Ethan and Maya Hawke open up on their next movie ‘Wildcat,’ nepotism, and working together

Father daughter duo Ethan and Maya and Hawke recently sat down with Variety, discussing their upcoming film Wildcat, and opening up on the “nepo baby” tag often used for the Stranger Things star.

Getting candid on the making of their joint-venture Wildcat, Maya hilariously revealed that she had started calling her father by his first name on the set to be professional.

“I started using his name — ‘Ethan’ — to be like, ‘I’m a professional, and then I realized it was actually more distracting to people. They’d be like, ‘Why are you doing that?’ So I mostly called him ‘Dad.’”

Later in the interview, she joked about their family being in the showbusiness, saying, “We’re like the boring, indie Kardashians.”

The inspiration for Wildcat, a film premiering at this year's Toronto Film Festival that offers a multifaceted exploration of the life and work of a young Flannery O'Connor, originated with Maya.

Maya, who has long been captivated by the Southern Gothic writer, first encountered O'Connor's work in 10th grade at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights.

For her audition at Juilliard, Maya crafted a monologue based on O'Connor's A Prayer Journal and even shared the original text with her father. Ethan then coached her and the idea of exploring O'Connor's life and work continued to resonate with Maya.

Maya's monologue earned her a place at Juilliard, with Ethan emphasizing that while having famous parents can help secure an audition, it doesn't guarantee acceptance. 

It might be tempting to dismiss the Hawkes' collaboration as an example of nepotism in an industry where connections often play a significant role. Both Ethan and Maya are aware of how such perceptions can arise in today's world. However, Ethan firmly emphasizes that Wildcat was entirely Maya's concept and vision.

“Put simply, I’m a nepo dad!” Ethan joked. “And I’m not embarrassed about it.”

“I had moments of insecurity about it while we were shooting the movie,” adds Maya, who was also a producer. ”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.”

“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,” added Ethan.

Although the duo were comfortable and happy to work together, they were cautioned about mixing family with business. “Before we started,” Maya remembers, “everyone was asking me, ‘Are you nervous to work with your dad?’ I hadn’t thought to be.”

Ethan came across the same type of warnings about working with his daughter. “I started thinking, ‘What am I not seeing? What am I missing?’” he says. “But this is our safe place …”

“… making art together,” Maya added.

“I mean, Thanksgiving?” he added with a laugh. “That’s not so safe.”

Ethan also recounted the moment he realized that Maya would pursue acting, saying, “I didn’t have a babysitter for Maya, so I brought her to the tech rehearsal, which is insanely boring,” he says. “We do the whole play, stopping and starting as they adjust the lights, not in costume.”

The Black Phone star had intended to send Maya home while the cast would stay and go again. But she wanted to stay.

“Maya was like, ‘Can I please watch it again?’” Ethan remembers. “It’s a three-hour play. It’s Shakespeare. I went, ‘Wow. It’s on.’ If you want to watch a Shakespeare play dress rehearsal two times in a row when you are 12 …”

“… you have some serious issues,” Maya quipped.

“… that’s what you’re going to do with your life,” Ethan countered.