Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role. He then appeared in such films as White Fang (1991), A Midnight Clear (1992), and Alive (1993) before taking a role in the 1994 Generation X drama Reality Bites, for which he gained critical acclaim. In 1995, he starred in the romantic drama Before Sunrise, and later in its sequel Before Sunset (2004). In 2001, Hawke was cast as a rookie police officer in Training Day, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. Other films have included the science fiction feature Gattaca (1997), the title role in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000), the action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), and the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007). Hawke has appeared in many theater productions including The Seagull, Henry IV, Hurlyburly, The Cherry Orchard, The Winter's Tale and The Coast of Utopia, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. He made his directorial debut with the 2002 independent feature Chelsea Walls. In November 2007 Hawke directed his first play, Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want. Aside from acting, he has written two novels, The Hottest State (1996) and Ash Wednesday (2002). Between 1998 and 2004, Hawke was married to actress Uma Thurman.

Filmography

• 2026Deep in the Heart II: Texas Rivers
• 2026I, Object — Little Ben (voice)
• 2026She Dances — Brian
• 2026The Weight — Samuel Murphy
• 2025Black Phone 2 — Grabber
• 2025Blue Moon — Lorenz Hart
• 2025Highway 99: A Double Album — Director
• 2025King Hamlet — Executive Producer
• The American Revolution — Anthony Wayne / John Andrews (voice)
• The Lowdown — Lee Raybon, Executive Producer
• 2024Wildcat — Director, Producer, Writer
• 2023Leave the World Behind — Clay Sandford
• 2023Strange Way of Life — Jake
• Batwheels — Batman (voice)
• 2022Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery — Efficient Man
• Moon Knight — Arthur Harrow
• 2022Raymond & Ray — Ray
• 2022The Black Phone — The Grabber
• The Last Movie Stars — Director
• 2022The Northman — King Aurvandil War-Raven
• Reservation Dogs — Rick Miller
• 2021The Guilty — Sgt. Bill Miller (voice)
• 2021Waiting for Godot — Vladimir
• 2021Zeros and Ones — JJ / Justin
• 2020Cut Throat City — Jackson Symms
• 2020Paul Schrader: Man in a Room
• 2020Tesla — Nikola Tesla
• The Good Lord Bird — John Brown, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
• 2019Adopt a Highway — Russell Millings, Producer
• 2019Stockholm — Lars Nystrom
• 2019The Kid — Sheriff Pat Garrett
• 2019The Truth — Hank
• 2018Blaze — Radio DJ, Director, Writer, Producer
• Explained — Narrator (voice)
• 2018First Reformed — Pastor Ernst Toller
• 2018Juliet, Naked — Tucker Crowe
• 2018Let's Dance — Segment: "Table Manners"
• The Purge — James Sandin
• 201724 Hours to Live — Travis Conrad
• 2017Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets — Jolly the Pimp
• 2016In a Valley of Violence — Paul
• 2016Invasion! — Voice of the Cosmos (voice)
• 2016Maggie's Plan — John Harding
• 2016Maudie — Everett Lewis
• 2016The Magnificent Seven — Goodnight Robicheaux
• 2016The Phenom — Hopper Sr.
• 201510,000 Saints — Les Horn
• 2015Born to Be Blue — Chet Baker
• 2015Chattanooga Strong — Narrator
• 2015Good Kill — Commandant Tom Egan
• 2015Regression — Bruce Kenner
• 2015Seymour: An Introduction — Self, Director
• 2014Boyhood — Dad
• 2014Cymbeline — Iachimo
• 2014In the Dark
• 2014Predestination — The Bartender
• 2013Before Midnight — Jesse, Writer
• 2013Getaway — Brent Magna
• 2013The Purge — James Sandin
• 2013Welcome Nowhere — Narrator
• 2012Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen — (archive footage)
• 2012Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God — Pat (voice)
• 2012Sinister — Ellison Oswalt
• 2012Total Recall — Hauser (long version only)
• Moby Dick — Starbuck
• 2011The Woman in the Fifth — Tom Ricks
• 2010Brooklyn's Finest — Det. Sal Procida
• 2010Daybreakers — Edward Dalton
• 2009Staten Island — Sully
• 2008New York, I Love You — Writer
• 2008What Doesn't Kill You — Paulie
• 2007Before the Devil Knows You're Dead — Hank Hanson
• 2007The Hottest State — Vince, Director, Writer
• 2006Fast Food Nation — Pete
• 2005Assault on Precinct 13 — Sergeant Jake Roenick
• 2005Before Sunset: Behind the Scenes
• 2005Lord of War — Jack Valentine
• 2005One Last Thing... — Earl Jameison (uncredited)
• 2005The Phoenix Portal — Ben Crandall (archive footage)
• 2004Before Sunset — Jesse, Screenplay
• 2004Taking Lives — James Costa
• 2002The Jimmy Show — Ray
• Alias — James Lennox
• 2001Chelsea Walls — Sam (voice) (uncredited), Director
• 2001Tape — Vin
• 2001Training Day — Jake
• 2001Waking Life — Jesse
• 2000Hamlet — Hamlet
• 1999Joe the King — Len Coles
• 1999Snow Falling on Cedars — Ishmael Chambers
• 1999The Velocity of Gary — Nat
• 1998Great Expectations — Finnegan Bell
• 1998The Newton Boys — Jess Newton
• 1997Gattaca — Vincent Freeman
• 1995Before Sunrise — Jesse
• 1995Search and Destroy — Roger
• 1994Floundering — Jimmy
• 1994Quiz Show — Don Quixote Student (uncredited)
• 1994Reality Bites — Troy Dyer
• 1994White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf — Jack Conroy (uncredited)
• 1993Alive — Nando Parrado
• 1993Straight to One — Producer, Director, Writer
• 1992A Midnight Clear — Will Knott
• 1992Rich in Love — Wayne Frobiness
• 1992Waterland — Matthew Price
• 1991Mystery Date — Tom McHugh
• 1991White Fang — Jack Conroy
• 1989Dad — Billy
• 1989Dead Poets Society — Todd Anderson
• 1988Lion's Den — Chris
• 1985Explorers — Ben Crandall
• Before Sunrise: Behind the Scenes
• Camino Real — Screenplay, Director
• Hippies — Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Revolver
• The Gunfighter — Writer, Producer
• The Last of the Tribe — William Phelan, Producer
• Tonight at Noon — Lefty
• Untitled Agnes Denes Documentary — Executive Producer

