Ethan Hawke is a big Toronto fan.
The actor chatted to ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante while attending the TIFF premiere for his latest film “Wildcat”, which he directed, on Monday.
Hawke shared of what it was about Toronto that had him keep coming back: “Well, first off, the audiences love movies. I’ve had so many premieres here over the years.”
“When you make a movie, I find myself thinking about [TIFF]… How’s it going to play inside the Lightbox? How are they going to respond?”
He added, “Some movies that are really excellent, some movies that haven’t stood the test of time, but the audiences here are so excited about movies, about being in conversation with movies and seeing the movies. It’s a buzz that you get.
“When you make a movie, I find myself thinking about tonight, you know? How’s it going to play inside the Lightbox? How are they going to respond? Is the audience going to like this? You find yourself imagining nights like tonight.”
Talk then turned to Hawke’s red carpet style, with him saying of whether he has a theory about what looks best on the carpet at an event like TIFF, “I don’t know. I just try to make life as fun as possible. I saw Spike Lee speak last night. I was like, ‘Now that guy knows how to dress.’ You know, he makes every room he’s in a party.”
The actor directed his daughter Maya — who stars as Flannery O’Connor — in “Wildcat”, with Laura Linney, Rafael Casal, Philip Ettinger and more being among the star-studded cast.
The flick “follows the life of writer Flannery O’Connor while she was struggling to publish her first novel.”
Hawke told us of whether there was anything in her movie-making process that inspired something new in him: “Well, you’re always trying to keep that sense of play that you have when you’re young.
“You know, you want to use the experience you have to, like, not make the same mistakes but still channel that youthful enthusiasm for just being grateful to get to do it. And Maya has that space so I love being near that.”
See what Maya had to say about working with her dad in her ET Canada TIFF chat below.
