Ethan Hawke continues to thrive with upcoming movies
Ethan Hawke may have started off as a child actor with Joe Dante’s Explorers in 1985, but in the 90s he had already established himself as a strong dramatic actor thanks to roles in movies such as Before Sunrise, Dead Poets Society, Gattaca, and Alive. He has delivered to do great work since, so let’s have a look at Ethan Hawke’s upcoming movies.
If you’re a fan of Ethan Hawke, you’ll know he doesn’t like getting boxed into one type of role. Hawke may be most famous for his dramatic roles, but he has proven to be equally willing to take on comedy (Maggie’s Plan, Mystery Date), action (Training Day, Assault on Precinct 13) and even horror (Sinister, Daybreakers, The Purge). Even professionally he’s not just working as an actor, but also as a director (Chelsea Walls, Seymour: An Introduction) and writer (Ash Wednesday, the graphic novel Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars). This translates into his upcoming content, some of which has already screened at festivals.
First Reformed (dir. Paul Schrader, cast: Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried): Paul Haggis is perhaps best known for his work as screenwriter of Taxi Driver. As a director his output has been all over the place, from Mishima to The Canyons, starring Lindsay Lohan. Luckily First Reformed is one of the good ones, in which a subdued Hawke plays a priest struggling with despair as a result of being exposed to tragedy.
Blaze (dir. Ethan Hawke, cast: Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat): No Ethan Hawke in front of the camera for this one. Instead Hawke is helming this biography of Blaze Foley, an American country singer who never made it big despite inspiring musicians such as Townes Van Zandt. Hawke has already received good reviews for this one, with some touting it as this year’s Inside Llewyn Davis.
Stockholm (dir. Robert Budreau, cast: Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace): This film is based on the bank robbery that coined the term “Stockholm syndrome”, where hostages formed a bond with their captors. Hawke is playing one of the captors, despite not being Swedish at all.
Juliet, Naked (dir. Jesse Peretz, cast: Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke): A lot lighter is Juliet, Naked, in which Byrne gets involved in a romance with rock star Tucker Crowe (Hawke), who’s adored by her boyfriend (Chris O’Dowd). The film is based on a novel by Nick “About a Boy” Hornby, and reviews have either called it “charming” or “dumb”.
The Kid (dir. Vincent D’Onofrio, cast: Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan): Hawke’s no stranger to westerns (The Newton Boys, The Magnificent Seven) and this one comes from fellow actor turned director Vincent D’Onofrio. The story of Billy The Kid and Pat Garret has been told before, so it’ll be interesting to see The Kid‘s spin on it.
La Vérité (dir. Hirokazu Koreeda, cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliette Binoche): Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda has impressed in the past with movies such as Like Father, Like Son and Nobody Knows. He’s directing outside of Japan for the first time with this tale about married couple that returns to France from the US when the wife’s mother publishes an autobiography. Koreeda is a very gifted filmmaker, and it’ll be interesting to see the results of working with equally gifted actors Hawke and Binoche.
Let us know if we missed anything, and mention your favorite Ethan Hawke movie in the comments!