Appearances as themselves (49)

• 2025Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies — Self (archive footage)
• Variety & CNN Actors on Actors — Self
• Vietnam: The War That Changed America — Self - Narrator (voice)
• My Generation — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 2023Willie Nelson 90: Long Story Short — Self
• 2022Answering the Call: Behind the Scenes of The Black Phone — Self
• 2022Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Moon Knight — Self - Arthur Harrow
• 2022Turn Every Page - The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb — Self
• 2020Before the End — Self - Jesse
• Desus & Mero — Self - Illustrious Guest
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• GQ Presents: Iconic Characters — Self
• 2017After Before — Self
• Talking with Chris Hardwick — Self
• 2017The Space in Between — Self
• Quotidien — Self - Guest
• 2016Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny — Self
• 2016Starring Austin Pendleton — Self
• 2015All You Zombies: Bringing 'Predestination' to Life — Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• 2015Twelve Years — Self
• 201421 Years: Richard Linklater — Self - Actor
• 2014Dead Poets in NYC — Self
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self - Guest
• Off Camera with Sam Jones — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self - Guest
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
• Shakespeare Uncovered — Self
• Conan — Self
• 2010The Making of Daybreakers — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• 2008Chelsea on the Rocks — Self
• 2008Directed by Sidney Lumet: How the Devil Was Made — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self - Guest
• 2007The Manufacturing of 'Fast Food Nation' — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Guest
• Real Time with Bill Maher — Self
• 2003pollyDAYS — Self
• 2002All the Love You Cannes! — Self
• Bo' Selecta! — Self
• The View — Self, Self - Guest
• The Daily Show — Self
• 1995At Sundance — Self
• Inside the Actors Studio — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — Self
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark — Self - Guest
• Great Performances — Self
• The Oscars — Self