Father/daughter duo Ethan and Maya Hawke prove that talent can certainly be genetic. But as the Nepo Baby debate has been going on for months, social media users are questioning whether the children of famous actors have made their name in the business due to their parents’ names. As the Hawkes weigh in on the Nepo Baby debate, Ethan Hawke proudly announces, “I’m a Nepo Dad!”
Ethan Hawke’s latest project will be directing his daughter in the biopic Wildcat where she’ll play the lead role of American writer Flannery O’Connor who went through struggles to get her first novel published. While it can be easy to say father/daughter actors working together only adds fuel to the Nepo Baby debate, the situation you could say is the reverse for Wildcat. Per an interview with Variety, the movie was actually Maya Hawke’s idea with her father declaring what his new role is.
Put simply, I’m a nepo dad! And I’m not embarrassed about it.
The way the Boyhood actor says it, it would almost sound like a superhero name. Ethan Hawke knew ever since Maya Hawke was a preteen that the entertainment industry would be the path for her. In 2009, Hawke was being directed by Sam Mendes in the stage production of The Winter’s Tale and had to bring a then-12-year-old Maya to tech rehearsals since she didn’t have a babysitter. While he originally planned on sending his daughter home in a taxi to avoid having to watch rehearsals for the second time, she was the one who requested to stay. You could almost say Hawke was entranced by watching her father’s work.
The internet has been very harsh towards the range of young actors taking in the shoes of their famous parents. It first started when Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose got slammed by an Italian model who called her a Nepo Baby. From then on, more celebrities of famous parents were accused of their start as pure nepotism like Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Hudson, Allison Williams, and more. While filming Wildcat, Maya Hawke admitted to Variety the Nepo Baby debate crossed her mind when working with her dad.
I had moments of insecurity about it while we were shooting the movie. But the internet doesn’t have a lot of nuances. My dad has been a massive teacher for me, and we want to work together. We like being with each other.
It’s true that you need to go with your own intuition and not worry so much about what the internet will say about a certain collaboration. Maya Hawke has every right to want to work with her father if she wants to. As the Dead Poets Society actor started in the business at 14, he made sure to educate the Stranger Things actress about the dangers of fame before she ventured into the business, making him a great teacher as she said. You can tell Hawke is a very proud dad. He’s shown pride in his daughter’s work in Stranger Things where she gained worldwide recognition. The former child star felt the Netflix series must have been meant to be for Maya as the first season took place in 1983 which was the year he made his acting debut in Explorers. Coincidence or was it “aligned in the stars” like the “Nepo Dad” said?
In the end, the internet will say whatever they want about actors working with their kids. But like Ethan Hawke pointed out, people are free to think what they want and he’s free to team up with his daughter.
If someone wants to criticize us for working together, that’s totally fair. You have to let people have their opinion. You just have to try to do a good job when you’re onstage.
Ethan and Maya Hawke seem to take a lot of pride in the work they’ve done together on Wildcats. So, it would be a waste of time for social media users to describe their teamwork as an act of nepotism instead of a sweet collaboration. Be sure to keep up with our 2023 movie releases so you’re aware of when Wildcats will be released.