Ethan Hawke names his favourite Paul Newman movies
“Paul Newman – always ahead of the curve.” These are the words of Ethan Hawke, who was writing about one of his acting idols. “Some people love James Dean, some people love Brando, but Newman was real,” he said of the legendary actor, racing driver, and philanthropist. “Emotion didn’t come easy. It cost something. He didn’t manipulate. He just told the truth even if the truth is ugly and hard.”
Hawke has made no secret that he adores Newman’s work. In 2022, he directed the HBO Max series The Last Movie Stars, which chronicled the life of the actor and his wife, fellow performer Joanne Woodward. Newman and Woodward worked together on numerous projects, including Rachel, Rachel, From the Terrace, and The Long, Hot Summer. They were married for half a century until Newman’s passing in 2008 from lung cancer. The pair are often cited as Hollywood’s greatest love story, a theme that reappeared throughout Hawke’s documentary.
In terms of his idol’s acting roles, Hawke finds it hard to pick a favourite. “I remember the first time I saw The Hustler,” Hawke wrote of the Newman-led sports drama from 1961. “It stands revisiting. ‘I mean, that ever happened to you? When all of a sudden y’feel like you can’t miss…?’ The cockiness, the wit, the humanity…. Piper Laurie’s limp.” Newman’s performance as ‘Fast Eddie’ Felson, a sharp conman who challenges legendary pool player Minnesota Fats to a match, earned him a ‘Best Actor’ nomination at the Oscars, as well as Hawke’s undying support.
“Then I saw Cool Hand Luke,” he continued, evoking Newman’s legendary turn as a rebellious prisoner in a Florida chain gang. “It was my first experience with a ‘cops suck, the system is screwed, to hell with the man, find your own sense of pride, honour among thieves’ kinda picture. I dare you not to love Luke. ‘What we’ve got here is failure to communicate!’” Hawke then praised 1963’s Hud, a western set in his own native Texas, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which he labelled “Hollywood. But there’s a reason Hollywood is famous.”
Sticking with a cowboy theme, Hawke then directed his praise towards Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson, in which Newman played the titular role of the famous Wild West showman. “This is a major work of art,” Hawke commended, citing how director Robert Altman was on a hot streak directly after his acclaimed masterpiece Nashville.
“This is [sic] movie is a badass fierce indictment of the white American male – and his unbelievable strength, courage and particular genius at lying to himself and others,” he added. “The movie was released in 1976 – the bicentennial. Guess what? Everyone hated it (everyone in America that is…. it won Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival).”
“Full-blown nuts” was the phrase Hawke used to describe The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, John Huston’s western comedy that starred Newman as a marauding outlaw. “This is John Huston and Paul Newman’s F*CK YOU to the phoniness of the Hollywood Western and even Paul’s movie star image,” the Before Sunrise star clarified. Next in Hawke’s rundown came Slap Shot, an ice hockey comedy, Paris Blues, in which he plays a jazz musician, and Nobody’s Fool, one of Newman’s final lead performances.
The list ends with Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money, a sequel to the first film Hawke mentioned, The Hustler. He called the interaction between Newman and Forest Whittaker “one of the best scenes ever.” If all this doesn’t prove how much Ethan Hawke loves Paul Newman, the actor rounded out his piece with, “shit, I forgot The Verdict. There’s too many to mention.”
