Ethan Hawke on his 1st Best Actor Oscar nomination, saying goodbye to Lorenz Hart, and the stories he still thinks about today

NEW YORK — At 55, with more than four decades in the industry and nearly 90 films to his name, Ethan Hawke is having the type of moment he deserves. For the first time, he is up for Best Actor at the 2026 Oscars for his deeply felt portrayal of legendary Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in “Blue Moon.” It is a role he spent nearly 10 years preparing for.

What strikes you most when you talk to him is that after more than four decades, the excitement and curiosity is still right there on the surface – the same pure joy of the craft you’d expect from an actor just starting out, not someone with decades behind them. Talking to him, you can feel how much he loves what he does – there’s a genuine gratitude in every word, like someone who truly appreciates he gets to do this for a living. And with Lorenz Hart, he fell in love all over again.

He took time out of rehearsals for the second season of “The Lowdown” to talk to me, and his passion for Oscar-nominated “Blue Moon” was completely undimmed. We talked about saying goodbye to this extraordinary character, the career memories that have stayed with him (Denzel, we’re talking about you), and what he would say to Lorenz Hart himself if given the chance.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Joelle Garguilo: “You were working on this character for about 10 years before you ever stepped foot on set, and then you shoot for 15 days. What is it like when you get to know someone so intimately, someone you’ve never physically met, and then you get to be them, but then have to say goodbye to them?”

Ethan Hawke: “That’s the thing nobody talks about. We spend all this time trying to figure out: who is the character? What is he thinking? What’s his watch look like? How does he do his hair? You read books, you look at the lyrics. For Lorenz Hart, a lot of who he is, is in his lyrics. And then how to say goodbye is really difficult, because it becomes… the most relatable example would be like when you were a kid and you go to summer camp and you have these unbelievable experiences – you make great friends, you have counselors who really care about you – and then you go home and there’s no one who knows what happened. You feel changed, but nobody else knows.

For this part, I had to shave the top of my head all the way to the back so I could do this comb-over thing. I looked ridiculous. By the time I got to the wrap party I looked like Telly Savalas. When we wrapped, the first thing I did was shave the whole rest of my head. And then we were shooting in Ireland – I woke up the next day, went on a six-hour walk on the beach, and just started to make my peace with it. Because here’s what’s hard – when you get a great part as an actor, it’s really rare when you know you have an opportunity. Like a real, genuine, wow moment.”

Joelle Garguilo: “You must have known that going in.”

Ethan Hawke: “I knew it. I’d never been asked to work so hard before, and I knew it was a great opportunity. You also know that you can never do as well as you want to, but I sat there at the ocean in Dublin saying goodbye thinking: I did my best. I didn’t do it as well as I wanted to, but I did the best I could on every given day. I felt good about it. I said goodbye to it, put on my little hoodie, and caught the plane home.”

Joelle Garguilo: “This is the first Best Actor [Academy Award] nomination of your career. You’ve been at this for over four decades, made close to 90 films. What does this moment really mean to you?”

Ethan Hawke: “You don’t make a movie or go on stage or make anything just to send it into the void unnoticed. This has never happened before for me, so I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel really good. But mostly what feels amazing is the look on your face when you’re talking about the movie. Or, I was flying to London and there were people at baggage claim who had watched it on the plane. They had tears in their eyes. That feels really good, because a lot of times you work really hard on a movie and nobody sees it. Or you don’t work that hard and everybody sees it, and you get credit you didn’t deserve. I made this movie with one of my best friends. We believed in the script. To sit there at baggage claim and listen to strangers love the writing, I just thought, ‘I know, that’s exactly how we felt.'”

Joelle Garguilo: “I watched this movie four times before our junket interview. I should have felt sad watching your Lorenz Hart, but I felt joy. I never wanted him to leave the screen. I was sad when it was over.”

Ethan Hawke: “It’s in a way a heartbreaking story, but it’s told with so much wit. If you listen to the Rodgers and Hart songbook, there’s so much wit in it. There’s sadness, there are big subjects and deep feelings, but it’s always told with a little bit of silliness. That’s what Rick and I really wanted with the movie.”

Joelle Garguilo: “This is a New York story, set at a New York institution – Sardi’s. As a New Yorker yourself, can you talk about the pride you have in this film?”

