Ethan Hawke admits 'regret' over nepo baby daughter Maya Hawke's 'really hard' childhood
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Ethan Hawke has voiced his 'regret' over his nepo baby daughter Maya Hawke's 'really hard' upbringing.
The 55-year-old actor - who recently starred in the comedic drama Blue Moon - got candid about the topic during Variety and CNN's Actors on Actors interview that was published on Thursday.
The star shares the Stranger Things actress, 27, with ex-wife Uma Thurman - whom he was married to from 1998 until their divorce in 2005. The former couple are also parents to son Levon, 23.
'There were a lot of things about her childhood that were really, really hard and complicated, and things I regret for her,' Hawke said of his eldest daughter while joined by Sydney Sweeney for the interview.
While the Before Sunrise star did not offer further details, he then reflected on how Maya's creativity was notable at a very young age - and explained he knew she would 'be an artist' one day.
'I knew that she was gonna be a very good one. That was her safe place, water-coloring, dancing, singing all throughout her childhood.'
Ethan Hawke has voiced his 'regret' over his nepo baby daughter Maya Hawke's 'really hard' upbringing; seen in November in L.A.
'There were a lot of things about her childhood that were really, really hard and complicated, and things I regret for her,' Hawke said of his eldest daughter while joined by Sydney Sweeney for the interview; seen in 2023 in Toronto
The actor added how his daughter had always been drawn to 'human communication.'
'I remember some teacher said, "Maya, are you happy?" Cause they were worried about her. And she said something to the effect of, "Do you really think that's the question?" I thought, "I love this kid."'
Hawke continued, 'She was about 13. [Maya said] "I don't think that's a very interesting question. I think there's a lot more interesting questions than whether I’m happy or not. Am I happy? No. But I don't aspire to be happy."
'So I never worried about her going into the arts, because I knew that was gonna save her life.'
Maya is known for starring in a number of projects, such as portraying the role of Robin Buckley in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
She has also appeared in the films Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019), Do Revenge (2022) and Maestro (2023).
During a past interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actress opened up about looking up to her famous parents for advice when it comes to the working in the entertainment industry.
'I'm always running decisions by them. They both have similar levels of success but really different experiences within the business.'
'I knew that she was gonna be a very good one. That was her safe place, water-coloring, dancing, singing all throughout her childhood,' Hawke said; seen in 2024 in NYC
Maya is known for starring in a number of projects, such as portraying the role of Robin Buckley in the Netflix series Stranger Things (seen above)
During a past interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actress opened up about looking up to her famous parents for advice when it comes to the working in the entertainment industry; Thurman and Hawke seen in 2003 in NYC
She added, 'I think that's the biggest advantage [I have], that I have information about the pitfalls and the good things. Hopefully it'll keep me from making some mistakes that young actors can make.'
Last year, Maya proudly embraced her 'nepo baby' label during a conversation with The Times.
'There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don't, but I think I'm comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway,' she told the outlet. 'And I know that my not doing it wouldn't help anyone.'
The star further expressed, 'I saw two paths when I was first starting, and one of them was: change your name, get a nose job and go to open casting roles.'
The Stranger Things star also noted that her relationship with her parents has offered her a certain level of privilege.
'It's okay to be made fun of when you're in rarefied air. It's a lucky place to be,' Maya explained.
'My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it.'
Back in 2023, Hawke disputed his daughter being labeled as a nepo baby after she had come up with the idea for their movie titled Wildcat.
Last year, Maya proudly embraced her 'nepo baby' label during a conversation with The Times; seen in November in Hollywood
'My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it,' she said; the actress seen with her father in 2023 in Sweden
'Put simply, I'm a nepo dad! And I'm not embarrassed about it,' the actor joked to Variety at the time.
His eldest daughter - who had also joined him for the interview - added, 'I had moments of insecurity about it while we were shooting the movie.
'But the internet doesn't have a lot of nuances. My dad has been a massive teacher for me, and we want to work together. We like being with each other.'
Her dad then said, 'If someone wants to criticize us for working together, that's totally fair. You have to let people have their opinion. You just have to try to do a good job when you're onstage.'
Following his divorce from Thurman, the actor went on to marry Ryan Hawke in 2008 - and the couple share children Clementine, 17, and Indiana, 14.
During an interview with The Times last month, The Black Phone star revealed the reason why he does not talk about the divorce publicly.
During an interview with The Times last month, The Black Phone star revealed the reason why he does not talk about the divorce publicly; Hawke and Thurman seen in 2002
'The public eye is like gasoline, but what makes divorce hard is the stuff that makes it hard for everyone: the family elements, how to help the kids through it.'
Hawke then briefly talked about a promise that he made to his children that he shares with Thurman.
'I can't really talk about this because I vowed to my kids so many times not to talk about the divorce in public.'
He added, 'But one thing I will say is if you get the privilege of traveling the world, you realize that everywhere men and women have a tremendous amount of difficulty staying married.'
