Daijiworld Media Network - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, Oct 11: Hollywood actor Ethan Hawke has revealed that he spent 10 years searching for another great filmmaking experience after working on ‘Dead Poets Society’.
The 55-year-old actor got his breakthrough with the coming-of-age film, which also starred the late Robin Williams and Robert Sean Leonard.
Hawke praised director Peter Weir for creating a positive atmosphere on the film’s set but admitted that the experience initially gave him an unrealistic impression of what filmmaking was like. He later realised that such a working environment was rare.
Hawke made the remarks while moderating a book discussion in New York City for Kyle MacLachlan’s memoir, ‘Fictional Selves’. Addressing the ‘Twin Peaks’ star, he said, “And that for me was the hard part of growing up, which I feel for you when I read (Fictional Selves). What happens is when you have these beautiful experiences. I had great experience with Peter Weir, and then I went 10 years without having a great experience”.
He added, “I thought Dead Poets Society is what making a movie was like. It’s not what it’s like. A lot of people are really cold and crass and mean and they really want to sell something and they want to manipulate you and they don’t respect actors”.
The discussion turned to the actors’ long-standing creative relationships with filmmakers Richard Linklater and David Lynch. Hawke has worked with Linklater on nine films and is currently collaborating with him on their 10th project, while MacLachlan shared a close association with Lynch.
MacLachlan said Lynch had played a major role in shaping his enjoyment of acting and filmmaking, recalling the sense of joy and creative freedom on the director’s sets.
“I love what I do. I love coming to set. And I get this from David too, because the sense of joy and creative freedom and excitement was always present on David’s set. Even when (Dennis Hopper) and (Isabella Rossellini) were doing some of that very heavy stuff [on Blue Velvet], there was still this sense of joy and creativity that was there. And I just tried to embrace that and do that. I'm in my creative, happy place when that’s happening on set,” MacLachlan said.
Hawke said he and MacLachlan were “extremely lucky” to have found such enduring and fruitful creative partnerships, noting that young actors often aspire to develop lasting relationships with filmmakers.
“But we’re extremely lucky for many reasons, but one is: young actors dream of having a creative relationship with a filmmaker. I got to have that with Richard Linklater. You got to have that with David Lynch,” he said.
He added that the filmmakers’ work was filled with mystery, hope and the realities of life. Hawke also described Linklater’s sets as safe spaces where actors could freely express themselves without fear of judgment.
“The creative space that I know from working with Richard Linklater sounds like what you’re talking about, which is a very safe place. And you can talk about anything if you’re among friends, right? You can share the darkest thought if you know you’re loved. And that’s what a Linklater set feels like,” he added.