’”

He continued: “So if I don’t have this public-facing [platform], I don’t have a career? And if I get more followers I might get that part? What?”

Ethan’s reaction was in response to Maya’s discussion with Josh Horowitz on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast on Thursday, February 13, in which she said the rise of the influence of social media and public personalities has made movie-making “a really confusing line to walk.”

“It’s like, ‘I don’t care about Instagram. Instagram sucks.’ [Directors say] ‘Right, but just so you know, if you have over this many followers you can get the movie funded.’ ‘Well, I want to make the movie.’ So, ah.”

Maya, 26, said she’s told “smart directors” that she’s considered deleting her Instagram altogether, but they’ve assured her that it’s more important than she thinks.

“‘Just so you know, when I’m casting a movie with some producers, they hand me a sheet with the amount of collective followers I have to get from the cast. So if you delete your Instagram and I lose those followers, understand that these are the kinds of people I need to cast around you,’” Maya explained. “And so, it’s confusing … this will be a life-long question for me.”

Ethan reiterated those points, telling reporters that he meets “so many young actors that think being an actor is protein shakes and going to the gym.”

“I wish they could meet Phil[ip Seymour] Hoffman like I did when I was 18, because it’s a much more substantive and enjoyable life,” he said. “I mean, go to the gym if you want to, but that doesn’t make you — Robert De Niro is not great because he has a six-pack. If the part calls for it, he’ll do it, and that’s awesome. But he’s so much more than that.”

Ethan has previously spoken about the influence Hoffman had on him, calling the Oscar winner — who died at age 46 of an accidental overdose in 2014 — not “a celebrity” but the first “fully actualized actor artist” of his generation.

“He had something to say with his work, with his theatre company, with the choices he made, with the way he carried himself in the world. You know? He was a very serious person. Robin [Williams], too,” Ethan told Charlie Rose in 2015 of his biggest inspirations.

Maya touched on the importance of maintaining one’s artistry in her podcast appearance, as well, noting that her dad and mom, Uma Thurman, worked “really hard” to keep her and brother Levon’s lives private.

“So the outward-facing public stuff I wasn’t included in, but I was included in the art-making part. So the art-making part has always been my comfort zone and the outward-facing part has always been my [uncomfortability],” Maya said.

She further explained that she dislikes when press tours turn into “self-promotion.”

“The line between actor and celebrity has gotten extremely blurry,” she continued. “And, in some ways, a celebrity is someone where their personality is what is the draw. And what I always wanted to be was an actor, where the work is what the draw is — not the personhood.”