Ethan Hawke Had to Direct His Daughter’s Explicit Scenes and His Reaction Was Surprising

Ethan Hawke proved to be an incredibly supportive father while directing his daughter, Maya Hawke, in a new biopic called Wildcat. The famous actor had to face a great personal challenge, as one of the big parts of the movie involved his daughter having to engage in a revealing intimate scene. Read more to learn how Ethan Hawke approached this delicate situation.

Maya Hawke is the perfect combination of her celebrity parents.

Maya Hawke, who rose to stardom thanks to her breakout role in Stranger Things, is the daughter of Hollywood royalty, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. While Maya inherited her mom’s signature beauty and is literally her mini-me, she also soaked in both of her parents’ acting chops.

Interestingly, at first, Thurman and Hawke weren’t big fans of their daughter following in their footsteps, seeing how much of a toll public life can have on a person. Maya Hawke shared, “They wanted to ensure I had a strong enough backbone, my own passion for it, and work ethic. They didn’t want to cart me along every red carpet or have me do bit-parts in their movies.”

But Hawke insisted on the creative career path and discovered that her parents were very supportive. The actors made sure their daughter made her own way in the industry, and, in turn, showered her with acting advice. She has also acted alongside both her mom and her dad — Ethan Hawke played her father in the 2020 series, The Good Lord Bird, and we’ll see Thurman with her daughter in the upcoming The Kill Room.

Ethan Hawke reflects on navigating awkwardness while working with his daughter.

The Before Sunrise star took his collaboration with his daughter even further and has now also directed her in the upcoming film, Wildcat. One of the scenes, however, required Hawke to act in an explicit scene, which would be a source of awkwardness for most family members working together. Luckily, both Ethan and Maya Hawke showed themselves as real professionals and didn’t see it as anything uncomfortable.

Hawke said he had absolutely zero issues directing his daughter’s intimate scenes, explaining, “We were so comfortable with it. I couldn’t care less.” Maya Hawke added that they did everything they could to make sure the process went smoothly. “We made sure to have an intimacy coordinator on set,” she shared. Now that’s a truly cool family.

Ethan and Maya Hawke are one of many parent-child duos who have collaborated on a Hollywood project together. Read here about more family pairings who have shared the big screen and blew us away with their distinct talents.