Vote up the roles in which Hawke soared higher than an eagle.
Ethan Hawke is the absolute best. He's been turning in solid performances since the 1980s in everything from period dramas to pulpy horror movies, and he always performs like he's gunning for an Academy Award. One of the problems with being so consistently fantastic is that many of Hawke's best roles have gone unnoticed.
Some of Hawke's best-known roles, such as Jesse in the Before Sunrise trilogy, remain underrated because it seems as though he's not even acting. His craft is more on display in films like The Purge or The Black Phone, where it's clear he's not a serial killer or a guy locked inside his house during a one-night crime-a-thon, but even in those films, Hawke is going above and beyond expectations.
All of the following roles played by Hawke are underrated - but which are his best?
This breakout role for Hawke showcases the depth he can find in his characters, even when he's a part of a large ensemble anchored by one of the most charismatic on-screen performers of all time. As the painfully shy Todd, Hawke grows more comfortable on screen - undoubtedly an instance of art imitating life.
As cheesy as Dead Poets Society can be at times, it's amazing to watch Hawke work with such a hard-hitting ensemble while holding his own with Robin Williams. Audiences may not even remember Hawke in this coming-of-age picture (this is undeniably Williams's movie), but his nuanced portrayal of a sensitive young man echoes throughout his filmography.
Since its release in 1997, Gattaca has grown into somewhat of a cult film, and although mainstream audiences (at least those who remember it) may shove it into the late-'90s evil-perfect-future bargain bin, the film's performances make it a must-see. Hawke is especially on fire as Vincent Freeman, a “genetically inferior” human who uses DNA from a “genetically superior” but paralyzed Jude Law.
Hawke's performance has a robotic energy that elevates the film from a late-'90s sci-fi movie about the evils of technology to something very personal and human. Even if Gattaca wasn’t great, Hawke's performance still makes this movie worth a watch.
Reality Bites may distill all of the 1990s into one movie, but Great Expectations distills 1997 into one film. Gwyneth Paltrow is the femme fatale, Robert De Niro has a supporting role, and a Pulp B-side soundtracks one of its best scenes. To top it all off, Hawke is on his A game as a beautiful, sulking painter in this exploration of class, sex, and romance by Alfonso Cuarón.
Hawke felt that a person of color should have played Finn to further punctuate the themes of class present throughout the film, but Cuarón wanted that Before Sunrise magic. As Finn, Hawke really digs into a character who grows up poor and finds himself surrounded by wealth. Even when things are going his way, he's still cynical about the trappings of the big-money art world in which he finds himself.
Hawke is great in genre films. It doesn't matter if he's playing a vampire or a man haunted by a goblin - he finds a way to ground his character. As Edward Dalton, he plays a vampire scientist who refuses to drink human blood. He's working on a cure for vampirism when a former member of the undead comes along and offers him some help.
Daybreakers is absolutely ludicrous in the best way possible, but Hawke doesn't wink at the camera. He plays Dalton incredibly straight and with an air of pathos that audiences need for a real connection.
As Jake Hoyt in Training Day, Hawke is in the unenviable position of trying to keep up with Denzel Washington at a full 10. The character works so well because Hawke never tries to match Washington's energy; instead, he acts as an audience surrogate on this wild ride through Los Angeles.
What's under-appreciated about Hawke's work in this film is his ability to take a backseat to every other actor who's going big. By doing this, he's able to give a memorable performance that just makes the movie that much better.
On paper, a spooky horror movie like Sinister shouldn't be in Hawke's wheelhouse. It's essentially a talkie about a ghoul who lives in an 8-mm home movie. When played, the family film enacts a curse that leads children to kill their parents. Hawke plays a true-crime writer who finds himself in the middle of the curse with no way out.
It should be boring to watch Hawke spend an entire movie doing research and calling Vincent D'Onofrio for advice, but he really locks into the piece's moody vibe and gives the audience a character they can really latch onto. On repeated viewings, it's clear that he's playing into Ellison's doomed nature, which is very special in what could be just another Blumhouse movie.
Something magical happens when Hawke and Blumhouse get together. In The Black Phone, he plays "The Grabber," a sadistic child murderer who plays vicious head games with a boy named Finney who's locked in his basement. Rather than turn in a perfunctory villain performance, Hawke goes for it in this supernatural creep-fest, and he's genuinely upsetting.
It's obvious from Hawke's performance that this is something he's worked on for a while. He speaks in his upper register, and there's more body movement than in any of his other performances, which establishes the Grabber as a genuine physical threat despite his wiry frame. Another actor might have done something similar or more over-the-top, but Hawke makes this super-creepy guy seem real.
