Ethan Hawke: 'Middle-class' life is enough

6 August 2018

Ethan Hawke just wants to "pay [his] bills".

Ethan Hawke

The 47-year-old 'Training Day' actor has revealed that a "middle-class lifestyle" has always been more than enough for him, and says he won't take big blockbuster roles because he isn't interested in anything else.

When asked if there was a trick to longevity in his profession, Ethan said: "Can I tell you something funny? [Director] Paul Schrader and I were driving around doing Q and A's, so I said to Schrader, I said, 'Hey, why is it that so many of your generation, the greats - Scorsese, Pacino, Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Nicholson, De Niro - why are so many of them not doing the same kind of work that they did back in the '70s? Is it that the culture doesn't want any more? Did they get bored of it?' And his answer was really surprising to me. He said, 'The middle-class lifestyle isn't enough'.

"And ultimately a middle-class lifestyle was always enough for me. Like, I needed to pay my doctors' bills and I needed to get my kids to school - but I don't need three pairs of shoes. One pair of shoes is fine. And I don't need more bedrooms. I don't need bedrooms for fantasy houseguests, you know, that don't arrive."

The 'Reality Bites' actor admitted he has played a lot of characters who are willing to sell out, however he admires icons like Sean Penn and 'The Equalizers' star Denzel Washington, who have resisted featuring in cash-induced advertisements.

Speaking in an interview with GQ magazine USA, Ethan added: "It doesn't exist anymore. Do you remember when Jim Morrison went apoplectic when, without his permission, the record company used a Doors song for an ad? Apo-f***ing-plectic! And now Dylan's doing ads.

"Big business has so completely eaten everything that the idea of resisting makes people laugh. It's really strange. And that's happened in my generation. I can't help but admire the people who haven't sold out. Some part of my heart would wilt if Sean Penn was doing a Rolex ad or Denzel was doing a Beefeater ad or something like that.

"I love that when I see Denzel in a movie, I don't think of a product. I don't mind somebody saying, 'Oh, that's the guy from Before Sunrise.' But I don't want them to say, 'That's the guy from the Odeon ad.' But that is a pretty retro point of view."