Film
Man for all
Kaleem Aftab talks to actor, writer and now director Ethan Hawke about adapting his novel The Hottest State for the big screen
ecentls it‘s heen em} to dislike lathan lla\\ke. llis tr_\ st \sith a model on a liliii set led to the ending ol' his marriage to actress l'ma llltll'llltlli. mother ol- his children. He \seai‘s his art-house credentials on his slee\e h} supplementing his acting career h} \sriting hooks. 'l'he roles he‘s liest t‘eliieltllk‘l‘etl lol'. such as .lesse in Richard l.illl\lillL'l“s lie/ore Sunrise and lie/ore Sunset. or .lake in 'Ii'iii'iiiiie l)ii\'. and. right at the heginning ol' his career. Todd in I)(’(l(/ l’oeis Sue/cit. are. to a man. pretentious idealists. and it‘s ol‘ten dillicult to separate the actor trom the man. With this in mind. it “as a pleasant surprise to tlisco\ er that the 37-}ettl‘—oltl actor is immediatcl} likeahle. will} and a great i'acontetii'. llis lttlesl l'illll. lillt' Hullth Sluit'. i.s till adaptation ol' his oun noxel and stars .\lark \Vehhei~ and ('atalina Sandino .\loreno as )otllig‘ lo\ci‘s. She's a singer and he's an aspiring actor l‘rom 'l‘exas him has mo\ed to Nest York in
search ol' lame and liol'Illne. ill/It‘ Htillt'.\l SIN/U Ul-
the title is hoth a i'et‘erence to 'l‘exas. \shere lla\\ke \s‘as horn. and the emotional ureckage that is their relationship. The “as the slot) is told in the moxie is reminiscent oi the “ink he's done \sith l.inklater. the same influence that can he seen in .liilie Help} ‘s lilm 'lim Days in Paris.
“inch is closing this _\eai”s lill'l‘. llavtke sa_\s ol
his association \\ith the Shaker director: 'l‘\ e done si\ lno\ies \xith Rick l.inklater I'lii/ie. l'iisi l‘ill’d Nation. linking life and the forthcoming Boyhood heing the othersl and so his impact on
50 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE :f—lt? is. z . .
me and prohahl} lll_\ impact on him is strong. \Ve're like-minded people. he's prohahh m} hest li‘iend. I don't kno\\ il l \Hitlltl ha\e \sritten 'l'lii' Hit/It's! Molt it it hasn't lioi' lie/ore Sunrise. 'l'here is a line in the mo\ ie \shere Sandino sa}s: "\Vhen )iiti'i‘e soiing exer}one tells )otl to l'olloxs sour dreams and \shen )oti're old the} act ol‘l'ended il~ _\oll tr)". l i'emeinher \\ hen l \s as around It) l‘eeling so scared ol' ti‘}iiig an_\thing dill‘erent hecatise people would mock oi' latiin at me. But Rick is one oi those gii_\s \sho \sants e\er_\one to succeed tttltl he tloesll‘l see )ottt' success as a i'el‘leclion ol his oxs n lttiltll‘e. lie \\;is an important person to meet at that age.'
It's a sign ol' llo\\ soung he \sas \\ hen he started acting that h} the time llau ke was in his eai'l_\ Qlls he “as ali‘ead} getting cold l'eet ahotit heing an actor. He e\plains: 'When I \sas \si‘iting the hook. l \\as ti‘_\ing i'eall} hard to do something aside l'rom mmies. I did in} lirst nio\ie llaip/orersl \shen l “as l3—-\ettl's-oltl and I)('(l(/ /’iii'l\ Soc/"err came otit \\ hen l “as lh’ and h_\ the time l “as 35 I reth wanted some other e\perience. lid iie\'ei' heen a prolessional an} thing else.'
llau'k'e l'ollo\s ed tip HIt' lloiii'si Sin/e \\ ith xix/I lli'i/iii'si/iir. The critical reaction to his literar} el'l‘orts llzts heen Llecitletll} mixed: the cognoseenti ha\e deemed his hooks too \shimsical while the _\oting audience the hooks
‘I DON'T KNOW HOW I WOULD'VE APPROACHED
IT IF I WASN'T
A FATHER'
are aimed at ha\e lapped them tip llosse\ei. \shen llasske first tried his hand at leatiire lilin directing he tlecltletl against .ttlttpilltg one oi lits ossn hooks in lasotii oi .\ieole lillltlellt“s pla} (lie/H11 llil//\.
lle sa_\s. ‘l i'call_\ didn’t think oi ins hook l/lt' Hones! SIN/F as a lllti\le and then a less _\eais passed and l started thinking that ll \\titlltl he iiiii to make. l’eople hegan mentioning it to me a le\\ times. and liieiids \\titlltl sa}. "_\oti should make this into a name”. I ne\ei’ thought II \\.is a good idea. ‘l'heii I did (iii/xiii Hit/ls and I met \laik \Vehher and i thought he \sotild he the peileet actor to pla_\ \Villiain. .\o\\ l'in happ) I did it. hiit lltllllil} enough Ill_\ l;t\titll|le scenes .iie Ill the last It) minutes and that sltill isn’t ieal|_\ in the hook ‘
'l here are se\ei'al dilleientcs hetueen the hook and the llllll Hui/mi \iait. the higgest heing that the
\ei‘sions ol l/It
cotiple do iiol \isit l’aris htit head instead to .\le\ico. \‘.llile Sarah t.\lorenoi is no longer a kindeigai'ten teacher htit a tier} l.atin musician. llauke sa_\ s. ‘\\'hen _\oti're \si‘iting a hook )oii‘ie ll}llif._‘ to make literar} i‘elerences. So. I \\as tr}ing with Paris to exoke the idea ol the ltio\e;il\le least ln llte ltio\le. l needed hot imager} ll the hint \sas going to he called [Ii/1e [III/[UH Slit/i1 l \ktillletl lots til images oi litills tllttl s\\e1tt. So l sliilletl it to .\le\ico. l-tinnil} enough that gaxe me the idea that it \\Ullltl he ion to cast either \Villiam l\\ei\liel'l oi Sarah as a l.atin person and I ended up casting (’atalina. Then I thought it \soiild he inoie dramatic to make her into a musician and that \Hiltltl he a hig reason as to uh} he hills in lo\e \\ ith her.’
l'ans ol' lla\ske's acting talent need not net as he has also gi\en himsell a role in the liliii. as Wehhers estranged lather. Despite the hi'eaktip ol' his marriage. llauke tunlike his character in the film). maintains a healthy relationship \\ ith his mo kids \la}a and Roan. 'l'lie'\'i'e e\en heading otit to .-\iistralia \\ here llastke is starring in \ampii'e llick /)ii\'/iri'iikers. The actor admits that one ol' the reasons he waited to shot it Hit‘ Hill/Hi Stare \sas so that he \Hillltl he old enough to take the part. lle sa}s: ‘lt \sas \sonderlul l‘or me to imagine talking to m} g'l'ouli-tll) son. It tsas \sonderl‘ul to imagine what he will look like. htm nice it would he to see him and see that he \sas so handsome. I don’t knots hots l \soiild'xe approached it il l \sasn’t a latherf