‘Blue Moon’ Star Ethan Hawke Says an Overlooked Richard Linklater Drama Changed His Life, Not ‘Training Day’

Few actors have built a career quite as varied as Ethan Hawke’s. The 55-year-old Austin native booked his first movie at just 14, broke out at 18 in Peter Weir’s ‘Dead Poets Society’, and has since earned 5 Oscar nominations while stepping behind the camera as a director and writer.

With so many celebrated roles to choose from, fans would likely expect him to name one of the classics. His ‘Before’ trilogy with Julie Delpy, his turn opposite Denzel Washington in ‘Training Day’ and his recent work as Lorenz Hart in ‘Blue Moon’ would all be fair guesses.

Instead, Hawke picked something far more surprising. In a recent interview with the BBC, he named ‘Tape’, the low-budget, claustrophobic 2001 drama he made with his frequent collaborator Richard Linklater, as the film role that changed his life.

Hawke explained that ‘Tape’ marked a major turning point for him. He described the film as his entrance into adult acting, noting that he was about to turn 30 at the time and was becoming a grown-up.

The timing mattered for technical reasons too. Hawke recalled that digital video was a brand-new technology back then, and that he and Linklater were excited about how the format might change movies.

Their working relationship also made the experiment possible. By the time they made ‘Tape’ in 2000, the pair had already completed 3 films together, so Hawke said he didn’t need to earn anyone’s trust and they could dive right into experimenting with the form.

Interestingly, ‘Tape’ arrived right before one of Hawke’s most famous roles. He told the BBC that he made it just before ‘Training Day’ and felt grateful for that experience once he began working alongside Washington.

Hawke described Washington as the most remarkable artist he had ever worked with, praising his powerful imagination and all-engaging charisma. According to Hawke, ‘Training Day’ put everything he had learned to the test.

The actor also reflected on how getting older has changed his perspective. He said one lifetime no longer feels like enough, because the more he learns, the more he realizes how much he didn’t know.

The interview arrives as Hawke promotes ‘The Weight’, which opened in UK and Irish cinemas on October 2. Directed by Padraic McKinley, the Depression-era drama is set in 1933 Oregon and stars Hawke as Samuel Murphy, a man trying to get back to his young daughter after landing in a work camp.

Russell Crowe co-stars as the corrupt Warden Clancy, alongside Julia Jones and Austin Amelio. The film was shot over 6 weeks in Germany’s Bavarian forests, and Hawke has compared his character’s journey to that of Odysseus.

The production was made with a lean, independent spirit. “It’s fun to have a lot of toys, but it’s also more fun not to,” Hawke told TheWrap when the film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Critics have embraced his latest performance. TheWrap’s review called Hawke absolutely electrifying, praising a nearly wordless turn that conveys his character’s longing almost entirely through his expressions.

That instinctive approach seems to define Hawke’s career. Whether it’s a tiny digital experiment like ‘Tape’ or a Hollywood hit like ‘Training Day’, his most meaningful work often comes from the people he collaborates with, and it’s no surprise that a project with Linklater is the one he still holds closest.

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