Ethan Hawke names his favourite Paul Newman movies
It’s rarely uninspiring to hear actors praise their peers in the craft, even if their respective careers meant they never actually crossed paths, but in some ways, are separated only by time. With this, Ethan Hawke has always been keen to sing the praises of the prolific Paul Newman, whose demi-decade starring in classic westerns gifted us classics like The Long, Hot Summer in 1958 and The Left Handed Gun in the same year.
Having starred in some more modern takes on the western himself, namely Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven and the recent Netflix flick Strange Way of Life with Pedro Pascal, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, it is not entirely ad hoc for Hawke to be giving his inference on his favourite Newman roles. Offering his exhaustive list to Empire, he suggests that “some people love James Dean, some love Brando, but” he notes comparatively that, to him, “Newman was real”.
Hawke has revealed that he still asks himself, “What would Paul do?” when faced with major career decisions. This guiding principle came into play when he accepted a role in Marvel’s Moon Knight TV series after a long run of independent features. As reported by The Independent, this introspection was part of a conversation he shared with his daughter, Maya Hawke, and ex-wife Uma Thurman. It’s evident that Hawke views the 1950s actor as not just a master of the craft but a lifelong source of inspiration.
Harnessing a once-in-a-generation charm on-screen, without even giving mention to his easy on-the-eye, heartthrob attributes, Newman’s ability to deliver one-liners like those within Cool Hand Luke, where he plays a rebellious, petty criminal Luke Jackson, has given Newman status as an effortless, side-eyeing protagonist. That’s also why the 1967 film makes it to the very top of Hawke’s closely curated list.
Followed closely behind is Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, where Newman plays the trusty sidekick as the scenes move through bracing, typically western outplays, from moving trains and explosions to bank robberies and horseback romance. Newman then expectedly makes time to be fallen for by his partner and best friend’s wife, to which actor Robert Redford comedically remarks in response, “You can have her”.
Hawke then even goes on to jot The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean as a further favourite in his belt, where Newman’s versatility soars as he plays the founder of a Texas law firm, leaning his furthest into outlandish comedy and ultimately poking fun at the Hollywood western scene, unfolding throughout the 1970s.
In reluctantly wrapping up on a subject he could surely mill all day on, Hawke regrets to have forgotten another title in his selection but highlights “there’s too many to mention”, leading him to even host the recent HBO series, The Last Movie Stars, in which he examines the work of Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, as one of the most iconic Hollywood couples.
In short, the icon “was a big imprint” on Hawke, to say the least.
