The “amazing” actor who inspired Maya Hawke’s career: “I’m such a big fan”
Growing up with Ethan Hawke for a father and Uma Thurman for a mother, Maya Hawke was immersed in the world of Hollywood as soon as she emerged from the womb, ready to follow in the footsteps of her parents.
Breaking into mainstream consciousness with a role on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, she has since used this fame to release music while also starring in the likes of Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, the Oscar-nominated Maestro, and even the animated Inside Out 2. It feels like Hawke hasn’t reached her full potential yet, though; she is still to deliver a leading performance in an acclaimed film – but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be long before she proves herself.
Her strength as a supporting star has lent her enough recognition so far, but she’s aiming for the bigger leagues. You’d think that she’d cite her main acting idol – one who has inspired her to reach for the shiny heights of Hollywood – as one of her parents, yet Hawke once picked out someone else entirely.
With her recent casting in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which is set to emerge later this year, Hawke finally feels like she is one step closer to Jennifer Lawrence, who is one of the main reasons she wanted to become an actor in the first place.
According to Hawke, it wasn’t the experience of visiting her parents on film sets or having known Quentin Tarantino her whole life that made her want to be in movies, it was watching Lawrence play Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.
During an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Hawke revealed, “Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in the first four movies is a big part of the reason why I want to be an actor. She’s amazing.”
Lawrence played the main character Katniss, the strong-willed young ‘tribute’ who volunteers to take part in the vicious fight to the death after her younger sister is nominated – despite coming from the poorest district in Panem, Katniss is determined to survive this dystopian game, in which the elites watch kids hunt each other until only one survives, and she is ultimately successful, with the actor breaking through into Hollywood with the role, her blend of rebelliousness, resilience, and vulnerability making her a hero to many young viewers.
Hawke is clearly a big fan, so it seems like things have gone pretty full circle for her now that she has been cast in the franchise as Wiress in the prequel movie, although Lawrence will not be reprising her role as Katniss, saying, “I’m just such a big fan of hers, and so to be anywhere near that franchise means the world to me.”
You can hardly blame Hawke for idolising Lawrence so much, because her career has been really quite spectacular. From her Oscar-winning turn in Silver Linings Playbook when she was just 22 to intense performances in the likes of Mother! and, more recently, Die, My Love, Lawrence has proved herself to be one of her generation’s most well-respected stars, and it seems like this success isn’t stopping anytime soon.
