Maya Hawke Admits Her Role in $377 Million Blockbuster Was Because of “nepotistic reasons” But Refuses to Feel Any Shame
Daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Maya Hawke is recognized for her portrayal of Robin Buckley in Netflix’s Stranger Things. She has also appeared in movies including Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Do Revenge, Asteroid City, and more. The actress made her on-screen debut with 2017’s BBC adaptation of Little Women, in which she played Jo March.
The actress’ work in Netflix’s Stranger Things was highly lauded by the critics and the audience. Not only is she a talented actress, but she is also a great musician. She released her first two singles in 2019 and has released two studio albums, Blush and Moss. In a recent interview, the fierce actress opened up about being a nepotism baby and not being ashamed of it.
Maya Hawke is not ashamed of being a ‘nepo baby’
Promoting her third studio album, Chaos Angel, actress-singer Maya Hawke, in a recent interview with The Times, opened up about how she landed a role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She portrayed Flowerchild in the movie and stated,
I’ve been wildly made fun of for this clip when I said, on the red carpet, that I auditioned. I never meant to imply that I didn’t get the part for nepotistic reasons—I think I totally did.
The actress recalled her 2019 The Hollywood Reporter interview, where she mentioned that she got an audition for the project through the normal channel through her agent. She said at the time that she did an audition in her bedroom with her father, Ethan Hawke, and they sent the tape to Quentin Tarantino, and she received a callback.
Maya Hawke wasn’t the only actress with famous parents starring in the movie, as it also starred the daughter of Andie MacDowell, and Margaret Qualley, along with the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Rumer Willis. However, Hawke explains that she does not understand how her not taking on the roles that are offered to her is going to help anyone. She added,
Deserves’ is a complicated word. There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don’t, but I think I’m comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway. And I know that not doing it wouldn’t help anyone. I saw two paths when I was first starting, and one of them was to change my name, get a nose job, and go to open casting roles.
The Stranger Things actress noted that she understands that there will be a lot of jokes coming her way, and she can handle all of them, noting that they come with the territory of being lucky to be born into her family. She also revealed that her relationship with her parents is really honest and positive.
Maya Hawke talks about her inspiration for Chaos Angel
The actress, who became a household name worldwide as Robin Buckley when she starred in Stranger Things, recently released her third studio album, titled Chaos Angel. In her interview with Vanity Fair, she shared that so far, every record she has made, they have been about coming-of-age albums. Joking aside, she wonders when she will stop coming of age.
While working on the movie Wildcat with her father, the actress-singer came across Flannery O’Connor’s passage, which she says helped her inspire the concept of the third studio album. She created a character to personify and help her heal. She said,
We all have that voice, but something can happen where that voice can get sick. Something bad can happen to you. You can go through something difficult, and all of a sudden, your guardian angel, your inner voice, isn’t trustworthy anymore, and they lead you astray and give you weird advice.
Maya Hawke revealed that she had been raised to be this perfect angel of love, adding that when she got into the world, it was hard to make love. The actress noted that she had to realize that the process of chaos is what makes a change, and change makes love.
In her The Times interview, she also revealed that there were a lot of Stranger Things fans at her gigs, which made her depressed, explaining that she is glad that there were people but noted that she thought that they didn’t care about the music. But she soon realized that there was a genuine overlap between those who were interested in the show and those who related to her music.
Chaos Angel is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
