‘Blue Moon’ Star Ethan Hawke (55) Confesses His ‘90s Crush To Drew Barrymore (51), and Her Reaction Is Priceless
Some of the best talk show moments happen when 2 Hollywood stars who grew up in the same era finally sit down together. Ethan Hawke and Drew Barrymore came up in the business around the same time, and both became defining faces of ’90s pop culture.
Hawke, the star of ‘Reality Bites’ and ‘The Lowdown’, and Barrymore, now one of daytime TV’s most recognizable hosts, have spent decades orbiting the same industry. Somehow, their paths never fully crossed in the way Hawke apparently once hoped they would.
That came to light when Hawke appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show and made a surprising confession. After telling Barrymore he couldn’t remember a time in his life when he wasn’t aware of her, he admitted, “What I can’t believe is that we never dated, you know?”
Barrymore, never one to hold back, didn’t let the comment slide. She immediately fired back, demanding to know where Hawke had been all those years. “Where the hell were you?” she asked, before adding that she and every other girl on the planet would have loved the chance to date him. The playful exchange quickly turned into one of the episode’s most talked-about moments.
Barrymore also pointed out that dialing a number wasn’t exactly hard in those days. “Why didn’t you call me? We still had phones back then,” she said. Hawke explained that he did think about it back then. He recalled heading to parties in the ’90s and wondering whether Barrymore would be there, hoping fate would bring them together.
Rather than make a move, he chose to let things unfold on their own. “I wanted it to happen organically,” Hawke explained, adding that he thought something magical would happen. Barrymore wasn’t letting him off that easily. Teasing him for his cool-guy approach, she joked that his strategy had produced exactly nothing.
The moment wasn’t one-sided. When Hawke said he had always been aware of her, Barrymore responded that she felt the same way about him, which made the near-miss even funnier.
It’s easy to see why fans loved the exchange. Two stars who were everywhere in the ’90s are now in their 50s, laughing about a romance that never got off the ground, with Hawke at 55 and Barrymore at 51.
Of course, both actors went on to build very different personal lives. Barrymore has been married 3 times, to Jeremy Thomas, Tom Green and Will Kopelman, and shares daughters Olive and Frankie with Kopelman, whom she divorced in 2016.
Hawke was married to Uma Thurman from 1998 until their split in 2005, and the former couple shares children Maya and Levon. He has been married to Ryan Shawhughes since 2008, and they share daughters Clementine and Indiana.
The playful exchange also fits with how open Barrymore has been about her love life on her show. She has previously spoken about how strange dating feels as a single parent and admitted she isn’t quite sure how to approach it.
That honesty is a big part of her appeal as a host. Even a lighthearted moment like this one shows her ability to turn a simple interview into something warm, funny, and surprisingly relatable.
The clip, shared on the talk show’s official YouTube channel, quickly spread online, with Entertainment Weekly and other outlets picking up the story. The combination of ’90s nostalgia and Barrymore’s mock outrage made it an instant crowd-pleaser.
While the romance may never have happened, the friendly chemistry between the 2 stars is undeniable. If nothing else, the conversation proves that sometimes playing it cool isn’t the best strategy.
Do you think Ethan Hawke and Drew Barrymore would have made a great couple in the ’90s?
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