I feel strongly that Ethan Hawke is one of the finest actors of his generation. He co-starred in the trilogy of films which began with Before Sunrise way back in 1995 when he was in his 20's. They have received critical acclaim as did his acting, and the same is true of films such as Boyhood and Maudie.
I've blogged about the powerful picture, First Reformed, in which Hawke plays a pastor in a failing congregation who is tortured by his past and quietly bitter about the present. It is a remarkable performance.
Now Hawke is cast in a series about one of the truly perplexing figures of 19th century American history, John Brown. The Showtime series (August) is an adaptation of the novel Good Lord Bird by James McBride which won the National Book Award in the States in 2013, which I've read.
Brown was probably mentally ill and he was a religious zealot who allowed his convictions to bring about poverty and disaster for his family. He was also opposed to slavery as anti-Christian abomination, which was one of his strengths. He gave up on pacifism as a road to change and became convinced that violent revolution was the only solution for the emancipation of slaves. This led to the ill-fated attack on an armoury at Harper's Ferry. Brown was captured after a bloody battle and eventually hanged.
It's intriguing that Ethan Hawke has played religious figures and brings a spiritual sensibility to other roles he's played. In a 2017 interview with Relevant magazine he reflects on the value of faith:
On why he sees faith as a “moving thing.”
“Faith is a supple and moving thing, because you see a lot of adults with different points of view. A lot of people turn off when you talk about religion because they think they’re about to be preached to or told they’re lost. My family never really did that. I grew up with a lot of different people who had very supple minds, and it made talking about why we’re born and why we’re here and why we have to die a lot more of an exciting conversation. I was raised in a dialogue of faith. I’ve always been trying to figure out how to integrate that aspect of my life into my creative life.”
On the value of Church.
“One of the great things about going to church is you see yourself as a member of a community. I think it gave me a great framework to survive the pitfalls of early celebrity. It teaches a fundamental humility. One of the problems of making it in the arts is how it fans the flames of your ego. It’s really easy for young people to lose context. You need a sense of humility to keep learning and keep growing.”
Are you an Ethan Hawke fan? Are you curious about searching out some of his pictures?
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