Maya Hawke – the daughter of A-list stars Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke – is proudly embracing the ‘nepo baby’ label.
In a new interview with The times, Maya, 25, said she feels completely comfortable being lumped in with other children of Hollywood stars as she pursues her own career in acting and music.
“There are so many people who deserve to live this kind of life who don’t, but I think I have no problem with not deserving it and doing it anyway,” the New York City native explained out. “And I know it wouldn’t help anyone if I didn’t do it.”
She added, “I saw two paths when I first started, and one of them was: change your name, get a nose job and go into casting roles.”
But she ultimately chose the other path, embracing having famous parents instead.
Maya Hawke proudly embraces the ‘nepo baby’ label
Hawke acknowledges that the relationship she has with her parents has afforded her a certain level of privilege.
“It’s okay to be laughed at when you’re in rarefied air. It’s a happy place to be,” she explained. “My relationship with my parents is very honest and positive, and that goes beyond anything anyone can say about it.”
Hawke then recalled her 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she talked about how she landed a role in Quentin Tarantino’s comedy-drama film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
At the time, she revealed how she “got an audition for the project through my agents” [and] I auditioned in my bedroom with my dad… we sent the tape to Quentin and I got a call back.”
Looking back is the 20/20 rule, Hawke wishes she had used a better choice of words when describing the process that led to her getting the small role of Flow Child.
‘I was made fun of because of this clip when I said on the red carpet that I was auditioning. It was never my intention to suggest that I didn’t get the role for nepotistic reasons; I think that’s certainly the case.’
Although the actress wholeheartedly embraced the nepo baby name helping her join the Tarantino cast without hesitation, she was one of many others who could wear the label with pride.
Along with Hawke, Tarantino also hired Margaret Qualley, whose mother is Andie MacDowell, star of the drama film Sex, Lies, And Videotape (1989), to play the role of Pussycat.
Additionally, Rumer Willis also scored a role to play Joanna Pettet, and like Hawke, she has two famous parents: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis.
In a new interview with The Times, Maya, 25, said she feels completely comfortable being lumped in with other children of Hollywood stars as she pursues her own career in acting and music; Ethan and Maya seen in 2023
“There are so many people who deserve to live this kind of life who don’t, but I think I have no problem with not deserving it and doing it anyway,” the New York City native explained out. ‘And I know that if I don’t do it, it wouldn’t benefit anyone’; Maya and Uma seen in 2023
Her parents actually met on the set of the dystopian science fiction film Gattaca in 1996 and dated for almost two years before getting married in May 1998.
Ultimately, they decided to separate due to allegations of Hawke’s infidelity, and ultimately had to file for divorce the following year, which was finalized in 2005.
Her embrace of her heritage has gone so far as to work with both her mother and father on separate productions over the past year.
She starred in the crime comedy thriller film The Kill Room (2023), in which her mother played the lead role alongside Joe Manganiello, Debi Mazar, Dree Hemingway, Samuel L. Jackson and Liv Morgan.
And then Maya Hawke got work with her father by scoring the lead role in the biographical drama film Wildcat, which the elder Hawke directed and co-wrote with Shelby Gaines.
Hawke, who also shares her love of music with her father, released her third studio album, Chaos Angel, on May 31, featuring the singles Missing Out, Dark and Hang In There.
Music is another passion she shares with her father. With her new release of Chaos Angel on Friday, May 31, she now has three studio albums on her resume.
In the run-up to her new album, the musician dropped three singles as part of the promotion: Missing Out, Dark and Hang In There.
Hawke says Chaos Angel is a “completely happier album” than its predecessor Moss (2020), even though she worked with many of the same contributors such as Christian Lee Hutson, Benjamin Lazar Davis and Will Graefe.
For her latest acting appearance, Hawke stars as Anxiety, a new orange anxious emotion, in Inside Out 2, the highly anticipated sequel to Inside Out (2015), which was a huge hit nearly a decade ago and grossed $858.8. million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $175 million.