Advertisement
Movies

SAG Awards 2015: Ethan Hawke on coming full circle with ‘Boyhood’

1/12
On awards shows: “I’ve spent the bulk of my career pretty much dedicated to trying to make no one see my acting. Acting at its finest is transparent. And whenever you get a prize, it’s like they caught you.”  (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)
2/12
On transforming for his “Nightcrawler” role: “What’s interesting is really only an actor knows how much time goes into preparing for something you really love. And the coolest thing about this [nomination]... is to have other actors say, ‘We see that, and we think you did a good job.’”  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
3/12
“Thank you so much to the Screen Actors’ Guild. It’s such an honor to be nominated by your peers and in the company of this group of talented women. I’m thrilled to celebrate this with Benedict and the cast.”   (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
4/12
“I’m over the moon. And so delighted to receive recognition in such esteemed company for both ‘Sherlock’ and ‘The Imitation Game’ by my acting peers. What an amazing early Christmas present! Thank you to all who voted and watched both pieces of work.”   (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
5/12
“This is the best 6 a.m. wake up call ever. Words can’t describe how blessed I feel to be recognized like this by my peers for this film. What an enormous feeling of joy and gratitude.”  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
6/12
On Twitter: “@SAGawards Thank you very much SAG. Thank you brother and sister actors! Humbled by the nominations.” Later: “@SteveCarell Congratulations Steve on the @SAGawards nomination. Wonderful work.”  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
7/12
“As an actor being nominated by actors for playing an actor, I am truly, truly grateful for this honor. An ensemble like this hardly ever comes around, and all of us made this very unique film work - lead by our maestro, director Alejandro Iñárritu.”  (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press)
8/12
“I am so honored to be recognized by my fellow actors and to also have Ethan and our entire ensemble nominated. Our recognition are a testament to the vision of Rick Linklater and to every single actor and crew member that committed to this film whether they had no lines, one line, showed up for one year or committed to all 12 years on this film, as many did.”  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
9/12
On the “Theory” cast’s nomination: “There really isn’t a role in our film that you can take for granted. ... Each of those characters carries a lot of weight because when they come and go from the story, they’re covering whole periods of time.”  (Larry Busacca / Getty Images)
10/12
On Twitter: “Honored to be nominated for a @SAGAwards and so unbelievably #PROUD of our @OITNB family for our ensemble recognition. We are... #TeamOrange.”  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
11/12
On Twitter: “Thank you, thank you to all my fellow actors for nominating me for lead actress in #SAGAwards. #honored”  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
12/12
On “Budapest’s” success: “I remember when Wes [Anderson] was telling me the idea, I was going, ‘God, I don’t know about that. I wouldn’t bet on the commercial prospects for that movie.’ [laughs] And then it ended up doing really well. I think that’s very good for movies when that happens.”  (Koki Nagahama / Getty Images)
By Amy Kaufman
 and Oliver Gettell
Share

If “Boyhood” was a coming-of-age story 12 years in the making, co-star Ethan Hawke’s SAG Award nomination for supporting actor Wednesday was something like a class reunion.

Speaking to The Times about his SAG Award nod, the 44-year-old actor gave a shout-out to some of his longtime peers and fellow nominees. He also talked about what it was like working with the “Boyhood” cast and crew for more than a decade.

Where did you hear about your nomination?

Advertisement

I’m actually shooting a little independent film in Atlanta. And there are several things that made me happy about this SAG thing. It’s kind of a real thrill for me to nominated alongside Mark Ruffalo [for “Foxcatcher”] and Ed Norton [for “Birdman”]. We showed up in New York around the same time, and to find ourselves all nominated together is meaningful to me.

It’s weird also because I’m a member of SAG and I’ve dedicated my life to this profession. This year, losing Phil [Philip Seymour Hoffman] and Robin [Williams] made me feel closer to the community than ever before.

How did you first get your SAG card?

From “Explorers,” a movie I did with River Phoenix in 1984.

Are you surprised at how “Boyhood” is proving to be the little engine that could?

I can’t believe it. There’s certain movies that the second you do them, people think you’re hunting for awards. Some of these movies come out and you can smell it on them. “Boyhood” started out as the most artistically pure experience I’ve had for over a decade. I think the bulk of the time I was doing it, I didn’t think the movie would ever come out. It almost seemed fictitious.

Was it hard to return to the character when you had such long gaps between each performance?

Advertisement

For me, it wasn’t that distant ever because I did “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight” while we were making “Boyhood.” It’s been a part of my ethos. It was never far away from me. When Richard Linklater asked me to do this movie, he was asking me to do a portrait of fatherhood. It’s a subject matter that was integral to my life. I thought about that all the time and for 12 years, every time I took a job, I just had to call Rick and tell him I was thinking about taking a job to make sure we could still work out the details. It’s been a scheduling nightmare.

How did you change as an actor over the years the film shot?

It changed my fathering. Ellar [Coltrane] was always two years ahead of my daughter. I could learn a lot about where my kid was headed. Parents don’t spend time with other kids of their generation, so they don’t know what’s unique to their kid.

Do you enjoy award shows?There’s so much failure in our lives and so much rejection and so much apathy and indifference to the life of an actor. You even get subjected to ridicule, and you have to weather that storm. I look at these things as a sunny day. I’ve grown up with actors, and this union is incredibly important to me. It’s not lost on me that often times the best performances come from actors who are fighting it out with poor writing and poor conditions trying to bring some humanity to some numbnut episode of TV that the director doesn’t care about. That actor doesn’t ever get a prize.

Follow @AmyKinLA and @ogettell for movie news

More to Read

Movies
Amy Kaufman

Amy Kaufman is a columnist at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes a monthly A-1 column, “For Real With Amy Kaufman.” The series examines the lives of icons, underdogs and rising stars to find out who the people are shaping our culture — for real. Since joining The Times in 2009, she has profiled hundreds of influential figures, including Stevie Nicks, Kevin Hart, Joan Rivers, Michael B. Jordan and Lady Gaga. She also works on investigations and was part of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist team that covered the tragic shooting on the “Rust” film set. Her work often shines a light on the darker side of the entertainment business, and she has uncovered misconduct allegations against Randall Emmett, Russell Simmons and Chris D’Elia. In 2018, her book “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure” became a New York Times bestseller.

Oliver Gettell

Oliver Gettell is a former film blogger for the Los Angeles Times.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Advertisement