Ethan Hawke: “It feels so good. I grew up idolizing those people on that wall at Sardi’s, wanting to touch the legends of Broadway. It’s a mysterious little club – people who have achieved a level of excellence at their chosen craft. The characters in this movie exist all over the world, but most of them gravitate to New York. They end up coming to Broadway. Getting to make a movie that celebrates New York this way is awesome.”

Joelle Garguilo: “There’s a saying I love, it came from my Pop, ‘I’d give a million tomorrows for one yesterday.’ I think about that quote daily. Thinking about all of your work, if you could go back and relive one professional moment – just one yesterday – what’s swirling around in your mind?”

Ethan Hawke: “When I was in my early 20s, a bunch of friends and I started a theater company. It was $10 a ticket. We were hustling to hand out flyers. We were doing our friends’ plays. It was impossible to cast anyone over 30, because we didn’t have anyone over 30 in the company. We built the sets, rented U-Hauls, struck the sets, did readings at midnight. In hindsight, I realize those years are what formed me – the way I think, the way I approach rehearsal, the way I approach what we do for a living. I’d love to revisit a handful of those evenings and see those people again.”

Joelle Garguilo: “When I say ‘Dead Poets Society,’ what story pops up?”

Ethan Hawke: “The first time we rehearsed with Robin Williams, I was so nervous. He was such a genius. We were all 17, 18 years old, really learning how to rehearse. Norman Lloyd played the headmaster – he had been in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Company. He kept telling us, ‘You don’t know that you’ll be thinking about today the rest of your life.’ I remember thinking, funny old guy. And I have thought about it my whole life.

And then I remember one time Robert Sean Leonard and I went to dinner in New York right when the movie came out. A whole group of people in the restaurant got up and stood on their tables and said, ‘O Captain, My Captain.’ And then the whole place burst into applause. Bobby and I were just gobsmacked.”

Joelle Garguilo: What about when I say ‘Training Day?'”

Ethan Hawke: “Denzel! One of the greatest actors in the history of the profession. To get to ride shotgun with him, run lines with him, watch him work, and try not to let him down. Antoine Fuqua directing, driving through L.A., it was so intense. I was 30 years old and I knew this does not happen often. I’m working with one of the best, and I’ve got a great part and a great director. That was one of the best work experiences of my life.”

Joelle Garguilo: “And ‘Explorers?'”

Ethan Hawke: “I really think about River. That’s what stayed with me. He and I snuck into a diner with a big thing of quarters and tried to buy a pack of Camel cigarettes. We were both obsessed with James Dean – we were convinced James Dean smoked – but neither one of us had ever smoked before. We went out to a football field and smoked our first cigarette together. That’s the kind of thing I remember.”

Joelle Garguilo: “And when I say ‘Blue Moon?'”

Ethan Hawke: “What popped into my head was my friendship with Bobby Cannavale. He ran lines with me every day. It was so much work and I would have low moments, and he would always look at me and say, ‘You got this, bro. You got this. Not for nothing, I think you could do a little better.’ You know, that’s Bobby. His unwavering support and belief in me meant everything. And when I think about the actual performing of it, I think about making eye contact with the other actors – Andrew Scott, Margaret Qualley, Bobby – all of them were really pulling me along every day. I’ll always remember their faces.”

Joelle Garguilo: “If you could sit next to Lorenz Hart, by imagination, and tell him anything – after the movie, after the Oscar nomination – what are you saying to him?”

Ethan Hawke: “Mostly I’d want to listen, because he’s so funny. He’s one of the great wits of all time. So mostly I want to ask him: what was opening night of Pal Joey like? And let him rip. What I’d want to say is: thank you, and forgive me for anything I got wrong. I think he would be thrilled that we’re just talking about him at all. He loved what he did so much, loved his poetry so much. I think he would be so happy that “My Funny Valentine” still lives in the consciousness. A couple words that cheated death.”

Joelle Garguilo: “It seems like you are in such a beautiful place in life right now – when family and work, when all of it just comes together like this. I hope you are enjoying this moment as much as it seems like you are.”

Ethan Hawke: “Trying to. Trying to stay present and enjoy all of this.”

Joelle Garguilo: “Congratulations on it all… I’ll see you at the Oscars!”

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