Ethan Hawke had always had the vibe of an artistic theatre kid rather than a movie star. He was shooting "Dead Poets Society" at 19 (his second feature), "Alive" and "Before Sunrise" in his early to mid-20s, and "Hamlet" at 30, while his contemporaries like Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ben Stiller were trying to get into the biggest and most crowd-pleasing movies. He pretty much stayed the course of an artist (even with "Training Day") and stuck to deeper, somber, more existential films that had something to say beyond simply being entertaining. If you look at his career and what he achieved over the years now, it's safe to say that his choices paid off in dividends.

As Hawke revealed in a recent interview with GQ , early stardom would've likely ruined him. He had a shot

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